Russell Claims Pole For 2024 British GP

Mercedes’ George Russell claimed pole position for the 2024 British Grand Prix on a dominant day for the British drivers.

Russell headed Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in a wet FP3 but had to battle his way through two tough Qualifying segments, before he dominated Q3 to take his third pole in F1 ahead of his British compatriots on a memorable day for the home nation.

 

FP3

Following overnight rain which continued throughout the morning albeit lighter by the start of FP3, the session began in damp conditions as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg led the field out on intermediate tyres.

Magnussen proceeded to set a benchmark time of 1m 54.798 but his time was swiftly usurped by several drivers, with Yuki Tsunoda finding himself quickest with 1m 47.080 when the red flags came out in the eighth minute after Pierre Gasly spun out at Vale.

The session resumed eight minutes later with Lando Norris trading fastest laps with Tsunoda before Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Verstappen constantly traded fastest laps, with Leclerc quickest at the halfway mark with 1m 38.454 from Hamilton.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, George Russell meanwhile grappled with tyre temperatures but went fastest in the 32nd minute, as he set 1m 37.529 and Hamilton fell 0.035 seconds shy in response.

Rain however began to increase with 20 minutes left which meant that Russell topped the session in a British one-two-three, ahead of Hamilton and Norris.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1m 37.529
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.035
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.185
4	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.610
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.864
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 0.925
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 1.125
8	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 1.411
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 1.755
10	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.811
11	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 2.074
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 2.171
13	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 2.173
14	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 2.291
15	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	+ 2.713
16	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 2.901
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 3.010
18	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 3.294
19	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 4.256
20	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	No Time

 

Qualifying

Q1

With the track damp following a downpour during the F2 Sprint, Sargeant led everyone out on intermediates and set 1m 40.215 as the initial benchmark.

Hamilton however went fastest with 1m 37.134 in the eighth minute despite Verstappen having gone quickest once everyone completed one flying lap.

Bottas was the first driver to take a bold risk in switching to soft slick tyres, which led several drivers to follow suit – including Perez whose gamble backfired as he spun out at Copse after he lost the rear mid-corner and slid into the gravel trap.

Bottas,, Gasly, Sargeant and Ricciardo found themselves in the elimination zone alongside Hulkenberg, with the Haas driver having not set a lap time prior to the stoppage.

The session resumed seven minutes later with Bottas first out on track as rain began to fall across the start-finish straight as clouds rapidly darkened, whilst DRS was disabled due to the worsening conditions.

Those who got out early banked their soft-tyre laps with Piastri fastest on 1m 30.895 whilst Verstappen ran wide on his first flier, which left him flirting with elimination briefly.

At the checkered flag, Gasly failed to set a soft-tyre lap time and was eliminated in last place behind Perez with whom he will share the back row, whilst Ocon qualified 18th behind Magnussen and Bottas.

Hamilton meanwhile topped Q1 with 1m 29.547 from his Mercedes teammate, Russell.

 

Q2

Albon was first out on track and posted 1m 27.983 as some opted for used softs unlike others on new softs, with Norris topping the first set of fliers whilst Leclerc, Zhou, Ricciardo, Sargeant and Russell sat in the bottom five.

Piastri however topped the second set of flying laps following cool-down laps as he posted 1m 26.945, whilst Sargeant, Russell, Tsunoda, Zhou and Ricciardo sat at risk of elimination ahead of the final three minutes.

Hulkenberg went quickest on 1m 26.847 with just over three minutes left as the track ramped up, with Russell then Norris with 1m 26.559 displacing him in the following minute.

As the checkered flag fell, Leclerc became a shock casualty in 11th position to miss out on Q3 for the second time in the last four races.

Sargeant qualified 12th ahead of Tsunoda, Zhou and Ricciardo who were also eliminated in this segment.

 

Q3

Albon was first on track and set 1m 27.008 as benchmark time but his time was quickly bettered by everyone else, as Russell posted 1m 26.024 to go fastest from Norris by 0.006s with Hamilton sat third in a British top-three.

Piastri sat fourth ahead of Verstappen, Hulkenberg Sainz, Stroll, Alonso and Albon upon completion of the first runs.

With just under three minutes left, Albon led everyone out for their final runs although Alonso was forced to wait for the queue to pass before he joined the action.

At the checkered flag, Russell claimed pole with 1m 25.819 but he led a Mercedes front-row lockout ahead of Hamilton, with Norris third after he failed to improve on his final lap to secure a first British 1-2-3 in Qualifying since 1968 South African GP.

Verstappen, Piastri, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Stroll, Albon and Alonso rounded out the top ten.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1m 25.819
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+ 0.171
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 0.211
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 0.384
5	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+ 0.418
6	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+ 0.519
7	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+ 0.690
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+ 0.766
9	Alex Albon	Williams	+ 0.821
10	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+ 1.098
11	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1m 27.097
12	Logan Sargeant	Williams	+ 0.078
13	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	+ 0.172
14	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	+ 0.770
15	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	+ 0.852
16	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	1m 32.431
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 0.474
18	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+ 2.126
19	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	+ 5.917
20	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+ 7.373