With a time of 1:40.983, the man from Madrid, in his 150th Grand Prix, reigned in the rain in a tight final stretch of Q3 in which he overtook the championship leader, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), to which he took 72 thousandths. The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will start third together with Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull).
In this way, Sainz signs at Silverstone the twenty-third pole of a Spanish driver in the ‘Gran Circo’, the first since the 2012 German Grand Prix. All the previous ones have the same name: Fernando Alonso.
[Consulta la clasificación general del Mundial de F1]
The umbrellas remained open with the start of qualifying; a fine rain left wet areas in front of drier sections where the pilots rushed the tenths to try not to be surprised in Q1, as happened to four-time champion Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin).
Verstappen defied the conditions of the track to set a 1:39.129 that allowed him to go to Q2 with the fastest time, seven tenths faster than the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), second ahead of the British George Russell (Mercedes). Sainz was content to spend fourth and Alonso closed the ‘Top 10’.
The Dutchman maintained his dominance in a second round in which, however, he was unable to beat his starting time (1:40.655). Behind him, the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Leclerc closed a momentary ‘podium’ from which the Madrilenian returned to stay at the gates.
[Consulta el calendario del Mundial de F1]
The rain got worse in the final Q3 and Alonso pulled from experience to put three seconds to the rest of the competitors and get first. Verstappen, despite suffering a spin in the final sector, returned to the top of the timesheets with a frantic last minute to go.
With no water left, the track improved very quickly and led to the frantic fight returning to the English track. Sainz. Leclerc and Verstappen followed one another in the lead, but it was the man from Madrid who, in a fantastic last lap, managed to take the privileged place to start from the front of the grid for the first time in his life.
