Max Verstappen has no rivals. In a water classification, despite the fact that he is still the favorite, anything can happen. But what seemed to be an absolutely crazy qualifying at the F1 British GP, and which was in Q1 and Q2, turned out to be business as usual for the Dutchman in Q3. The asphalt started out wet and dried out until conditions dried up in Q3. And there, there is no choice. Max won his 7th pole position in 10 races this Saturday at Silverstone. He came to this event with an 81-point advantage over the second overall, ‘Checo’ Pérez and this Sunday he will have another option to hit his partner with another blow after the Mexican was left in Q3 for the th 5 times in a row, eliminated. from the end of Q1 (16th).
Behind him comes the great confirmation in this GP, McLaren, with Lando Norris 2nd (at 0″241) and Oscar Piastri 3rd (at 0″372), with Leclerc 4th and Carlos Sainz 5th. For his part, Fernando Alonso will start in 9th and will have to return to the race in a place chasing Red Bull where everything is tightening and where, in addition to McLaren, the rise of Williams is confirmed, no less at this track, with Albon in 8th just behind the two Mercedes (Russell was 6th and Hamilton 7th).
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The key was surviving a very difficult Q1 and Q2 because of how dry the track was, the only time that counted was the last time each driver did in that session. Not only did Max fight, he also did it by taking advantage of the rest, allowing himself the luxury of reserving a new set of tires more than all his rivals for Q3. And that he suffered a scare in Q1 that could have left him. After the red flag, just 3 minutes remained in Q1 and the 20 drivers on the grid lined up in the pit lane to set a time. Max had to start at the back of that row because coming out of the pits he damaged his wing by touching the wall.
Strange mistake in the Dutchman, which he corrected as he knew how: he hardly had time to do his time trial, but he did. He passed the horn for the finish line after a full-throttle warm-up lap and made the cut. The rest was easy for Max. Two sensational McLarens tried, with a Norris who wowed the entire Silverstone audience when he passed the champion in his final attempt. But Max has one more time in his pocket. He overtook him on his last lap and took pole position against two surprising McLarens: Norris 2nd and Piastri 3rd.
Sainz, 5th and Alonso, 9th
Without Red Bull and Max Verstappen on the grid, this F1 would be a real madness. Unpredictable, with many teams capable of winning and fighting for victories. A show. Such is the chasing group, with surprises in each race depending on the characteristics of the track or the evolution and development carried out by each team. For things like this, the regulations came into force in 2022. Only the ‘but’ of Max’s domain remains, which is the exception. The World Cup started with Red Bull at the front, with Astonj Martin as the 2nd best team and at the back, Ferrari and Mercedes. Furthermore, teams like McLaren even came to the Miami race completely out of any fight, sunk. But as teams brought their evolution packs to the track, that chasing group grew. Unbelievably, there are no longer three teams, we can say there are 6. To the point that McLaren achieved an unthinkable result just a month ago. Or Williams, who was one of the best all weekend.
In that group, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari, Alpine were added little by little, and McLaren with more force thanks to the improvements made in Austria, and Williams with a spectacular jump at Silverstone. The equality is immense. That explains Fernando Alonso’s 9th position, 0.939 behind the fastest time and a tenth behind Albon. Has Aston Martin slowed down? The rest recovered on the ground. But there are many left. It’s only halfway through the course and things can keep changing. That’s the beauty of this competition.
For now, Alonso needs to focus on getting back into a race where everything can be very close again. Fernando has to try to add some good points in a difficult event. Better things are to come. Each circuit may favor one of the pursuers. Silverstone is not the best for Aston Martin and it is a track where others have already improved last year in a timely manner. We have to wait for more races to have a clearer picture of the grid. Only one pilot comes out of that equation. Max Verstappen doesn’t care about the circuit. It did not fail. He added a new pole and will go for his eleventh victory on this course.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
