BOTTAS BEAT HAMILTON FOR POLE ON HOME SOIL

In a tight qualifying session at Silverstone, Valtteri Bottas beat home favourite Lewis Hamilton by just six thousandths of a second to claim pole position for the British Grand Prix as Mercedes locked out the front row for the seventh time in 10 races. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third place ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

In the opening qualifying segment Hamilton took an early lead, posting a time of 1:25.513 to take P1 two hundredths of a second clear of Leclerc. Behind them Verstappen slotted into an eventual P3 with a lap of 1:25.700.

Bottas, meanwhile, eased through to Q2 in P4 ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and McLaren rookie Lando Norris. Further down the order, the tussle for the final spot in Q2 was tight.

In the end Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez did just enough to claim P15 and passage to the next segment with a time of 1:26.649, just 0.013s ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who was eliminated in P16 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and the twin Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.

In Q2, both Mercedes drivers went out for first runs on medium compound tyres, as did Red Bull drivers Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, and Ferrari’s Leclerc. Vettel, however, went a different route, with the German starting the session on soft compound tyres.

And while Leclerc set the pace on the yellow tyres with a time of 1:25.646, taking P1 ahead of Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen and Gasly, Vettel’s lap on the red-banded compound was poor and after the first runs he found himself in P8, behind Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.

In the final runs the top five all went out again, but while Mercedes and Red Bull backed out of improvements on soft tyres to ensure they will start on the more durable medium compound, Leclerc went quicker on the red-walled compound to take P1 with a time of 1:25.546.

Vettel, meanwhile, dropped to P11 as rivals improved, but he too made an improvement in the final run and his time of 1:26.023 was good enough to take P5, splitting the Red Bulls. Ferrari will thus start on soft tyres.

Eliminated at the end of the session were the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen in P11 and P12 respectively, 13th-placed Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Racing Point’s Pérez.

In Q3 it was Bottas who seized the initiative and the Finn posted a good lap of 1:25.093 to claim provisional pole 0.252s ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen a tenth further back. Leclerc was fourth, with Gasly fifth.

And there was to be no denying Bottas a tenth career pole. The Finn failed to improve on his final flyer and that gave Hamilton an opportunity, and though the home favourite put in a good lap, he ended up missing out on pole by the tiny margin of seven thousandths of a second.

Leclerc jumped Verstappen in the final run to claim third while Gasly held fifth, two tenths ahead of Vettel. Behind them Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh ahead of Norris, Albon and Hulkenberg.

2019 BRITISH GP - QUALIFYING
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
1.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:25.093
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:25.099	+ 0.006
3.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:25.172	+ 0.079
4.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:25.276	+ 0.183
5.	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull	1:25.590	+ 0.497
6.	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:25.787	+ 0.694
7.	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:26.182	+ 1.089
8.	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:26.224	+ 1.131
9.	Alex Albon	Toro Rosso	1:26.345	+ 1.252
10.	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:26.386	+ 1.293
Q2 Fastet Time: Charles Leclerc - 1:25.546
11.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:26.519	+ 0.973
12.	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1:26.546	+ 1.000
13.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren	1:26.578	+ 1.032
14.	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:26.757	+ 1.211
15.	Sergio Perez	Racing Point	1:26.928	+ 1.382
Q1 Fastet Time: Lewis Hamilton - 1:25.515
16.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:26.662	+ 1.149
17.	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:26.721	+ 1.208
18.	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	1:26.762	+ 1.249
19.	George Russell	Williams	1:27.789	+ 2.276
20.	Robert Kubica	Williams	1:28.257	+ 2.744
107% time: 1:31.499
HISTORY - HYBRID ERA - SILVERSTONE 2019 Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes AMG - 1:25.093
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