“We are doing everything we can to achieve this,” said Alonso at Silverstone. “Only McLaren has been able to make that leap by beating Verstappen in recent years, and that’s what we have to do at Aston Martin. No one is here to finish fifth or sixth, least of all me. I want to win,” he replied emphatically. “I feel like I’m in the right place to achieve it.” Those were the Spaniard’s words to German broadcaster RTL when asked if he felt he was fully capable of fighting for the World Championship, even if it takes him longer. And he didn’t hesitate. Proof of that was another masterclass on the track that surprised even Norris himself on Saturday at Silverstone, putting his AMR25 once again in Q3. He will start from 7th on the grid.
Verstappen shines in front of the English crowd and takes a majestic pole position
With all due respect to Fernando Alonso, who once again shone as usual, the man of the day at Silverstone was Max Verstappen. The Dutchman performed at his best with a car that is nowhere near capable of beating the McLarens. And yesterday, at times, not even the Ferraris. But on Saturday, he pulled a lap out of his sleeve that silenced the entire circuit and, at the same time, sent the stands at the British track into raptures.
He wasn’t in the running to start from pole position on Sunday, but he did it. Verstappen pulled a stratospheric time out of his hat—1:24.892—to beat the two McLaren drivers by a tenth of a second. His performance was supernatural.
Lewis Hamilton was left with a bitter taste in his mouth after failing to take pole position. The Briton was neck and neck with the McLarens, but succumbed on his last attempt. He finally finished in fifth position, behind Russell, but ahead of Leclerc.
Alonso surpassed himself once again, and his Aston Martin also reflects another step forward.
In fact, Ferrari was ahead of the Woking team, but in the end, the British Grand Prix qualifying was colored blue, as Max Verstappen unleashed his beast and scored the lap of the weekend. His time allowed him to beat all his rivals, especially the McLarens, finishing ahead of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
George Russell, the man who is always there, the most consistent on the grid, was up to his old tricks again and slipped in ahead of the Ferraris, who suffered more on Saturday, with Hamilton in fifth and Leclerc sixth.
As for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard once again played his cards right with his Aston Martin. The Asturian not only made it through to Q3 with ease, while his teammate Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1, but also set another trademark lap that allowed him to finish 9th, once again among the best of the rest and ahead of cars faster than the Aston, which, despite improvements at Silverstone, was not as superior as Fernando made it seem. Finally, in Q3, he finished seventh.
Carlos Sainz remains on the dark side
Carlos Sainz and the Williams team are in a negative dynamic. Both drivers were eliminated in Q2, although the elimination was more painful for the Spaniard, who finished 11th, just 35 thousandths behind Pierre Gasly.
Yuki Tsunoda finished fifth in the Red Bull, and Bearman, who suffered a strange accident at the end of the pit lane entry, was sixth, six tenths behind. The first Williams was Albon’s, in a good seventh place, 0.621 seconds behind, in the same tenth as Tsunoda. The blue car can be fast here, but to do so, they need to find the right setup with the soft tires.
The big incident on Saturday came when a spin by Franco Colapinto caused the red flag. The Argentine crashed into the barriers at the last corner. He was also stopped for just two minutes after his problem in the first corner and became the first driver to be eliminated on the day. “I’m sorry, I lost the rear,” he said over the radio. Q1 resumed with a green flag and, with much more slippery track conditions, Lawson, Bortoleto, Stroll, Hülkenberg, and Colapinto were eliminated.