Lewis Hamilton will once again start from the front of the grid as he goes in search of a third straight win in 2020 at the British Grand Prix. (More Sports News)
The six-time world champion posted a new lap record at Silverstone to finish Q3 in front of Mercedes team-mate바카라 웹사이트Valtteri Bottas, who is the only other driver to record a victory so far this year.
It will be the바카라 웹사이트71st edition of the famous race - seeing it move out of a tie with the Italian Grand Prix for most appearances on the바카라 웹사이트Formula One바카라 웹사이트calendar - and Mercedes are chasing a seventh win since 2013 at the track.
No driver has done so more often at the venue than Hamilton, with six to his name. He will be바카라 웹사이트a red-hot favourite to add to that tally on Sunday and, in the process,바카라 웹사이트extend his advantage in the drivers' standings.
Can anyone not named Bottas possibly deny the Briton yet another home triumph?
WHAT HAPPENED IN QUALIFYING
There were two battles going on during qualifying. While the Mercedes duo contested pole, the rest battled it out to decide the order behind the obvious front row.
Hamilton did have cause for concern when he spun in Q2, yet recovered impressively to set a new lap record in the next session - a time he then bettered on his final attempt as he finished바카라 웹사이트0.313 seconds clear of바카라 웹사이트Bottas.
Worryingly for those hoping to see another team mount a challenge, Max Verstappen was over a second adrift in바카라 웹사이트third place in his Red Bull, with team-mate Alex Albon struggling to 12th.
Ferrari received a much-needed boost as바카라 웹사이트Charles Leclerc claimed fourth place, though Sebastian Vettel's struggles continued. The German was slowest of the group involved in Q3 after having his fastest time deleted and will start the race바카라 웹사이트on the softer tyres compared to his team-mate, too.
Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz were fifth and seventh respectively for McLaren,바카라 웹사이트Racing Point's Lance Stroll splitting the pair. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg - summoned to make a comeback at short notice to바카라 웹사이트stand in for Sergio Perez, who바카라 웹사이트tested positive for COVID-19 - will start from 13th position.
THE STARTING GRID바카라 웹사이트
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 2.바카라 웹사이트Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)바카라 웹사이트
3.바카라 웹사이트Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 4.바카라 웹사이트Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5.바카라 웹사이트Lando Norris (McLaren) 6. Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
7.바카라 웹사이트Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 8. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault)
9.바카라 웹사이트Esteban Ocon (Renault) 10.바카라 웹사이트Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)바카라 웹사이트
11.바카라 웹사이트Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) 12.바카라 웹사이트Alex Albon (Red Bull)
13. Nico Hulkenberg (Racing Point) 14.바카라 웹사이트Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
15.바카라 웹사이트Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)바카라 웹사이트16.바카라 웹사이트 Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
17.바카라 웹사이트Romain Grosjean (Haas) 18.바카라 웹사이트Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri)
19.바카라 웹사이트Nicholas Latifi (Williams)바카라 웹사이트 20.바카라 웹사이트George Russell (Williams)
BRITISH GRAND PRIX TALKING POINTS
Hamilton clearly relishes the chance to drive바카라 웹사이트in his own back yard. While there will be바카라 웹사이트no crowd to cheer him on due to바카라 웹사이트these바카라 웹사이트unprecedented times, he is racing for the chance of yet more history.
A 91st career pole has him primed to break clear of a tie with Alain Prost for the most victories by a driver at a바카라 웹사이트home race. In terms of the season as a whole, Mercedes are turning바카라 웹사이트the constructors' title into a procession, such is their complete dominance.
"I guess we're not making many new friends,"바카라 웹사이트team principal Toto Wolff said afterwards. Of course, it is all about gathering points to win the prizes, rather than a popularity contest, but the rest of the paddock should be seriously바카라 웹사이트concerned by what they have seen from the Silver Arrows so far.
Still, the most successful team historically at Silverstone has been Ferrari,바카라 웹사이트albeit they seem a way off competing this time. The Scuderia have recorded just one podium finish in바카라 웹사이트the opening three races, their worst바카라 웹사이트start to a campaign since 2014.
WHAT THE DRIVERS SAID
Lewis Hamilton (pole):바카라 웹사이트"Valtteri was pushing me right to the end. It was a real struggle out there. We had that spin, I was struggling through the first section. I managed to compose myself. The first Q3 lap was clean and the second was even better. We're still powering ahead, we're not resting on the performance that we have, we're trying to push the boundaries and the limits and that's바카라 웹사이트the most impressive thing바카라 웹사이트about this team."
Valtteri Bottas (2nd):바카라 웹사이트"For me, the balance was shifting more and more towards oversteer as the session went on. He [Hamilton] had a great lap in the end, a better lap than mine.바카라 웹사이트It's바카라 웹사이트still very close between us in the championship points, so of course I'm going to do everything I can and of course will look overnight with the engineers what we can do and if there라이브 바카라 anything different I can do. Last year [Hamilton won from second] with a pretty바카라 웹사이트different strategy to mine [from pole]."
Max Verstappen (3rd):바카라 웹사이트"I had a pretty good qualifying lap and starting third gives us the chance to fight for a good race result. We just hope to have a clean start and from there onwards I just try to do the best I can in the car and if that is just바카라 웹사이트try to follow them a bit, we can be happy with that and score some points."
Lando Norris (5th):바카라 웹사이트"It was very difficult with the wind바카라 웹사이트– the cars are so sensitive. I'm very happy – it was better than I thought I could do.바카라 웹사이트I think we바카라 웹사이트out-qualified바카라 웹사이트a few cars that are quicker than us, but that is바카라 웹사이트only going to make Sunday's바카라 웹사이트race more difficult.바카라 웹사이트We have to convert it into a good result at my home race."
Sebastian Vettel (10th):바카라 웹사이트"I struggled to find the rhythm. The car was not too bad, but it didn’t fit me. We made it to Q3, but with the wrong tyre, and then we didn’t make enough progress in Q3, so not a good day. We have to start with the soft tyre,바카라 웹사이트which is probably not good news. Nevertheless, I’ll try everything I can, we'll see what we바카라 웹사이트get."
Nico Hulkenberg (13th):바카라 웹사이트"I feel there was more바카라 웹사이트potential바카라 웹사이트and I didn't바카라 웹사이트get everything,바카라 웹사이트but바카라 웹사이트given the circumstances it is also very hard.바카라 웹사이트I don't바카라 웹사이트know if you can expect to get 100 per cent from the car. We were so close to making it to Q3, and I'm happy with that considering I've come in from the cold this weekend! It's a big ask after eight months away to come back and jump into a completely different environment – and into a Formula One바카라 웹사이트car I've never driven before and immediately perform with a challenging circuit and conditions."
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 63
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 58
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 33
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 26
5=바카라 웹사이트Alex바카라 웹사이트Albon (Red Bull) - 22
5= Sergio Perez (Racing Point) - 22
Constructors바카라 웹사이트
1. Mercedes – 121
2. Red Bull바카라 웹사이트– 55
3. McLaren - 41
4. Racing Point – 40
5. Ferrari바카라 웹사이트– 27
