Yes, you read it right 7 times F1 world Champion once again lived up to the expectations of the British fans at home when he brought back his A-game to take the Pirelli Speed King award to start the Sprint Qualifying at P1.
Well, he was not alone who left them with great memories, it was George Russell who made his second entry to the Q3 in his Williams car and did a solo lap in Q3 in front of the full house. It did seem like a lap of honour.
It was Lando Norris who probably left little time on the track, nevertheless, he got great reception and support from the home crowd as well.
Hamilton at Top Again!!
It was Lewis who ruled the roost at Silverstone bringing back the memories of his first pole position at Silverstone for McLaren. Which he admitted later in the post-qualifying interview with David Coulthard.
He finished Qualifying P1 ahead of title rival Max Verstappen in a spectacular way.
Lewis finished FP1 3rd behind Max and Norris, that too 7 tens down. Which was surprising keeping in mind the upgrades which they were supposed to bring for this race.
But the Champion driver and team showed their class and did the required changes to the car before Qualifying and took the advantage away from RedBull in general and Max in particular.
To prepare for the Qualifying he did sim runs back at the factory, which certainly paid its dividends.
⇒ In the build-up to Q3, he already did a couple of great laps in Q1 and Q2. His Q2 was faster than his deciding lap in Q3. Lewis was much quicker than Max in the first 2 sectors of his final run in Q3 but a bit of oversteer just before the last couple of corners meant that his first run was enough to give him P1 in qualifying.
He is certainly full of confidence now and will be eagerly waiting to take a good number of points away from Max this weekend.
George Russell was one of the Highlights of Q3
Max felt Weird!
Max finished an unlikely P2 in Fridays Qualifying being unable to attack the corners due to the Understeer and little or no grip in the front tyres.
It's the tyres that they have to look at as per Max before the Sprint Qualifying. That will be the agenda for RedBull in the FP2 on Saturday and make Max feel as synergetic as possible with the car.
Bottas Playing a Supporting Role?
Bottas admitted to playing a supporting role at the team home turf. He did give a tow to Lewis on his run in Q3.
But Bottas himself was not shy of a great lap. Finished half a second up on 4th and 5th positions drivers.
Perez got Lap time deleted
Perez's lap in the last run of Q3 got deleted due to exceeding track limits at turn 15. Otherwise, he would have finished P4, But that is not what he or RedBull wanted as he was half a second down to Bottas.
He is hopeful for the Sprint qualifying seeing it as the opportunity to move up the Grid but as is everyone else. Only time will tell if he will improve his position.
Lando Norris Finishing Behind Leclerc
Another local boy who had great support at Silverstone finished at P6. He is a bit surprised considering how he felt in the car on Friday. But certainly ahead of his teammate Daniel who finished P7.
The crowd was behind him all the time and would have certainly given him a boost. Lando certainly will be the one to look forward to in Sprint and Sunday's race considering the talent he has.
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Nice one 👍
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