[Official] British Grand Prix 2023: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 11 of 23

[Born Racer]

The history

The British Grand Prix is one of two to have been a presence on the Formula 1 calendar since the inception of the series (along with Italy). It was also the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix in 1950. The sport's development has also seen an impressive amount of engineering might developed in the UK, with the majority of teams based there. With such racing roots, it makes this race seemingly indispensable. Add in the fact that you have a super-fast and flowing circuit in Silverstone and a knowledgeable and keen crowd, and this feels like of the elite events.

Silverstone is a spectacular place at which to watch a Grand Prix car stretch its legs. The excellent corners are numerous. Copse is a rapid right-hander, and watching the cars approach head-on and then flick right gives an incredible sense of their cornering speeds. Cars need to slow significantly into Stowe following the Hangar Straight and yet the corner rewards those who can carry great speed into it. The Maggotts – Becketts – Chapel sequence is one of the best set of corners on the calendar, a wiggly left-right-left-right.

The first British Grand Prix is often considered to be the 1926 event, known as the Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix, the first of two British Grands Prix to be held in successive years at the banked Brooklands track in Surrey. The layout was a mixture of the banking and a revised configuration in which the cars went straight on at The Fork and had two chicanes on the start-finish straight.

Only nine entries figured on the list, but it was a tough race for drivers and cars. Albert Divo took the lead from the start in his green Talbot GPLB, followed by Malcolm Campbell's Bugatti 39A and George Eyston's Aston Martin GP. It was soon a Talbot 1-2-3, although Jules Moriceau's front axle broke at the first sandbank. Divo's engine misfired and he fell to the rear, charging through the field, but later retiring with a supercharger failure. Robert Benoist led in the Delage 15 S 8, two laps ahead on Lap 15, but at a pit stop on Lap 81 with his exhaust overheating and 15 laps from the chequered flag, he gave up his car for André Dubonnet, who had never driven a lap of the track.

There were just 3 cars remaining and Louis Wagner was out front in his 15 S 8. He had taken over driving duties from Robert Sénéchal on Lap 83, having suffered a similar exhaust problem to Benoist. Due to the heat in his car, he had to make regular pit stops just to bathe his feet in cold water, eroding his lead. After 110 laps, Wagner won, followed by Campbell, who overtook Dubonnet, the latter having flames from his engine as he drove.

1927 saw an increased entry of 13 cars and a higher lap tally (125). Delage 155Bs monopolised the top 3, with Benoist winning from Edmond Bourlier and Divo.

Leicestershire's Donington Park hosted its own Grands Prix between 1935 and 1939, but the next race to have the designation of British Grand Prix was at Silverstone in 1948. The layout saw the start-finish straight head to Woodcote, before a shorter straight to Copse, the Seagrave Straight, followed by a 90 degree left and 90 right, and then a left kink which took cars onto the Hangar Straight. After a right and the Seaman Straight, cars went left towards Club, right towards Abbey and then went left to complete the lap.

The works Maserati 4CLTs got delayed and failed to arrive. The Monegasque Louis Chiron took pole in 2:56.0 by a second in his Talbot-Lago from Emmanuel de Graffenried's Maserati 4CL and Philippe Étancelin's Talbot-Lago. De Graffenried got off the line in 1st, but was passed by Chiron. Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari got past Chiron in their Maseratis. They managed to extend a big lead over the others and changed places various times. Ascari then dropped back significantly from Villoresi during long pit stops to change tyres. Villoresi had his own dramas – the tachometer fell off and got stuck beneath the clutch, preventing him from using it for the remainder of the race. Nevertheless, he held on to win from Ascari and Bob Gerard who was 3rd in his ERA B-type. The race was notable for Geoffrey Ansell putting a wheel on the grass and rolling his ERA, during which he was thrown from the car, emerging unharmed.

The following year at Silverstone, Villoresi won again, this time from the Maserati of Prince Bira, with Peter Walker 3rd in an ERA.

In 1950 the Formula 1 World Championship started, which was to become the biggest motor racing series on a global platform. By this point, after France and Germany had been among the big early players in Grand Prix racing, Britain was starting to become more of a force. The Northamptonshire circuit had the honour of being the first round of seven. It was actually titled 'The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix'.

The race was notable for the absence of Scuderia Ferrari. The grid was laid out with alternate rows of four and three cars and Alfa Romeos locked out the front row. The circuit consisted of a straight run from Abbey to the Woodcote right-hander, the right at Copse, before the fast left at Maggotts, the right-hander Becketts and the slight left onto the Hanger Straight, which was followed by the almost 90 degree right at Stowe and 90 degree Club corner, after which the left-hander of Abbey took cars onto the start-finish straight. Small variations of this configuration were used until 1990. Giuseppe Farina led away from Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom retired with engine problems. Farina won from Fagioli and Reg Parnell in 3rd, a dominant performance for the Alfa Romeo 158s, as they filled the podium.

In 1951, Silverstone was the fifth of eight Formula 1 rounds and a 90-lap race. José Froilán Gonzalez took the first ever non-Alfa Romeo pole position in Formula 1 for Ferrari. Alfa driver Felice Bonetto shot from 7th on the grid to the lead at the first corner, but was overtaken on Lap 2 by González. Fangio passed González in his Alfa on Lap 6. González's Ferrari was significantly much more fuel efficient than the Alfas and he eventually overtook and pulled out a big lead to take the first non-Alfa victory in Formula 1 and Ferrari's first too.

Ferrari's Alberto Ascari took the lead near the start in 1952 and was thereafter never headed in the 85-lap race, while he won again in 1953 (this time over 90 laps).

In 1954, González won from his Ferrari team-mate Mike Hawthorn and Maserati driver Onofre Marimón. Fangio's fastest lap in his Mercedes exceeded 100mph at Silverstone for the first time.

The following year, the race was held at Aintree, in Liverpool, for the first time and was Round 6 out of 7 in the championship after the cancellation of the German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix due to the big Le Mans accident. Mercedes took the first four places and Stirling Moss his first Formula 1 win.

1956 saw Fangio win from fellow Ferrari drivers Alfonso de Portago and Peter Collins (sharing a car) with Jean Behra 3rd for Maserati.

Aintree bore witness to the 3rd and final time two drivers won a Grand Prix in a shared car, with Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks sharing the Vanwall. It was also a nice touch that the first win for a British-built car in a World Championship race came in a British Grand Prix.

In 1958, F1 was was back at Silverstone and Peter Collins beat Ferrari team-mate and eventual world champion Mike Hawthorn by 24 seconds. In 1959 at Aintree, Jack Brabham took his second win, in his Cooper T51, leading from start to finish, finishing 22 seconds clear of Stirling Moss in the BRM P25, who cleared Brabham's team-mate Bruce McLaren near the end of the race. McLaren became the youngest driver to set a fastest lap until Fernando Alonso in 2003.

World Champion Brabham won at Silverstone in 1960, while John Surtees, in his second F1 race, finished 2nd. Wolfgang von Trips took his second and final Grand Prix win at Aintree in 1961, in a Ferrari 1-2-3, from Phil Hill and Richie Ginther. The final race at Aintree was in 1962. Jim Clark took the first of his multiple British wins (and four on the trot) in the Lotus 25. John Surtees was second and Bruce McLaren was again 3rd.

In 1963, Clark won again and repeated the feat in 1964 at Brands Hatch in Kent, still with the Lotus 25. Graham Hill was 2nd for BRM and Surtees 3rd for Ferrari. Clark's win in 1964 was close. Hill was running in 2nd with brake problems, but Clark was losing oil pressure. He cut the engine in fast corners and managed to hold on by 3 seconds.

In 1966 the regulations stipulated 3-litre engines and Jack Brabham led home team-mate Denny Hulme at Brands Hatch in the Brabham BT19 for the first Brabham 1-2 after rain arrived part way through the race. Jim Clark won again at Silverstone the following year, with New Zealanders Hulme 2nd and Chris Amon 3rd for Ferrari. The privateer Rob Walker Racing Team took its final Formula 1 win in 1968 at Brands Hatch, with Jo Siffert in a Lotus-Ford.

Jackie Stewart lapped everyone at Silverstone in 1969 en route to victory, a race during which he had signalled to Jochen Rindt (with whom he had been battling intensively) that a rear wing end plate had worked loose and was rubbing on his tyre.

1970 saw a dramatic denouement, as Jack Brabham ran out of fuel in the lead at the final corner at Brands Hatch and eventual posthumous world champion Jochen Rindt came through to take his third win in a row. Brabham managed to grab second and his final Formula 1 points, with Denny Hulme 3rd for McLaren. In 1971, Jackie Stewart won at Silverstone in his Tyrrell-Ford from Ronnie Peterson in his March-Ford. There were some good battles between Peterson, Tim Schenken and Emerson Fittipaldi and between Henri Pescarolo and Rolf Stommelen.

In 1972 Emerson Fittipaldi won at Brands. When Ronnie Peterson had an engine failure two laps from the end, he crashed into the parked cars of Graham Hill and Francois Cevert.

At Silverstone a year later, nine cars were wiped out at Woodcote at the end of Lap 1, when Jody Scheckter spun across the track. Jackie Stewart had had a start that vaulted him from 4th to 1st in under half a lap. Beginning 4th again on the race re-start, he went up to 3rd. On Lap 6, as he tried to pass Peterson for the lead and was closed off, spinning into the grass. He ended up in 10th.

A year later, Scheckter made British Grand Prix amends and took the win, while in 1975, on a layout which now had a chicane at Woodcote, the race was defined by a hail storm which started on Lap 53. Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, Mark Donohue, Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass and John Watson were among the drivers to go off and the race was stopped. Emerson Fittipaldi took his final Grand Prix win and Carlos Pace and Jody Scheckter were classified in second and third in the results on countback, despite having gone out of the race.

1976 also had its share of drama, when McLaren's James Hunt was in a crash on Lap 1 that stopped the race. Hunt had taken his car back to the pits but had gone through an access road instead of following the track round and was deemed by the stewards to be ineligible to take the restart, as he had not been on circuit when the race was red flagged. The crowd chanted Hunt's name and the stewards reversed their decision. Hunt was allowed back in and won the restarted Grand Prix. The decision was overturned the next month after a Ferrari appeal and Niki Lauda was retrospectively declared the race winner.

In 1977, Hunt turned the tables to win from Lauda, with Gunnar Nilsson third for Lotus. Gilles Villeneuve made his debut for McLaren, only to soon move to Ferrari. 1978 was a race of attrition up front, as both Lotuses retired, Peterson with a fuel leak and Andretti with an engine failure after having also sustained a puncture, while various others retired near the front of the field. Carlos Reutemann passed Lauda on Lap 60 to go on to win. A year later, Clay Regazzoni took Williams's first victory.

The 1980s were characterised by Williams and McLaren success, as they took all the wins, bar 1983. Keke Rosberg's 160.02mph qualifying lap in 1985 stood as the record for 17 years. In 1980, the Ligiers of Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite locked out the front row, but Pironi's tyre deflated while he led on Lap 19, while having taken over at the front, Laffite's then did the same on Lap 31. Pironi battled back from last to 5th, before another such failure, due to wheel rims cracking. Alan Jones took his third win in a row ahead of championship rival Nelson Piquet to extend his lead to six points, while Jones's Williams team-mate Carlos Reutemann was the only other car on the lead lap in 3rd.

In 1981, McLaren took their first victory since 1977 and John Watson his first since 1976. The Williams of Reutemann and the Ligier of Laffite completed the podium. This race marked the first win for a carbon fibre composite car.

A year later, the Grand Prix began to alternate with Brands Hatch (an arrangement in place until 1986) and Niki Lauda won in his McLaren from 5th, while Derek Warwick ran as high as 2nd in the Toleman before half-shaft failure. The Ferraris of Pironi and Patrick Tambay made up the podium.

In 1983, the Ferraris of René Arnoux and Tambay locked out the front row, and Tambay jumped in front off the start, while Alain Prost got ahead of Arnoux in his Renault. Prost overtook Tambay to lead on Lap 20 and won from Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW and Tambay.

A year later at Brands Hatch, Toleman driver Johnny Cecotto broke both legs in qualifying. Prost retired with a gearbox failure, and McLaren team-mate Lauda won, to close the gap in the title battle significantly. Warwick's Renault and Ayrton Senna's Toleman finished 2nd and 3rd. In 1985, Alain Prost's McLaren won at Silverstone, from Michele Alboreto's Ferrari and Laffite's Ligier, but not before Senna overtook Prost three cars to take the lead at the start and was later re-overtaken by Prost, before suffering a fuel injection failure on Lap 58. The chequered flag fell one lap early, after Lap 65. Prost had lapped everyone and the cars continued, but third-placed Laffite ran out of fuel. This would have promoted Piquet to 3rd, but the results stood as they were at the end of the penultimate lap.

In 1986, just like two years prior, another driver broke both legs at Brands Hatch. This time it was Jacques Laffite and like Cecotto, it ended his F1 career. Nigel Mansell beat pole position-holder and team-”mate” Nelson Piquet by 5.5 seconds, while the McLaren of Prost finished a lap down in 3rd.

In 1987, the British Grand Prix returned to its permanent base of Silverstone, Piquet led Mansell most the way and after Mansell stopped for tyres, he was 29 seconds behind the leader with 28 laps to go, but he stormed up to catch and pass him with just 3 remaining at Stowe corner, sending him a dummy move before getting by.

1988 saw the first wet Grand Prix since Spa 1985. The Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Alboreto locked out the front row, but third-starting Senna took the lead on Lap 14 in his McLaren-Honda and lapped fellow McLaren driver Alain Prost at the same time. Prost was having a torrid time, eventually pulling out of the race on Lap 24, citing handling difficulties and being unwilling to take more risks. Berger slipped down the order with a lack of fuel, running out on the last corner of the final lap, Lap 65, while Alboreto had no more on Lap 63. The Williams-Judd of Nigel Mansell was 2nd and the Benetton-Ford of Alessandro Nannini 3rd, despite two spins.

A year later, Prost turned the tables to win, while Senna retired on Lap 12 after spinning off with gear selection difficulties. For the second year in a row, Mansell and Nannini completed the podium spots. Notably, the Minardis of Pierluigi Martini and Luis Pérez-Sala came home 5th and 6th, getting the team out of pre-qualifying duties.

Ferrari's Nigel Mansell led, before hitting gearbox problems and being passed by team-mate Prost, with the gearbox eventually giving up the ghost on Lap 57. He announced he would retire from the sport (although he later changed his mind). Thierry Boutsen finished almost 40 seconds back from winner Prost in his Williams, with Senna a few more seconds behind.

The 1991 race incorporated the new layout for the first time, with the Vale section and the Priory-Brooklands-Luffield complex added. Mansell officially led all of the 59-lap race from pole in his Williams-Renault. Senna had actually beat Mansell off the line, but was passed by Stowe. He ran out of fuel on the last lap, dropping him from 2nd to 4th, and was given a lift back to the pits by Mansell. Berger was 2nd in the McLaren and Prost 3rd in the Ferrari.

Riccardo Patrese beat Mansell away from the start in 1992, but was passed and Mansell won by 39 seconds, the Mansell-mania in force with a track invasion. Patrese finished 39 seconds down, with Martin Brundle placed 3rd in the Benetton.

In 1993, Tom Wheatcroft fulfilled a dream by ensuring a Grand Prix at Donington Park. It was the European Grand Prix and to be the only world championship Grand Prix to date to be held there, The race, on 11th April, was largely wet, but fans were treated to a stonker in terms of what is considered to be one of Ayrton Senna's masterclasses. He dropped to 5th at the start and was in the lead by the penultimate corner. He eventually won, but it was not without problems, as he slipped to 2nd, but he made fewer stops than his rivals in wet-dry conditions. The Williams cars of Damon Hill and Alain Prost were 2nd and 3rd, with Prost lapped by Senna.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone, exactly three months later, was dominated by Hill, who looked set for his first win in Formula 1, until his engine blew on Lap 41. Team-mate Prost took the honours, with the Benettons of Michael Schumacher and Patrese rounding out the podium.

In 1994, unlike at Monaco, where his father Graham had various victories, Damon Hill achieved what his father never managed by winning the British Grand Prix. The win came after Michael Schumacher was black flagged, but ignored the flags and only served a stop-and-go penalty. The eventual world champion was later banned for three races. Hill made a misjudged manoeuvre on Schumacher a year later and took both of them out, leaving Benetton's Johnny Herbert to take his first win (after an attempted move by Williams's David Coulthard at Priory almost paralleled Hill's move).

Jacques Villeneuve won for Williams in both 1996 and 1997, before the heavy rain of 1998, when Mika Hakkinen spun off after Bridge. Leader Michael Schumacher was handed a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He actually served the penalty after he crossed the line to win, but did not lose the victory. A year later, Schumacher broke his leg after crashing at Stowe and David Coulthard took the first of his two successive wins.

Hakkinen won in 2001, while in 2002, the Grand Prix eventually remained at Silverstone, despite plans originally announced to switch it to Brands Hatch. Schumacher won the event that year. The same happened years later for Donington, with a 17-year contract for the Leicestershire circuit from 2010. The sport stuck to Silverstone, though, and it is important that the other tracks are protected from financial danger due to failed attempts to host F1.

There then began eight successive years with different winners, between 2003 and 2010 – Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. In the first of those, there was a track invasion on Lap 11 by a laicised priest, which brought out the safety car.

Hamilton's first win in 2008 was delivered with a dominant display in the wet to win by more than a minute from Nick Heidfeld's BMW and Rubens Barrichello's Honda. In 2010, Mark Webber believed Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel had been favoured after he was given the new front wing design that Webber had tried. When he won the race, he declared over the radio “not bad for a number 2 driver”.

Alonso won again in 2011, this time for Ferrari, when the new configuration had the arena section, followed by Webber for his second victory (and final Grand Prix win) and Nico Rosberg for his only one.

From 2014 to 2021, with the exception of Vettel's 2018 win for Ferrari and Carlos Sainz's success last year, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes conquered every edition of the British Grand Prix, a successful highlight of which was the dramatic finale in 2020. Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture when about to start the final lap, after which he slipped out of the points, and Hamilton had the same on his front-left, on the last lap. Max Verstappen, who had pitted for fresh tyres and the chance to take the fastest lap, was closing in on him, and Hamilton's race almost unravelled as dramatically as the tyre but he controlled the gap and came over the finishing line, with the knackered rubber scraping along, but victory in the bag. Verstappen came 2nd and did get fastest lap, while Charles Leclerc finished an excellent 3rd for a struggling Ferrari.

The next weekend saw the second of a Silverstone double-header (with the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix) and Verstappen turned the tables on Hamilton with a win over him and Valtteri Bottas.

In 2021, Hamilton qualified fastest to line up first for the Sprint, with title rival Verstappen alongisde him and Bottas third. Verstappen flipped it round in the 17-lap race, though, being overtaken at the start. The Red Bull driver won from the Mercedes man, with fellow Mercedes driver Bottas in 3rd. Alonso was given a warning for moving around in the braking zones. Pérez spun off on Lap 5, but was able to carry on.

In the Grand Prix, with Verstappen on pole now, he and Hamilton were racing closely on the first lap, side-by-side through Abbey, before their momentous battle approached a head when Hamilton lined up for the inside at Copse, where they collided. Verstappen was out and the race red-flagged, but not before Leclerc nipped through into the lead. On the restart, Hamilton took a ten-second time penalty. The Ferrari driver suffered some power losses and was overtaken for the lead by Hamilton on Lap 50, who won from him and Bottas.

Last year, Carlos Sainz took and a first and, to date, only win for Ferrari, after qualifying on pole, but not before Zhou Guanyu had a monster crash on the opening lap from which he came out unscathed, Verstappen passed Sainz and later had a damaged floor, causing him to drop off a pace, and a Just Stop Oil protest during the red flag.

Filming will be taking place for the new F1 film this weekend, starring Brad Pitt, another move designed to capitalise on and cement the series' growing popularity.


Trivia

There were eight successive years with different winners, between 2003 and 2010.

There have been eight drivers who have taken a maiden F1 victory at Silverstone (including Farina in the first F1 race here). Last year, I wrote that the last was Johnny Herbert in 1995 and that the most likely contender to change that fact was probably Carlos Sainz, which he duly did.

Lewis Hamilton has won more British Grands Prix than any other driver, with eight wins.

Ferrari have won more times than any other team, with 17 victories, and McLaren three behind on 14.

Red Bull are still unbeaten in 2023 in Grands Prix - they have won all nine rounds contested and are edging closer to McLaren's 1988 record of 11 wins from the first 11.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has taken seven wins so far this year. His record (and the all-time record by a driver in a season) is 15, set last year.

Nyck De Vries and Logan Sargeant remain the only drivers yet to score in 2023, and have been for some time.


The track




Other information

Circuit length: 5.891 km
Number of laps: 52
Race distance: 306.198 km
Dry weather tyre compounds: C1, C2 & C3

Circuit Race Lap Record: 1:27.097
(2020 British Grand Prix - Max Verstappen - Red Bull-Honda)
First British Grand Prix: 1926
First World Championship Grand Prix: 1950
First Grand Prix on current configuration: 2011

Join in the fun with the F1 Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

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[Richard C]

Thanks for the intro!

Looking forward to the race this weekend. I always love the look and flow of the cars entering into Maggotts and all the way through to the exit of Stowe.

As noted in another thread, Mercedes has updates. I have read elsewhere that AT has brought a large upgrade package. They need it as they have really struggled. I assume both McLaren's have the updated package this weekend that only Lando had last weekend.

Albon has been killing it in the Williams recently. And while it is only FP1, he was in third! Looking at sector speed traps, the Williams seems to be decently quick.

I wonder how much of the "on track action" of the Brad Pitt F1 movie may show up online this weekend. I know they are using GP2 cars made up as F1 (via Mercedes team), but I am curious if anyone is looking at the aero details on the "APXGP" car.

Richard

[ChrisA]

Both Williams did well in FP2. Poor LeClerc, no running at all, down to an electrical fault. Hopefully get him running tomorrow. Vestappen on top again.

[v8supes]

There was a lot of "outrage" over the ticket pricing for the event and yet 450,000 people are still due to attend. Dipped in and out of track action today, nothing to add.

Just want to point out how vile social media is, Karun Chandok praised Max Verstappen or something so now a bunch of "Lewis fans" are being very rude and abusive about him.

[Tourer]

Thanks for the intro BR - damn fine work!

Always look forward to Silverstone - same this year. So far is looking close and fingers are crossed here for some genuine competition for the lead on Sunday.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever.


Looking forward to this and seeing if McLaren and Williams can continue to improve.

Glad to see Channel 4 are showing qualifying and the race live. I haven't seen any of their race coverage since the British GP last year, as I never watch the highlights, so it will make an interesting change to Sky Sports F1.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by v8supes

There was a lot of "outrage" over the ticket pricing for the event and yet 450,000 people are still due to attend. Dipped in and out of track action today, nothing to add.

Just want to point out how vile social media is, Karun Chandok praised Max Verstappen or something so now a bunch of "Lewis fans" are being very rude and abusive about him.

A consequence of F1 reaching a “wider audience”?

[Aysedasi]

It's been enjoyable so far to be able to watch the FP sessions and I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the event live for a change. Let's hope it's worth it! This time last year my son and I were there for the Saturday. A year ago already, time flies......

[S griffin]

One of the best events of the season and not just because I can watch it all live on the TV.

Williams are really looking good after FP. Let's see if they can repeat that pace in qualifying. A lot depends on the weather

[bathurst77]

I know it was only Friday and teams are running strategies and tests with fuel loads and setup etc
But both Williams faster than both Mercs and both Mclarens, in the dry!
Sargent 5th. Did anyone have a bet on?

[peebee2]

Williams always going to be quick at Silverstone, Spa and Monza due to their downforce deficiency.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A very damp Silverstone, with drivers/teams in a bit of a quandary as to which tyres to use, inters or soft slicks.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Red flag as Kevin Magnussen stops on the track, with 3:11 minutes to go in Q1.

[chillibowl]

Eventful Q1! Perez unlucky there!

[chillibowl]

So close Mclaren!

Really nice to see. Looking forward to see their race pace match a 2-3 start!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Another riveting qualifying session and a great result for McLaren. Can they convert that into great result tomorrow?

[Aysedasi]

Wow. That was extremely entertaining! I don't think I've enjoyed a qually session that much since..... well, a blooming long time. Fantastic job by Lando and Oscar - I thought for a moment that Lando had done it..... If the race tomorrow is half as good I'll be well pleased.

[GT6]

yep a very good session well done maclaren

[VIVA GT]

I decided to take advantage of the Channel 4 coverage from Silverstone and a tired wife to watch (recorded) FP 1 yesterday, FP 2 & 3 this morning and qualifying live. Very entertaining and it reminded me of 40 odd years ago when we'd camp at Silverstone (or Brands Hatch) from about Wednesday onwards and watch everything unfold. Back in those those days the Grand Prix was just the final part of the jigsaw puzzle at the end of the build up. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same (even if it means I have to take my missus to the pub at lunchtime so she wants to sleep in the afternoon!)

[Greem]

For once I got to watch qualifying on the TV as it happened rather than 3 days later.

That was one of the best qualifying sessions I've seen in a very long time. The rain definitely mixed things up but obviously McLaren have unleashed something in their car, which is great to see.

I loved Lando's comments about Max at the end - "and then along came Max to ruin it for everyone like he always does"

[Aysedasi]

He's such a likeable and playful kid, and he has the talent to go with it too.

[steve_r]

The was fun. Mixed conditions always liven things up.

How impressive were the McLaren duo. It's great to see Piastri up there at the sharp end. What on earth must be going on in Perez's head given this weird run of qualifying disasters.

Nice to see Williams have a good day too.

[Richard C]

Great qualifying. I really was hoping Lando would remain on the pole. It looks like the McLaren updates are working. I hope both McLaren have race pace tomorrow. I also continue to be impressed with Williams. And Perez... Ugh, he is not doing himself any favors.

Richard

[chavez]

I picked a good day for my first ever visit to Silverstone.

Travel by coach from London was hassle free and the Roving Grandstand pass was put to good use.

The only downside, as an Aussie used to wall to wall support races, the card was a little thin. However with Aussies finishing third in both F2 and F3, I can't really complain.

[v8supes]

Wait till tomorrow when you have like a 2 and a half hour gap between Porsche Supercup and the F1 race.