Posted on 10th July 2016
In qualifying for the British GP at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton claimed his second consecutive Pole Position with a last-grasp flying lap ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen.
It was announced shortly before qualifying that Sebastian Vettel will be issued with his second five-place grid penalty in as many races after Ferrari was forced to change his gearbox following final practice at the British Grand Prix.
Vettel reported a gearbox issue after setting his fastest time at the end of the final practice session and after investigating the issue Ferrari was forced to change it ahead of qualifying. Under the sporting regulations, gearboxes have to last for six consecutive events and, although Ferrari fitted a new one to Vettel’s car on Saturday morning, as soon as he left the pits the next six-race cycle started.
It was also announced that Marcus Ericsson missed qualifying for the British Grand Prix in order to undergo checks in hospital following an accident in final practice. Ahead of Q1 the team tweeted: “We are still awaiting news from the hospital. Only Felipe will participate in qualifying.”
Lewis Hamilton set a new track record in Q2 and looked to have taken provisional pole with his first run in Q3, only to see the lap time deleted for evading track limits at Copse. That meant he had to go out again late in the session and he managed to hook up a lap three tenths quicker than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after the clock expired. Rosberg then failed to improve on his own lap, giving Hamilton a second straight pole at Silverstone.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who was fastest with a lap time of 1:29.287 ahead of Nico Rosberg in second place who was 0.319 seconds behind him and ahead of Max Verstappen in third place who was 1.026 seconds behind Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo qualifed in fourth place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in fifth place, Valtteri Bottas in sixth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in seventh place, Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place, Fernando Alonso in ninth place and Sergio Perez who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Sebastian vettel ended the session in eleventh place (but has to take a five place grid penalty) ahead of Felipe Massa in twelfth place, Romain Grosjean in thirteenth place, Esteban Gutierrez in fourteenth place and Daniil Kvyat in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Kevin Magnussen qualified in sixteenth place ahead of Jenson Button in seventeenth place, Jolyon Palmer in eighteenth place, Rio Haryanto in nineteenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in twentieth place and Felipe Massa in twenty-first place and Marcus Ericsson in twenty-second place.
The classification of Qualifying for the British GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.29.287
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.319s
3. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.026s
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.331s
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.594s
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 2.270s
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.702s
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 2.885s
9. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.056s
10. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, No time
11. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.31.875*
12. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.32.002
13. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.32.050
14. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.32.241
15. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.32.306
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1.37.060
17. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.37.788
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.32.905
19. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 1.33.098
20. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1.33.151
21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.33.544
22. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, No Time
[Sebastian Vettel has to take a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox].
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
