Verstappen wins sprint race, will start on pole
CHAMPIONSHIP leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull won the maiden Formula One sprint race ahead of Mercedes’
ewis Hamilton on Saturday and will start the British Grand Prix in pole position.
Verstappen got a super start to move from second to first and take the lead from seventime world champion Hamilton. The Briton looked to fight back in the first laps but wasn’t successful in his attempts.
The Dutchman then cruised to victory and secured pole position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix as well as three points in the championship.
“I got off to a really good start and that was a great fight with ewis early on. You could see we were pushing hard as there was lot of blistering on our tyres,” Verstappen said.
In this trial qualifying format, the 1 -lap sprint race sets up the starting grid for the Grand Prix and awards points to the first three drivers.
Hamilton will start the main race in second, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas in third.
“I gave everything today. Tomorrow we try again. It’s not good when you lose from P1. Every point counts,” Hamilton said.
Bottas added he and the team “tried to do something different at the start but it didn’t quite pay off” for them.
“Today has shown us that tomorrow isn’t going to be easy for any of the drivers,” he said.
Charles eclerc will start Sunday’s race in fourth as he held on to his starting sprint race position following early threats from Mc aren’s ando Norris, who was fifth and had team-mate Daniel Ricciardo right behind.
Not everything went well for Red Bull. Sergio Perez had
a bizarre spin which dropped him to the rear of the field. He was then forced to retire the car in the final lap.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine secured a start in seventh after moving up from 11th. Teammate Esteban Ocon finished 10th behind Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin in eight and
Williams’ George Russell in ninth.
Russell, who had a sensational qualifying session on Friday, faces a post-race investigation into a clash with Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
Rookie Mick Schumacher of Haas was 18th. He and team-mate Nikita Mazepin had a contact in the first lap,
which sent the latter off the track.
A massive crowd was allowed to attend a sold-out Silverstone Circuit as F1 welcomes back a full house for the first time since the pandemic began.
Hamilton praised his home fans, saying, “Their energy is amazing.”