Verstappen beats Norris to take pole at the British Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his fifth consecutive pole position at the British Grand Prix on Saturday, overcoming the threat of McLaren’s home driver Lando Norris.

McLaren’s Australian rookie Oscar Piastri qualified third fastest in a huge boost for the former champions after a rocky start, with Charles Leclerc completing the second row for Ferrari.

Verstappen’s teammate and closest title rival Sergio Perez qualified just 16th, the fifth consecutive race in which the Mexican has failed to make the top 10.

Perez is already 81 points behind Verstappen after nine races this season, all of which have been won by Red Bull, and will face another rescue operation on Sunday.

Red Bull have won 10 consecutive races, including last season’s final in Abu Dhabi, and are on course to equal McLaren’s all-time record of 11 races set by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in 1988.

Norris looked poised to take pole when he clocked a late 1:26.961, only to see Verstappen go faster on his final attempt to clock a 1:26.720.

“It’s always Max. He always ruins everything for everyone,” laughed the 23-year-old Briton, with friend Verstappen by his side and reveling in the joke in front of a crowd of 140,000.

Verstappen is chasing his sixth consecutive victory and eighth of the season, with a third title that already seems like an absolute formality.

“It’s good to see them both here,” he said of Norris and Piastri, whose crew chief Zak Brown was busy shaking hands with everyone in sight.

Verstappen had a less than perfect afternoon, although he said it was “very nice”, with the 25-year-old making an uncharacteristic mistake exiting the garage and crashing into the pit lane wall towards the end of the first stage.

Last year’s winner Carlos Sainz qualified fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes duo George Russell and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won a record eight times at Silverstone, sixth and seventh respectively.

Source: Terra

Rose

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