British Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins first ever F1 sprint qualifying race to take pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Formula 1 via Getty Images
Giuseppe Muro17 July 2021

Max Verstappen will start the British Grand Prix from pole position after winning the first ever F1 sprint qualifying race on Saturday.

A poor start from Lewis Hamilton allowed Verstappen to get the jump on his title rival off the line and the Red Bull driver led comfortably to the end of the 17-lap dash at Silverstone.

Verstappen finished 1.4 seconds ahead of Hamilton to extend his championship lead by a point to 33.

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas finished in third ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and British driver Lando Norris in his McLaren.

More than 100,000 spectators were at Silverstone for the historic race.

Verstappen said: “Around here it is difficult to pass but I made a good start and had a good fight with Lewis on the first lap.

“We pushed each other hard and we had to manage the tyres to the end. I am happy to get the three points and it is funny to hear I am on pole but I will take it and I am looking forward to tomorrow's race."

Hamilton said: "I gave it everything today. I am sorry I am not able to get the win but tomorrow we go again.

“I hit target on my start but it's not good when you lose form first, but we will try to turn it into a positive tomorrow.

"Every point counts but I am grateful to finish. He was pulling away and there was nothing I could do to hang on to him. I wish we could redo the start.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in