Mercedes-Hamilton juggernaut rolls on with record pole at Silverstone, Bottas P2; Red Bull’s Verstappen qualifies 3rd

Anyone hoping that the pursuing teams had made up their deficit to mighty Mercedes in the fortnight between the Hungarian GP and this weekend’s British Grand Prix got a hefty dose of reality following Saturday qualifying for the fourth round of the 2020 Championship at the venerable Silverstone circuit. If anything Mercedes seem to be pulling away from their ostensible nearest pursuers, as the battle for pole at this pan flat high speed track was only between reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton and his long suffering number two, Valtteri Bottas. But with the cash on the table, it was Hamilton who smoked both his teammate and the rest of the field, covering the 3.66 mile lap created out of a former WWII bomber airfield in a blistering track record 1:24.303. It was a commanding recovery for Hamilton who had spun somewhat embarrassingly to bring out the Red Flag and halt Q2 just about midway through for a clean up when he brought excessive gravel back onto the track with him. But the English 6-time champion loves his home circuit and he dominated Q3 en route to setting his record 7th pole for a British GP. And however miffed Bottas must have been to miss out by a mere  3-tenths the teammates’ 1-2 results gave team Mercedes the edge over fabled Ferrari for the record for coveted front row lockouts, 66 to 65.

Unfortunately, Ferrari do not look like they will be reclaiming that particular record anytime soon either. Red Bull’s sublime Max Verstappen pipped the Prancing Horse of Charles Leclerc for P3 as the checkered flag flew to end the final qualifying session. But Leclerc’s P4 starting spot looks positively spectacular compared to that of his veteran teammate, Sebastian Vettel. Vettel has clearly struggled with his SF1000 all race weekend so far and could only muster the tenth fastest lap. With Vettel already fated to leave Ferrari at the end of this season and his F1 future uncertain one wonders where exactly the German 4-time champion’s head is at that he is getting trounced so badly by his young Monegasque teammate so far this season.

Likewise for Alexander Albon, Vertsappen’s Red Bull teammate, Saturday qualifying was bit of a disaster. Already down on confidence after a poor and sometimes unlucky start to his 2020 campaign, Albon did his standing within Red Bull no favors by getting knocked out in Q2 with only the 12th fastest lap. With the gap between himself and Verstappen growing wider and the rumors swirling that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz wants Vettel back in the fold the young Thai driver has got be feeling the heat. Albon’s failure to make the top 10 qualifiers opened the door up for good starting positions for several other midfield runners and McLaren’s impressive second year man Lando Norris made good use of the opportunity, tucking in behind Leclerc in P5 and two positions better than his senior teammate, Carlos Sainz, who could only muster P7. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll split the McLarens with the sixth fastest time but the greatly improved team were dealt a blow this week when their other regular driver, Sergio Perez, tested positive for COVID-19. Racing Point brought in former F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg, who raced for the team when they were Force India, but the German veteran understandably struggled to get to grips with the powerful RP20 on such short notice and qualified P13. It looks like Hulkenberg will be needed for next weekend’s race here as well, as Checo Perez will be in quarantine until he gets the all clear and seems certain to miss that newly minted “70th Anniversary Grand Prix” at this same Silverstone circuit.

The two Renaults rounded out the top 10 of the grid, with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying P8 and Esteban Ocon taking P9 on the grid.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British Grand Prix:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race will air live on ESPN starting at 9AM Eastern here in the States. That’s when we’ll find out if fate, the weather or perhaps internecine warfare can derail what right now looks to be an unstoppable Mercedes tandem. Otherwise, it’s pretty clear that the other teams can’t do it on their own merits heads up against the lethal Silver Arrows. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!