Key events
Fat Boy Slim is on the wheels of steel. Can he be overheard over the engines? Right here, right now, it’s still raining. “I love that it’s raining,” says Lewis Hamilton. “Good old English weather. I get nervous as this is the week you get nervous the most. The fans have been ride or die with me. Thanks to them I really get to enjoy it.”
It’s raining in Northamptonshire. Good news for Max? Wet weather doesn’t usually stop him. A prep race was abandoned earlier in the day but the track dries quickly.
MetOffice: “expected to be a heavy rain shower passing over the track from the north-west to the south-east, with further rain in the area of Silverstone throughout the afternoon.”
It rather goes without saying that the coverage today features the Brad Pitt F1 film you will have seen advertised just about everywhere. He’s showing Martin Brundle how he drives an F1 car, a McLaren. “What a rush!,” says our Brad, though he’s nowhere near as quick as Brunds.
And a qualifying report.
In beating the charging McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Britain’s Lando Norris into second and third, Verstappen proved once more to be the difference, his touch and precision exquisite through the sweeping, high-speed blast of Silverstone, which demands inch-perfect commitment.
A scene-setter for this weekend from Giles Richards.
Drivers’ championship standings
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1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 216 points
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2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 201 points
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3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 155 points
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4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 146 points
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5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 119 points
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6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 91 points
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7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 63 points
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8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 42 points
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9. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 23 points
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10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) – 22 points
Grid positions
Preamble
Max Verstappen on pole and looking like he means business. This is truly shaping into a world championship to remember. The two McLarens are at close hand and Silverstone, where the championship has visited every season in its history, looks set for a classic. It won’t just be getting in and out of the car park that will be a closely fought battle. Two more plucky Brits in George Russell and Lewis Hamilton complete the top five. It’s been a week of rumours of Verstappen jumping ship, and much else besides but the talking will be done on the grand old track.
We go at 3pm. Join me.
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