Carlos Sainz was fastest in the rain on Saturday in qualifying for the Formula One British Grand Prix and won pole position from the start in Sunday’s race. He led defending F1 champion Max Verstappen by 0.72 seconds, who received some boos.
“Maybe some don’t like me, but it’s okay,” Verstappen said. “I don’t mind”.
Sainz, with Ferrari, posted the fastest time of 1 minute 40.983 seconds towards the end of the third qualifying session. It was the seventh pole position for Ferrari in the 10 races so far this season, although on the previous occasions it has been won by his teammate Charles Leclerc.
“My first pole,” said Sainz. “It’s always something special, and above all to do it at Silverstone in the rain. I kept calm throughout the session and in the end I decided to take the plunge.”
Sainz came close to scoring his first career win in Canada when he came on the heels of Verstappen.
Leclerc will start in third position and the Mexican Sergio “Checo” Pérez in fourth with the second Red Bull.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the race in which he is the local idol. Mercedes has apparently made progress in solving its high-speed bounce problem. His teammate George Russell was eighth.
Speaking trackside after qualifying, the Dutchman heard the boos. Verstappen and Hamilton collided here last year, the Dutchman crashing into a wall while the Englishman overcame a penalty to win the race.
The incident heated up their bitter rivalry in a title race ultimately won by Verstappen. At the hospital where he was kept for observation, Verstappen accused Hamilton of unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating his victory while he was being medically evacuated.
The front page in the days leading up to this year’s race was dominated by statements by former champion Nelson Piquet, who used racist and homophobic terms to refer to Hamilton in an interview filmed last year after the Silverstone crash. The interview only received wide attention this year.
Hamilton and other drivers condemned Piquet. Verstappen, partner of Piquet’s daughter, Kelly, said the Brazilian had used “very offensive” terms, but added that he was “a very nice and calm guy” and not at all racist.
Leclerc said his Ferrari was “competitive” but that a mistake prevented him from challenging for pole.
“I knew it was the lap where I had to define everything and I didn’t do it as a driver, so I didn’t deserve to be on pole,” he said.
