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Verstappen 鈥榮prints鈥 to grab pole position
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World championship leader Max Verstappen won Formula One鈥檚 inaugural sprint race on Saturday to take pole position for the British Grand Prix but admitted it had been a 鈥渟trange鈥 experience.
The Red Bull driver finished the 100km dash around Silverstone ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes in third place.
Verstappen now has a 33-point lead over seven-time champion Hamilton who is hoping to capture an eighth British Grand Prix triumph later yesterday.
鈥淲e were pushing each other hard as the tires were blistering a lot,鈥 said Verstappen, who collected three points for his win after seeing off his rival by 1.4 seconds.
Hamilton took two and Bottas one.
鈥淲hen I crossed the line after this race and I was told: 鈥楪ood job, you have pole position鈥. It was a bit strange,鈥 added the Dutch star as he reflected on the new Saturday format.
鈥淲hat was great is that you start with less fuel, so the cars are faster and a little more lively鈥 to complete the 17 laps rather than the 52 they will have to cover for the 鈥渞eal鈥 race.
Hamilton started the 17-lap sprint at the front of the grid having topped qualifying on Friday but was immediately passed by Verstappen. He admitted he will face a battle to secure a 99th career win in front of around 90,000 fans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice for the fans to have more races,鈥 said Hamilton who believes the weekend racing schedule needs a rethink.
He wants to see action only on Saturdays and Sundays. 鈥淩emoving one day 鈥 23 days over the season of driving less which, obviously, would be better in ecological terms,鈥 he said.
On Saturday鈥檚 sprint in particular, he added: 鈥淚t was pretty much the same as the last races 鈥 you had to follow Max.鈥
Bottas shared Hamilton鈥檚 lack of optimism for the Sunday race. 鈥淲e tried to do something different and the target was to try and get Verstappen in the first lap. It didn鈥檛 happen,鈥 said the Finn.
鈥淭oday shows that tomorrow is not going to be easy. If it鈥檚 going to be a bit warmer, then we might see more issues.鈥
The rest of the top 10 was made up of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari in fourth, Britain鈥檚 Lando Norris, in a McLaren, in fifth, and teammate Daniel Ricciardo just behind.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso, behind the wheel of an Alpine, shrugged off his 39 years to climb to seventh on the grid. He had moved from 11th to fifth at one stage.
鈥淚 liked the sprint format. It鈥檚 good to have some action all three days, for the fans,鈥 said Alonso.
Behind him are four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin, Williams鈥 George Russell and Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine. Russell, however, was later demoted three places on the grid for an opening lap clash with Sainz.
Verstappen鈥檚 teammate Sergio Perez, who missed the 2020 British Grand Prix after contracting COVID-19, had started in fifth place but then spun off the track at the midway stage. He will have to start the final race from the back of the grid.
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