The rain had started to fall at Silverstone minutes before qualifying started, with Verstappen comfortably heading into both Q1 and Q2. Verstappen was then leading Q3 in the closing moments when Sainz unleashed his final lap to stop the clocks at 1m 40.983 and take P1 with an effort he described in disbelief as “terrible”. However, on the weekend of his 150th Grand Prix start, the formidable fared very well. Sainz was 0.072s ahead of Verstappen, with Leclerc P3, 0.315s clear of his team-mate – both Leclerc and Verstappen had suffered Q3 spins while setting promising laps. Sergio Perez was P4 in the second Red Bull, ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, with Lando Norris P6, as Fernando Alonso and George Russell completed the top eight. Zhou Guanyu was P9, while Nicholas Latifi survived a scary finish at Turn 1 to take P10, in his first Q3 appearance. 1 Carlos Sainz SAI Ferrari 1:40.983 2 Max Verstappen VER Red Bull Racing 1:41.055 3 Charles Leclerc LEC Ferrari 1:41.298 4 Sergio Perez PER Red Bull Racing 1:41.616 5 Lewis Hamilton 1994AM H. Pierre Gasly was P11 for AlphaTauri, ahead of the second-placed Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and Gasly’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, with Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon facing worsening conditions in Q2 and failing to make it, taking P14 and P15. Meanwhile, failing to make it out of Q1, Alex Albon was P16 – despite being fitted with Williams’ extensive upgrade package, which Latifi lacked – while both Haas and Aston Martins came out and in the first segment, Kevin Magnussen’s class in P17, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher and Lance Stroll. So Sainz finally has the first pole position. But can a maiden victory come on Sunday, at a Silverstone track he adores? Tune in to find out. Qualifying highlights: British Grand Prix

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Both Haas and Aston Martin retire as rain drenches the Silverstone track

With just 10 minutes to go before the start of qualifying, a group of ever-reliable British clouds spewed their contents over the Silverstone circuit, causing an all-team dive into the intermediate tires – and a major traffic jam before the green light . drivers looked to get a banked lap on the board in case the rain intensified. As it happened, the rain eased throughout the opening stretch, a drier line emerging around the iconic 3.6-mile track as Verstappen set the early benchmark with a 1m 40.452, improving to 1m 39.975s one tour later, 0.655s away from Leclerc. The question now was, would the track improve enough for the teams to suit slicks? But ultimately, while the track was improving, it wasn’t improving enough for treadless tires. With the clock ticking down on the 18-minute first stage of qualifying, Leclerc hit back at Verstappen to briefly take the top spot, only for a superb all-purple sector lap from Verstappen to see him clock 1m 39.129s , 0.717s up. in Monegasque as George Russell put himself in P3, 0.899 seconds off the pace, ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Perez. Daniel Ricciardo then risked an embarrassing Q1 exit on his F1 debut 11 years ago, before a last ditch effort lifted him to an eventual P14. At Williams, and despite not being fitted with his team-mate’s significant upgrades, Nicholas Latifi made Q2 for the first time this season in P15, with Alex Albon 0.080s off P16 and bemoaning his strategy Williams to use the cool-down laps instead of continuing to drive hard. The weather reflected the mood at Haas and Aston Martin, meanwhile, as the two teams lost both cars in Q1, Vettel expressed his bitter disappointment with a series of jabs at the steering wheel. Knocked out: Albon, Magnussen, Vettel, Schumacher, Stroll Albon took an early bath

Q2 – Latifi makes his first appearance in Q3 at the expense of Ocon and Ricciardo

Everyone was now trying to get a gauge on what the weather would do throughout the rest of qualifying – with the airwaves full of engineers offering different meteorological views… As it turned out, the rain would increase steadily throughout Q2, meaning drivers who had good laps in the early doors of the grid would have a clear advantage. Verstappen led the way once again, with a lap of 1m 40.655s that was around a second and a half slower than he managed in Q1, with Hamilton – someone who knows a thing or two about hitting Silverstone in the wet – to enter P2, 0.407 s off. With the checkered flag flying for Q2, the timesheets were a yellow wave, none of the drivers in the bottom five exclusion zone improving on their final efforts. This meant that Esteban Ocon found himself in P15, one place below Ricciardo’s McLaren. Both AlphaTauris also retired – although given their race pace this weekend, 11th for Gasly and 13th for Tsunoda might not be so bad – with Bottas 12th. Nicholas Latifi was one of the drivers to set a solid early lap – and it was good enough to propel the under-pressure Williams driver into Q3 for the first time in his career as he took P10 just behind China’s Zhou Guanyu driver that continues its impressive run as the only Alfa in the top 10. So were the Red Bulls, and the Ferraris, and the two Mercedes in Q3, along with McLaren’s Norris, Alpine’s Alonso, and the aforementioned Zhou and Latifi. Knocked out: Gasly, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Ocon Ricciardo retired in Q2 as Norris made it through

Q3 – Sainz banks maiden pole position as Verstappen and Leclerc spin

Inters remained the tire for Q3, while rumors of further rain adding to the existing slush came over the team radio as the drivers headed to the elegant Silverstone circuit. Once again, it seemed, a banker round was needed. Verstappen seemed to be up to something when he spun wildly out of Stowe, his RB18 performing a neat pirouette. Was he irritated? No, as he then posted two purple sectors en route to P2, before bettering his second attempt to set 1m 42.966s. “More rain expected, keep pushing,” said Verstappen, and the Dutchman kept his footing right and continued to hit. With two minutes to go it was Verstappen from Hamilton and Leclerc, the three set to take the spoils in qualifying. But out of nowhere came Sainz, who had been flying under the radar since leading FP2 on Friday afternoon. And with time not running out, Sainz took the checkered flag with a lap that was good enough for provisional pole. Verstappen and Leclerc were quickly dropping back – but then Leclerc spun at Turn 14, with yellow flags forcing Verstappen to pit and hand pole position to Sainz. As the Spaniard was informed of his triumph, he replied in disbelief: “I was terrible out there! How did I get the P1?” “You held it together like a smooth operator!” his engineer replied with a laugh. 2022 British GP Qualifying: Carlos Sainz claims impressive maiden pole at Silverstone
Enjoy ecstatic scenes in the Ferrari garage as the Scuderia responded to the popular Spanish charge. Verstappen was content enough to settle for P2, the form man throughout qualifying losing just 0.072s as Leclerc settled for third, ahead of Perez. Hamilton looked a threat at the start of the first row but was eventually beaten to take fifth to team-mate Russell’s eighth, on a day Mercedes admitted was a touch disappointing – given its range of upgrades for the W13. Among the Silver Arrows were a “very satisfied” Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso. Zhou Guanyu was a decent ninth, while a big spin by Latifi at Turn 1 in Q3, which the Canadian was lucky to escape unscathed, eventually left him 10th. Sainz congratulated 1992 champion Nigel Mansell

Key quote

“First of all, thanks to all the crowd for the cheers and thanks to everyone for staying out there in this rain. Spaniards, we struggle a bit more with this rain, but you can say you are used to it. Thanks for being there, it was a good lap but I struggled with the standing water – in between there was a lot more standing water on the racing line. It was very easy to take snapshots. “I ended up doing a lap that I thought was nothing special, but I just put it on the board and see what it’s like. Pole position, it was a bit of a surprise… If I go by my pace in FP2 then we should be…