Hamilton beats Verstappen to claim pole for landmark sprint race

Lewis Hamilton will start the first Formula 1 sprint race from pole position after topping qualifying at Silverstone overnight.

The Brit unlocked plenty of pace between the first practice session, which had him seven-tenths behind Max Verstappen, and qualifying, where he pipped the Red Bull driver to the top spot.

Hamilton launched to the top of the timesheets after the opening runs in Q3.

He was then on course to better his time at the end of the session but suffered a costly mistake at the final corner.

That left Verstappen with the opportunity to demote Hamilton off pole.

However, the winner of the last three Grands Prix could not improve on Hamilton’s benchmark and will start second.

Verstappen was left bewildered as to why he lost so much pace between practice and qualifying but is confident he will take it to Hamilton in the race.

“I had a lot of understeer so I couldn’t really attack any corners,” Verstappen said.

“I think we have a strong race car. We just need to fix a bit the issues we had in qualifying, but I’m quite confident that you know that we can have a strong race.”

Hamilton’s pole is the first time he topped a qualifying session since claiming pole for the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

Valtteri Bottas starts third, with Charles Leclerc, the lead Ferrari, joining him on the second row.

Sergio Perez’s best time was deleted by race control for exceeding track limits, and he starts fifth.

Lando Norris led a McLaren 6-7 as teammate Daniel Ricciardo executed his best qualifying performance in several months.

Though the most impressive qualifier was George Russell who landed P8 on the grid for the sprint race.

“I want to go forward, I want to fight with these guys around me and get the best possible starting position for Sunday,” Russell said.

“I’m treating it like any normal race and just going for it.”

Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top ten.

The inaugural sprint race, which will determine the grid for the British Grand Prix, begins on Sunday, 3.30 am NZT.