F1 British 2025 GP live: Race start time and qualifying results after Max Verstappen takes pole position at Silverstone

“I haven’t been good enough,” Charles Leclerc said post-qualifying on Saturday. “I ended up P6 instead of front row, I can only blame myself. Quali used to be one of my strengths, I’m performing well in races but in qualifying I’m missing something. We have some issues with the car but it’s not an excuse.

“I wanted to work on the quali pace to make it better than sixth. I’ll try my best.”

Leclerc finished sixth on what looked to be a strong weekend for the Ferraris until McLaren and Red Bull stole the show.

Verstappen did not look to be in the hunt for first place, but he pulled a brilliant lap out of the bag to beat Piastri by 0.103 seconds with Norris third, 0.118 seconds adrift.

George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had dared to dream of a first pole position for Ferrari, but ended up two tenths off the pace. Charles Leclerc qualified sixth in the other Ferrari.

Verstappen was only fourth after the opening runs in Q3 at a gusty and overcast Silverstone, and complained his Red Bull was difficult to drive. However, when it mattered most the four-time world champion came from nowhere to take top spot – his first pole since Miami at the beginning of May.

Lando Norris said, post-qualifying session, that his performance was “reasonably smooth, as smooth as I could probably ask for. Most of the laps were all pretty decent.

“Just Q1 was the only little nervous one just with how close it was from the front to last, really. So, otherwise I think, yeah, all good. Most laps always improved and found good lap time. Probably just my final one, I would have hoped to find just that little bit more but just didn’t quite get the grip out of it in some corners and the right balance. But I’m still happy with the third.

As the lights go out tomorrow, Norris is “expecting a tough but an exciting race,” as he battles with Verstappen and his teammate in lap one.

Haas’ Ollie Bearman was hit with a 10-place grid penalty on Saturday after ignoring red flag procedures.

“It sucks, quite honestly. It’s horrible, I can only blame myself, silly error, my fault,” he said. “I’m really happy we had a good qualifying to validate the team’s hard work with the upgrade. Now to be in Q3 with a lot of high speed is a great feeling.”

On the red flag incident he said: “We were doing a very slow lap under the red flag, going into pit entry with very cold tyres and I didn’t account for that – a silly dumb error. I lost it. Silly and really kicking myself, let’s learn from it.”

George Russell, who finished fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton, shared his thoughts post-qualifying session on Saturday.

“Very happy, we’ve been off the pace all weekend. I was not expecting to be in the fight for a good position,” the British driver said. “My last lap really came alive, mega strong, to be 20 milliseconds behind the front row is a good result.”

When asked where his main battle is this weekend, Russell said: “A bit everywhere to be honest. Recent form shows we probably won’t be the strongest tomorrow but looking a bit cooler, it can go anyway. We have to be alert to it.”

The Mercedes driver is hoping for “anything other than sunshine, which is a shame to say! I was really happy with that. It’s been a tough weekend for the pace.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown didn’t think that Max Verstappen’s pole performance answers the questions surrounding his future at Red Bull.

“Doesn’t necessarily answer that,” Brown said. He then said that if you ask both of his McLaren drivers where they will be next year, you would get definite answers.

“There’s something going on there,” Brown said in response to Verstappen dodging questions of where he will race in the future. Verstappen was linked to Mercedes by Sky Sports Italy.

Charles Leclerc picked up the final podium place for Ferrari, while Max Verstappen retired after being hit by Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen’s future at Red Bull has been the topic of much discussion this week – the Dutchman has been linked with a move to Mercedes, potentially replacing arch rival George Russell in 2026.

Prepare for whatever tomorrow might bring by reading up on the weather report:

“Get the guy in front of you,” Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, said post-quali when asked about the papaya rules of engagement for tomorrow’s race. “Race each other hard and clean.”