UK: pre-sprint 2021

Qualifying defied my expectations with the final result, although I still think this weekend’s schedule is just daft.

The first part of qualifying was very much predictable, with the two Haas slowest, joined by Tsunoda, Raikkonen, and Latifi. At this stage Verstappen and Hamilton had essentially identical times.

In Q2 we lost both Alpines, which was mildly surprising, as well as Gasly, Giovinazzi, with Stroll slowest. The Canadian has been struggling all weekend and has looked quite a bit behind Vettel.

In practice Verstappen looked to have a crushing advantage but in Q2 Hamilton was significantly faster. How would things go in Q3?

Very tightly, and both men could probably have gone faster. Hamilton got it, less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen. But it’s only for the sprint, not for pole. Bottas was not far behind, and half a second separated him and Leclerc.

Perez had to make do with 5th, and the McLarens were closely matched in 6th and 7th, Norris two-thousandths ahead of Ricciardo. Russell got a very impressive 8th, followed by Sainz and Vettel.

It’s frankly bizarre that cars are in parc ferme, qualifying doesn’t determine the race grid, and we have a practice session ahead of us. I’ve decided to just post this now, without a tip, rather than faff around waiting for practice (not least because it’s a hot day and my computer room is a sun trap).

The sprint starts at 4.30pm.

Morris Dancer

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