Verstappen maintained his dominant grip of top spot in F1 by leading both practice sessions on Friday at Silverstone, but did see his advantage trimmed to just 0.022s by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in FP2.
But it was a frustrating afternoon for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc missed the entire FP2 session due to an electrical issue.
Williams impressed on one-lap pace with Alex Albon third and Logan Sargeant fifth, split by the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, with speed that seemed to surprise team principal James Vowles.
Lance Stroll gritted through getting hit on the finger by a piece of gravel to take sixth place for Aston Martin, ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso in the other Aston who completed the top 10.
On the timesheet it was an underwhelming day for Mercedes with George Russell 12th and Lewis Hamilton 14th, while AlphaTauri debuted its major car upgrades with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries propping up the FP2 results.
What time does qualifying start for the F1 British Grand Prix?
Qualifying for the British GP starts at 3pm local time (3pm BST), using the regular Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.
Date: Saturday 8 July 2023
Start time: 3pm local time – 3pm BST
How can I watch Formula 1?
In the United Kingdom, Formula 1 is broadcast live on Sky Sports, except for the British GP which is shown live on both Sky Sports and Channel 4, with highlights shown on Channel 4 several hours after the race has finished. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.
Sky Sports F1, which broadcasts the F1 races, can be added as part of the Sky Sports channels which costs £24 a month for new customers. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.98p or a month membership of £34.99p per month.
How can I watch F1 British GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom, every F1 practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, with British GP qualifying coverage starting at 2:15pm BST on Sky Sports F1.
Channel: Sky Sports F1
Start time: 2:15pm BST 8 July 2023
Autosport will be running a live text coverage of qualifying here.
Channel: Channel 4
Start time: 2:00pm BST 8 July 2023
Channel 4 also has the rights to broadcast the F1 British GP live, with qualifying build-up coverage starting at 2:00pm BST.
When can I watch the highlights of F1 British GP qualifying?
In the United Kingdom, Channel 4 is broadcasting highlights of qualifying for the British GP at 11:55pm BST on Sunday morning. The full programme will run for 60 minutes, covering both qualifying and wrapping up the major talking points of the race weekend so far.
For the entire 2023 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The highlights will also be available on Channel 4’s on demand catch up services.
Channel: Channel 4
Start time: 11:55pm BST 8 July 2023
Will F1 British GP qualifying be on the radio?
Live radio coverage of every practice, qualifying and race for the 2023 F1 season will be available on the BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 5 Live Sports Extra or via the BBC Sport website.
Coverage of British GP qualifying will start at 3:00pm BST on the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sounds app.
What's the weather forecast for qualifying at Silverstone?
Mixed and mild weather conditions are forecast for Saturday for the start of qualifying at Silverstone. The temperature is set to be 23 degrees Celsius at the start of qualifying, with a good chance of rain.
British GP - FP2 result
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 27 | 1'28.078 | |
| 2 |  Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari | 29 | 1'28.100 | 0.022 |
| 3 |  Alex Albon |
Williams | 30 | 1'28.296 | 0.218 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 30 | 1'28.342 | 0.264 |
| 5 |  Logan Sargeant |
Williams | 29 | 1'28.766 | 0.688 |
| 6 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 30 | 1'28.866 | 0.788 |
| 7 |  Nico Hulkenberg |
Haas | 28 | 1'28.880 | 0.802 |
| 8 |  Pierre Gasly |
Alpine | 27 | 1'28.889 | 0.811 |
| 9 |  Oscar Piastri |
McLaren | 29 | 1'28.926 | 0.848 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin | 26 | 1'29.134 | 1.056 |
| 11 |  Zhou Guanyu |
Alfa Romeo | 28 | 1'29.225 | 1.147 |
| 12 |  George Russell |
Mercedes | 25 | 1'29.238 | 1.160 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 24 | 1'29.242 | 1.164 |
| 14 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 24 | 1'29.260 | 1.182 |
| 15 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 24 | 1'29.283 | 1.205 |
| 16 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 28 | 1'29.378 | 1.300 |
| 17 |  Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 20 | 1'29.439 | 1.361 |
| 18 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 25 | 1'29.483 | 1.405 |
| 19 | Nyck de Vries |
AlphaTauri | 29 | 1'29.571 | 1.493 |
| 20 |  Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 0 | ||
| View full results | |||||
British GP - FP1 result
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 26 | 1'28.600 | |
| 2 | Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 22 | 1'29.048 | 0.448 |
| 3 | Alex Albon |
Williams | 22 | 1'29.089 | 0.489 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin | 21 | 1'29.268 | 0.668 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 25 | 1'29.280 | 0.680 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 23 | 1'29.319 | 0.719 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari | 25 | 1'29.357 | 0.757 |
| 8 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 25 | 1'29.441 | 0.841 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 26 | 1'29.471 | 0.871 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri |
McLaren | 16 | 1'29.658 | 1.058 |
| 11 | Nyck de Vries |
AlphaTauri | 26 | 1'29.691 | 1.091 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 23 | 1'29.768 | 1.168 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly |
Alpine | 24 | 1'29.828 | 1.228 |
| 14 | George Russell |
Mercedes | 28 | 1'29.874 | 1.274 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 22 | 1'30.090 | 1.490 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 28 | 1'30.092 | 1.492 |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant |
Williams | 24 | 1'30.124 | 1.524 |
| 18 | Zhou Guanyu |
Alfa Romeo | 20 | 1'30.321 | 1.721 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 21 | 1'30.385 | 1.785 |
| 20 | Nico Hulkenberg |
Haas | 22 | 1'30.591 | 1.991 |
| View full results | |||||
