The special one was in town. Strolling with his usual swagger across the pit lane, Jose Mourinho was on ceremonial duties on Saturday in handing over the Pirelli pole position award at a murky Silverstone circuit. However, rather appropriately, Mourinho gifted the prize to F1’s very own special one, who gave a firm reminder as to what all the current fuss is about.
Max Verstappen, in typical 2025 fashion, expertly sprung from nowhere at the end of qualifying to take top spot in front of an, ultimately, disappointed British crowd. Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton had appeared genuine favourites beforehand, given their fine form in practice, but they will line up third and fifth. Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, starts in P2.
An image of Verstappen’s print media session on Thursday has been doing the rounds online in recent days, with throngs of journalists crowding around the Dutchman, sitting nonchalantly at a table in Red Bull’s “Energy Station” motorhome. Not an uncommon occurrence, but more notable than ever this week, given the speculation surrounding his future at Red Bull. Rumours he shut down a day later, insisting he has no intention of joining Mercedes in 2026.
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However, with Toto Wolff refusing to categorically rule out a swoop for the four-time world champion, whether it be alongside or instead of arch-nemesis George Russell, qualifying for the British Grand Prix recapped why the Mercedes boss continues to lurk in the background. While others fell at the final post, Verstappen found his A-game to take pole by 0.103 seconds.
“That final lap was good enough,” he said afterwards. Unlike other years, Verstappen was not jeered by the British crowd, who all seemingly understood the excellence they had just witnessed.
“This is a proper track. You have to go flat out and be really committed, it’s really enjoyable. We’re quite quick on the straights, we’ll have to wait to see what tomorrow will do.
“It’s a big boost for the team and we’re excited to go racing tomorrow.”
For Hamilton in particular, given his torrid start for Ferrari, this was a bitter pill to swallow, at a circuit he has won an astonishing nine times. A moment of understeer at the final corner of his final lap ruined his chances of a front row starting spot. His Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc came home sixth and lost his cool in the cockpit, swearing repeatedly after a final lap to forget.
Piastri, much like Hamilton, lost control of his speedy McLaren at Vale on his final run, meaning he went no quicker, while Norris had a solid if uninspiring session, in front of his own 10,000-capacity “Landostand” at Stowe corner.
Yet Verstappen did what Verstappen does, capitalising on the mistakes of others to add a very real sense of intrigue to Sunday’s 52-lap grand prix. With rain in the air, there’s hope for Hamilton and the other Brits yet, but the Dutchman’s mastery of the wet should not be ignored either.
"I’m really pleased with the progress and with the direction,” said a surprisingly upbeat Hamilton afterwards. An upgraded Ferrari car has given him room for optimism, as he looks to wipe out his current 13-race podium-less streak.
TOP 10 BRITISH GP QUALIFYING
1. Max Verstappen
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Lando Norris
4. George Russell
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Fernando Alonso
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Carlos Sainz
10. Kimi Antonelli*
*Antonelli received a three-place grid penalty for colliding with Verstappen at the Austrian GP
“My engineer and I have been really gelling a lot better in terms of how we set the car up, and I’m much happier in the car. The lap was really nice right up until the last corner. I had a little bit of understeer. I don’t know if it was the kerb, but I just lost it.
“It cost me just over a tenth, so that would definitely have put me on the front row. We are making progress. There's still more to make, but we had the upgrade in the last race and we are improving our process, the way we go about our weekends. I definitely feel like we’re pushing to have better results.”
Qualifying was paused for 10 minutes early on after Franco Colapinto crashed into the wall at the final corner. While the Argentine driver did manage to get the car going again, severe damage to the rear wing meant the 22-year-old stopped just outside the pit exit.
A driver under pressure in his seat at Alpine, with Valtteri Bottas linked to the team this week, this will have done Colapinto’s confidence and ambitions no good at all, with tough taskmaster Flavio Briatore watching on.
Hamilton narrowly progressed from Q1 in 14th place, but was unimpressed when told there wasn’t enough fuel left in his car to complete a late fast lap. Fortunately, for Ferrari, it didn’t matter, but of far greater significance was the Scuderia’s sudden lack of performance, after a promising few practice sessions this weekend.
Russell was delighted afterwards with fourth place, given Mercedes’ distinctly being the fourth-quickest team this weekend, while there was a tough lesson in racetrack maturity for 20-year-old British rookie Ollie Bearman.
The Haas driver sped at 161mph into the pit lane at the end of third practice, crashing into the wall, and all inexplicably under red flag conditions. Despite a strong qualifying result of eighth, he will start the race in 18th as a result of a 10-place grid penalty.
“It sucks, quite honestly,” a gutted Bearman said afterwards. “It’s horrible, I can only blame myself.
“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 I’m really kicking myself.”
Yet while the Brits faltered, Verstappen kept his cool. He’d earlier commented in qualifying that the Red Bull car “was just so difficult”. By the end, he was beaming. And it’ll be some task to shake him off the top spot come Sunday night at Silverstone.
