Carlos Sainz earns first F1 podium at British GP, Max Verstappen second

#CarlosSainz #CharlesLeclerc #f1

Carlos Sainz Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain
His Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc will start third
Lewis Hamilton came fifth in qualifying

Written By:Yash Bajaj

Updated: July 02 2022 06:48:49 AM ET London, UK

Carlos Sainz on Saturday earned his fist Formula 1 pole after he beat reigning World Champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc’s timings at the British GP. The Spaniard will chase his elusive first win on Sunday.

Red Bull’s Verstappen came second and Leclerc third.

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Sainz edged Verstappen by just .072 seconds. It was the seventh pole in 10 races for Ferrari this season, though Leclerc had earned the first six poles prior to Sainz’s surprise run.

“First pole position, it’s always special, and especially to do it in Silverstone in the wet. Kept it cool through the session and toward the end I decided to push,” the Spaniard said.

Meanwhile, Verstappen, who had won at Silverstone last year, was booed some in the crowd after an action-packed qualifying session in the rain.

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“If they want to boo, they do that. For me, it’s not going to change anything,” he said. “Maybe some of them don’t like me, but that’s fine. They all have their own opinions. I don’t care.”

Sunday’s race is expected to be largely dry after a rainy qualifying session. The improved conditions could favor the two Red Bulls after Verstappen set the fastest lap time of anyone this weekend in the final practice session before the rain began to fall at Silverstone.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for his home race as Mercedes seemed to have made progress with its problems of bouncing at high speed. His teammate George Russell was eighth.

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Complete lineup:

1. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, 1 minute, 40.983 seconds.

2. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, 1:41.055.

3. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, 1:41.298.

4. Sergio Perez, Mexico, 1:41.616.

5. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, 1:41.995.

6. Lando Norris, Great Britain, 1:42.084.

7. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 1:42.116.

8. George Russell, Great Britain, 1:42.161.

9. Guanyu Zhou, China, 1:42.719.

10. Nicholas Latifi, Canada, 2:03.095.