Qualy: Hamilton rises to the challenge with pole

Editor

Lewis Hamilton rose to the occasion as he put aside the deletion of an earlier P1 time to grab pole position for the British GP ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton was forced to do it all late in qualifying as his first Q3 run, a 1:29.339, was deleted for the driver “exceeding track limits at Turn 9.”

The Brit therefore went into his final run without a time on the board and huge expectations on his shoulders.

He rose to the occasion, posting a 1:29.287, purple in the first and third sectors, to grab pole from Rosberg by 0.319 seconds.

Max Verstappen was third, 1.026s down, qualifying ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel finished sixth and faces a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

There was drama after the chequered flag fell on Q1 as Jenson Button believed he was out as he was in 17th position.

However, on his way to face the media he was informed that the stewards were investigating whether Kevin Magnussen had exceed track limits and sprinted back to his car.

Unfortunately for Button, it was Magnussen who grabbed the final spot in Q2 as while he had exceeded the limits, that time had already been deleted.

Button qualified 17th while Formula 1’s other British driver, Jolyon Palmer, was 18th quickest.

Times
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.287
2 Rosberg Mercedes 1:29.606
3 Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.313
4 Ricciardo Red Bull 1:30.618
5 Raikkonen Ferrari 1:30.818
6 Vettel Ferrari 1:31.490.
7 Bottas Williams 1:31.557
8 Sainz Toro Rosso 1:31.989
9 Hulkenberg Force India 1:32.172
10 Alonso McLaren 1:32.343
11 Perez Force India 1:31.875
12 Massa Williams 1:32.002
13 Grosjean Haas 1:32.050
14 Gutierrez Haas 1:32.241
15 Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:32.306
16 Magnussen Renault 1:37.060
17 Button McLaren 1:32.788
18 Palmer Renault 1:32.905
19 Haryanto Manor 1:33.098
20 Wehrlein Manor 1:33.151
21 Nasr Sauber 1:33.544
22 Ericsson Sauber did not take part