SILVERSTONE, England – Max Verstappen dominated the inaugural F-1 Sprint race on Saturday at the Silverstone Circuit, which earned the Red Bull driver the pole for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
In addition to the top starting spot in Sunday’s race, Verstappen also added three points to his championship lead in the Formula 1 standings.
Verstappen was able to overtake Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pole, at the start of the 17-lap dash and then survived a few challenges before inching away to the 1.4-second victory.
“That was good fun. I’m of course happy to score the three points and it’s quite funny to have a pole position from the race as well but we will take it,” Verstappen said. “Around here it is difficult to pass but we had a good start and a good fight with Lewis on the first lap. From then we tried to do our own pace but we were pushing each other hard right to the end as you could see the tires were blistering which we all had to manage. Starting the race on lower fuel we could really push the cars hard through the fast corners, lap after lap, which means it is naturally hard on tires but we all have the same to watch out for.
“We now can’t touch the cars for tomorrow and we learnt today that it is very close again with us and Mercedes. It seems that we are very quick in the corners and they are quicker on the straights so tomorrow it’s going to be a really exciting battle and the Team did a great job to manage the new format this weekend. I also want to say a big thank you to the fans. I know they are mainly here for the British drivers but it is still great to see them here cheering and all I want is a good battle with Lewis and everyone else tomorrow which should keep the fans entertained.”
Valtteri Bottas finished third, seven seconds behind Verstappen at the checkered flag. Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris followed in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The finishing order of Saturday’s F-1 Sprint race set the starting lineup for Sunday’s British Grand Prix, meaning Verstappen and Hamilton will make up the front row for the event with Bottas and Leclerc in row two.
The lone retirement from the race was Sergio Perez, who spun on lap five and later parked his Red Bull entry. He’ll start 20th during Sunday’s British Grand Prix.