Sebastian Vettel on pole at Silverstone

The session starts with a bang and it’s Sébastien Bourdais who shows up first. The Frenchman does two fast laps before seeing the big names of the weekend show up. Trulli, Rosberg, Webber and Hag followed one another in provisional first place, before the good time of 1:18:674 fell to Australian Mark Webber. Behind, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Massa and Raïkkönen arrive on the track to exit the red zone (15th to 20th place). It is something done for the Ferrari, who return to the forefront, like the Williams since Nakajima sets the best time (1:18:530). At the same time, Adrian Sutil violently left the track, escaped without damage but forced the marshals to wave the red flag. The few drivers, including Sébastien Bourdais, who hoped to improve in their last flying lap, were stopped in their attempt. The two Force Indias, both Toro Rosso and the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton therefore stop there.

The second phase resumes in the same way, on a very rapid basis. Mark Webber set the fastest time very early on, before improving (1:18??205). The Brawn GP of Button and Barrichello try to join him but only gain runners-up. In the last second of the session, Sebastian Vettel snatched the best time (1:18:119) and once again asserted himself as the fastest of the weekend. Massa is trapped in 11th position, he is eliminated at this stage, as are Kubica, Kovalainen, Piquet and Heidfeld.

The Red Bull continue their domination in Q3, despite cars weighed down with fuel. Vettel took the best time twice at Barrichello, before Mark Webber set a superb time (1:20:040). The Brazilian does not want to be defeated and takes back the leading time but is immediately dispossessed by Sebastian Vettel. The German improved by more than three tenths and thus secured pole for the British Grand Prix. Barrichello slots into 2nd position between the two Red Bull drivers, while his teammate, championship leader Jenson Button, is only 6th. The opportunity, perhaps, to attend a GP this Sunday different from what we have seen since the start of the season.