How did Lewis Hamilton lose pole at Silverstone?

Although the practice sessions do not completely determine the rest of the race weekends, it seemed obvious to consider Ferrari as once again a serious competitor to dominate the front positions. With McLaren as the main competitor, the Team thus seemed to be heading towards a four-way duel, including Lewis Hamilton was the most anticipated protagonist by an audience won over to the cause of its champion.

That said, when Max Verstappen started lining up the fast laps in EL3 this Saturday at the start of the day, the work carried out by Red Bull between Friday evening and Saturday morning once again took on its full meaning. In pole position, the Dutchman managed to continue, where the Briton lacked a few details.

One last costly sector for Hamilton

Second provisionally before the start of the final attempt of each of the drivers still in the running in Q3, Lewis Hamilton seemed to have the keys to his destiny at Silverstone. Oscar piastri Having missed his exit in the last corner of the track, the door appeared open for the one who was hunting his eighth pole in his kingdom. However, while the Ferrari driver was improving in the first two sectors, the latter seems to have positioned his car slightly too far to the right in order to maximize its entry into the final turns.

Forced to brake at the edge of the grass in Vale, the Briton consequently delayed his braking as much as possible before negotiating the sequence of 17 and 18 of Club. Deciding to push the SF-25 to the limit of traction when it came to resuming the throttle, Lewis Hamilton had to correct, twice, the evasive trajectory of his Ferrari in this long bend. Sector 3 thus became the only one to light up yellow for the nine-time winner of the event. First a tenth behind Oscar Piastri, then 0.203 seconds behind Max Verstappen, this is what seems to have been missing for the driver with the number 44 to aim for much better than a lackluster fifth place.

Another remarkable lap for Verstappen

Despite this chain of errors that led to this final result for Hamilton, it remains essential to underline the quality of Max Verstappen's lap, regardless of the scenario of this Q3. Because if there were four of them to have positioned themselves in the same tenth (Piastri, Norris, Russell, and Hamilton), the four-time world champion appears to have pushed the limits of the track to set a mark that no one else seemed able to reach at that moment.

With Red Bull still proving difficult to gauge, and with McLaren and Ferrari still maintaining impressive race pace, the battle promises to be fierce once again this Sunday. Will a new winner emerge at Silverstone? Will Max Verstappen manage to secure his third victory on British soil? Or will Lewis Hamilton pull off the feat of securing a tenth consecutive victory on home soil? One of the most anticipated races of the year will get underway at 16 p.m. (French time) this Sunday.

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