Join Jonny Reynolds for a quick-fire round-up of qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, plus news from F2, where Mercedes youngster Kimi Antonelli put in a timely performance.
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The Athletic. Hello and welcome along to the Race F1 Briefing for Saturday the 6th of July 2024, brought to you by the Singapore Grand Prix, home of Formula One Night Racing. I'm Johnny Reynolds and on today's episode I'll be bringing you up to speed on all the key things that happened on Saturday at Silverstone, including Who Grab Pole for Sunday's British Grand Prix. So, let's get going. It was another mixed bag weather-wise on Saturday with both final practice and qualifying affected by showers, and in the cool damp conditions it was Mercedes who came to the fore with George Russell setting the pace ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in final practice. And would you believe it when the Battle for Pole position took place, it was the same two drivers in the same two positions who claimed the front row of the Gridding qualifying. With Lando Norris 3rd for McLaren, and a damage-affected Max Verstappen 4th for Red Bull. Although things started off damp, it was dry enough for slicks from the second runs of Q1, and so the lap times improved dramatically from session to session. And it was Norris's McLaren that looked the favourite for Pole heading into Q3, especially after Verstappen went off in Q1 and picked up floor damage. Norris went two-tenths clearing Q2 and held provisional pole after his first run in Q3, before Russell's Mercedes squeaked ahead by just 0.0006 seconds. Lewis Hamilton, fastest in the wetter conditions of Q1, briefly went to the top on the second runs in Q3 to huge cheers from the crowd, before Russell's second effort eclipsed Hamilton's own to bring yet more cheers. So Russell claimed his second pole of the season by 0.171 seconds from Hamilton, with Norris completing an all-British top three after overheating his rear tyres badly on that final run and aborting to the pits. Verstappen meanwhile had to settle for 4th, almost two-tenths behind Norris, but the Red Bull's true pace was disguised by that damage. The Dutchman had gone off at cops corner in Q1, losing the rear on the way in on slicks on a damp track. He caught the slide, but the correction carried him across the wet runoff strip and into the gravel trap which proved enough to damage the floor. His final lap in Q3 was, at least, enough to get him ahead of Oscar Piestries McLaren, which failed to improve on his own final run. Nico Holkenberg put the upgraded Haas into the top six with a superb performance, almost two-tenths clear of the works Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Lance Stroul, Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten, but two high-profile drivers had very disappointing days, and we'll talk about them next. It was another unhappy Saturday for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who failed to progress to Q3 for the second time in four races. The Monogast driver was bounced out of making Q3 by 0.164 seconds thanks to a last gasp effort from Lance Stroul's Aston in Q2, and when I say bounced, I mean it. Ferrari has been struggling with bouncing at high speed since upgrading its car at the Spanish Grand Prix, and has been experimenting with different specifications at Silverstone to try to reclaim some stability. Leclerc hasn't looked comfortable since Friday practice, and he ended qualifying 0.254 seconds behind Ferrari teammate Science, who was only seventh quickest in Q2. Afterwards Leclerc said, "We've lost some performance since Monaco as a matter of fact, and we are looking into it. That's also why we're doing all these tests." He added, "What we've done yesterday was very helpful to help us take the right decision going forward. Attempts have been made to improve the situation for Silverstone, with Leclerc running a slightly stiffened floor in the hope this would eliminate its troubles. Given the packages apparently working is hoped at lower speed, there is downforce and drag gain from the upgraded package, so if the benefits can be hung onto in the bouncing eliminated, there is theoretically performance there. The trouble is, that is much easier said than done." The switch to the old package also sacrificed a little performance given it was to make the car more predictable. As Science says, "We know it's not faster, but it is more drivable." Watching Leclerc in action on Friday supports that statement emphatically. As Ed Straw and Gary Anderson reports, "It's never positive when a team rolls back on an upgrade, but this is particularly concerning for Ferrari." After all, the team characterised the Spanish GP upgrade is building on the previous one introduced to Imola rather than any real change of direction, given the package has exacerbated rather than created a problem to fix might not be a straightforward one, or quick. The race F1 briefing If Leclerc's qualifying was rough, Sergio Perez's was truly miserable. Yesterday we brought you the news that the Mexican's Red Bull seat might not be completely safe, despite him signing a new deal to the end of 2026 barely a month ago, because of his poor run of form. And Perez suffered yet another setback on Saturday after a spin into the gravel in damp conditions in Q1, consigned him to an early exit and 19th place on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. Perez held his hands up for the error, but it leaves him with just one top 10 start in the last 6th Grand Prix, and the pressure now is really piling on. Asked if he had spoken to Red Bull chiefs Christian Horner and helmet Marco about his future, Perez replied, "No, nothing about it, I have a contract and I'm fully focused on my job, which is to deliver tomorrow." The 6th time Grand Prix winner was also asked whether he is fully confident in his placing the team for the rest of the year, to which he said, "Of course, I'm fully committed to the team, I'm fully committed to my career, I have a contract with the team, and I'm going to turn things around." As Scott Mitchell Malm reports, "The problem for Perez is that his commitment to Red Bull is not really the issue. It's whether his form continues to fall short of Red Bull's expectations, or even directly leads to a faltering Red Bull Championship bit, will leave the last word on the matter to Horner, who said on Friday, "What we've constantly seen from him is this resilience to be able to bounce back, and we're hoping to see that very soon." For Formula One, that is absolutely finest on the 60 seconds, and last lap, George Russell into the wall without the race. Nothing else comes close at the home of Formula One Night Racing. Carlos Sines, tactical brilliance, Carlos Sines, the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix. Watch it live, Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, 20th to 22nd September. Book now at SingaporeGP.sg. Another story we reported on yesterday was Carlos Sines still being in with a shout of landing in Mercedes Drive in 2025, with team boss Toto Wolf telling reporters that the team's F2 protégé Kimi Antonelli, the man expected to take Lewis Hamilton's seat, was not nailed on to get the drive. If these comments were meant to spur Antonelli on, after two consecutive non-scoring weekends that have left him ninth in the F2 standings, then they appeared to do the trick, with the 17-year-old taking his maiden victory in Saturday's sprint race at Silverstone. Afterwards, the Italian, who on Friday was called a "one-of-a-kind driver" by Wolf, said the winning tricky wet condition shows he can handle the pressure, and it certainly come at a good time for him as far as the F1 driver market is concerned. As the race's Samaf Canal reports, "Regardless of whether or not Antonelli graduates to F1 with Mercedes in 2025, it's clear that he's all but ready to face the off-track demands of the top tier, and his on-track credentials have only been bolstered by such a stellar drive." Your move, Toto. Let's finish today's episode with a quick look ahead to tomorrow's race, where the race's mark use is anticipating a four-way fight for victory between Russell, Hamilton, Norris, and Verstappen. And wouldn't that be good? As Mark reports, "intriguingly, Mercedes have opted to run a lower drag set up than either McLaren or Red Bull, which gave the Silverado's fabulous performance in the cool windy conditions of qualifying, but maybe at a disadvantage in longer runs in the race, regardless of whether we get wet weather, dry weather, or perhaps even a little bit of both." Russell for one is expecting quote "a very Montreal sort of race." And for those of us watching, that can only be a good thing, because that was an absolute cracker. Well, that's all for today's episode. If you miss qualifying, I do hope you feel up to speed on everything you need to know ahead of the race. And don't worry if you missed the race too, because I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of the Race F1 Briefing with all the need-to-know details. Until then, goodbye. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
