British Grand Prix Saturday: Teams and Drivers report from Silverstone

Verstappen overcame earlier struggles with Red Bull changing the setup of his car between Friday and Saturday as the reigning Formula 1 champion delivered the goods beating the McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris who were second and third respectively.

Verstappen's improvement was evident in the final practice session which was topped by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, but the Reds failed to deliver in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton qualifying fifth and Leclerc sixth.

We covered what the top three qualifiers had to say after qualifying but here is what the rest had to say.

Lewis Hamilton: "It was a very competitive qualifying session. Q2 was strong, but I wasn’t able to extract the improvement we were aiming for on the final lap of Q3, so ultimately we’ll start P5. I’m really proud of the way the team has worked all weekend, there were plenty of positive signs in practice. Tomorrow won’t be easy with the cars ahead, but there’s something special about Silverstone. The energy from the crowd here is incredible, and I’m looking forward to giving it everything out there."

Charles Leclerc: "I’m not happy with my qualifying today. The mistake in the last corner of my final lap in Q3 cost me at least one or two tenths, which in this case could have put me on the front row for the race. That's disappointing, and I will focus on putting it all together going forward.With our car being stronger in the race than in qualifying so far this season, there is a chance we can do something tomorrow. However, starting from the third row means we have to fight our way forward at the start, which we pay for later in the race due to tyre degradation. We will have to find the right balance tomorrow and work on bringing a good result home for the team.

Fred Vasseur - Team Principal: "The qualifying result is a bit frustrating, because the car was clearly quick all weekend and even today, as we were first and second fastest in Q2. The upgrades we introduced in Austria played their part, and importantly they have probably helped the drivers to now feel more confident in the car. It’s encouraging everyone to keep pushing. Fifth and sixth means we did not execute qualifying well, we did not put everything together for that final run. With all the support for the team this weekend, especially for Lewis, it’s a shame we did not deliver something better. On the plus side, I believe we have made a step forward in terms of pure performance. However, P5 and 6 is still respectable, because we know we have good long run pace, we always perform a bit better on Sunday than on Saturday, and overtaking is possible at Silverstone, so we can fight back from here. That’s motor racing and now we must concentrate on tomorrow and see what we can do to ensure we have a better Sunday."

George Russell: "I am very happy with P4 today as we've been off the pace at the very front all weekend. I would have definitely taken that if I had been offered it at the start of the day. We only had one new set of Soft tyres for Q3 so we had to make that final lap count. I thought I managed a solid effort and, whilst it is slightly frustrating to be just over one tenth off pole and a few hundredths from the front row, we've given ourselves a good chance of fighting for the podium on Sunday.

"Tomorrow's forecast is mixed which may offer some opportunities for us. We know just how changeable the weather can be here. It is also likely to be cooler and more overcast than we saw on Friday, so hopefully our long run pace is stronger than we showed in FP2. Whatever the situation, I am ready to give it my all at my home race and put on a show in front of this incredible British crowd."

Kimi Antonelli: "It hasn't been an easy weekend for us so far, but we were able to put in a solid performance come Qualifying. My lap was nothing special and I struggled in sector two, but the rest of the lap was OK. We've been lacking a bit of stability in the high-speed, which is not the feeling you want around a track like Silverstone with so many fast corners. On my final effort, the rear wasn't quite as planted as I would have liked; that cost me a bit of confidence and probably a little bit of time too.

"We will see what we can do tomorrow. We have to serve our three-place grid penalty from Austria which is not ideal but hopefully the conditions will present us with some opportunities. There is some rain on the forecast, and it should be much cooler than it was on Friday anyway. That should hopefully bring the car towards us. We will see what we're facing come lights out and build from there."

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: "P4 and P7 is not ever going to be our happy place but we can take some positives from the progress we made after a difficult Friday. George put in a superb effort to get onto the second row, just over one tenth of a second adrift of pole, hundredths behind the McLarens and ahead of both Ferraris. It was another good performance in a season full of them. He is driving fantastically at the moment and hopefully he can be looking ahead tomorrow and be in the fight for the podium.

"For Kimi, he also took good steps from yesterday and P7 was a solid effort. Of course, he has a grid penalty to serve but he should have the pace to move forward. Tomorrow's forecast is still mixed with some rain potentially on the radar. You never know what can happen in those conditions, particularly here at Silverstone. We will be aiming to take advantage of any opportunities that come our way and put on a strong showing."

Fernando Alonso: "I'm happy with today and to be in Q3 again. It wasn't a straightforward FP3 session for us and because of this we went into Qualifying a little more unknown with the car setup. We tested the new upgrades this weekend too and it seems a small step in the right direction. So, all in all, I think we can be pleased to be starting P7 tomorrow after a well-executed Qualifying session. Let's see what we can do tomorrow. We will keep an eye on the weather and I would quite like there to be some rain as it can mix things up. There are some fast cars around us and it will be a long race, but let's see if we can score some more points."

Lance Stroll: "Overall a tricky day and Qualifying session for us here in Silverstone. I was really happy with the car setup yesterday, but today I struggled with balance and pace, similar to last weekend where we looked competitive on Friday, but then struggled during Qualifying on lower fuel loads. We will need to look into this to understand it better because I'm not sure why. It's going to be a really tough day tomorrow starting from the back, but we'll see what we can do."

Andy Cowell, CEO & Team Principal: "A strong session for Fernando with clean and tidy laps taking him through to Q3. We expect him to start from P7 [after grid penalties for Bearman and Antonelli] which gives us a good opportunity to score some points. Lance was not as comfortable with the car today and was missing the balance we had in the free practice. We will go through the data to try and see why that happened and improve things going forward. It looks like we can expect similar tricky weather conditions tomorrow – with gusts and a risk of showers. We will be pushing hard, determined to put on a good show on home ground in front of the British fans."

Pierre Gasly: "I am very happy with today's Qualifying, especially considering how complicated this weekend has been for the team so far. We did not show much pace yesterday or even this morning in Free Practice 3. We stuck together as a team, made some changes, and just tried to maximise the package, so credit to everyone for doing a fantastic job. I am very pleased for them that we reached Q3 as it certainly did not look promising up until then on a track which we knew would be tough for us. Conditions have been tricky with the wind gusts, so it has been difficult to be completely happy in the car. We sneaked through Q1 and then the Q2 lap was a really good one to reach Q3. Tomorrow, we start in eighth place and we have given ourselves a chance to score points. The reality is, it will not be easy but we will be ready for the fight. There could be some rain too, so we have to be prepared to take any opportunity."

Franco Colapinto: "Overall, it was a frustrating way to end our day and it was a pity that we could not make it back to the garage to complete a final run in Q1. The conditions were tricky, as they have been all weekend, and I was pushing and lost the car on the exit kerb of the last corner. I was pushing hard trying to find the gaps we are missing, and I unfortunately lost the rear of the car. There was some contact with the tyre barrier and I thought it was okay, as we managed to rejoin the track. However, there were some vibrations and we decided to pull over and stop on track. Sorry to the team and we will keep working and try our best in the race tomorrow. Looking at the forecast and the possibility of rain for the Grand Prix, we will try to maximise any opportunities that come our way and make up some positions. Also, well done to the team and Pierre for the turnaround they had given the difficulties we have faced across the weekend."

Flavio Briatore: "Given the issues we have faced so far across the weekend with the drivability of the car and the feedback of both drivers, it was a great effort by the team and Pierre to get the car into Q3. With the grid penalties for Kimi [Antonelli] and Oli [Bearman] we will line-up in eighth position, and with the usual unpredictable weather at Silverstone, anything can happen in tomorrow's race. What today again shows is that whatever difficulties we face as a team, we must always push to deliver the maximum and unlock performance with the package we have. For Franco, he knows he made a mistake and needs to improve and come back strongly in the race tomorrow."

Isack Hadjar: "It was a disappointing Qualifying. We've had a great car all weekend and a good start to the session today, but then I felt that we reached the limit of the car very early, whilst other teams were able to keep finding pace. I felt I was a bit on the edge and therefore unable to find more lap time. We've been struggling a bit on a single lap, so looking at tomorrow, I think the long run is going to be difficult, but obviously we'll give it our all to fight for points as it will be a long race."

Liam Lawson: "A Q1 exit is really frustrating, especially since we've had a fast car all weekend. Unfortunately, the drop in temperature meant we couldn't get the tyres up to the right temperature, I had no grip starting the lap and it didn't improve as the lap went on. It's a shame to throw away a Qualifying session like that. These tyres are very sensitive, but that's nothing new, and we should have handled it better. Starting from where we are, we'll need to consider an alternative strategy for tomorrow. Anything can happen, the weather here is unpredictable. We'll push for a top 10 finish, but it's going to be a tough race."

Tim Goss, Technical Director: "After promising sessions through Friday, we felt we were in a relatively strong position going into P3 and Qualifying. Overnight we made further small adjustments to the car setup to try and adapt to the windy conditions, to rebalance the car for the expected cooler track temperatures and to evaluate different downforce levels. Whilst these were broadly effective, we ultimately struggled to deliver to meet our expectations in Qualifying. Liam's car lacked a bit of grip, especially in sector 3 and we narrowly missed the cut into Q2. Isack progressed comfortably out of Q1, but couldn't extract enough from the car in Q2. Looking forward to the race we know we have demonstrated good tyre management and are confident that we will have a good shot at a points finish."

Ollie Bearman: "It was a good qualifying session and the car feels really good today, the car has been performing as expected and we've shown that on a Saturday which feels good. The team has done a great job today, so it hurts, but the car was easily into Q3 and if we have a good qualifying, I think it means we've got a really good race car."

Esteban Ocon: "It's very close out there – as always – and unfortunately there were a few issues on the out lap and it wasn't a clean last run. We'll see what the weather is like tomorrow, if degradation is high it should open up opportunities, but it currently looks more difficult than the last two races, however things are going in the right direction and we'll give it our best shot tomorrow."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "Mixed feelings today. The amazing positive is that we brought an update here and what a good job the team has done. The upgrades worked, we made the change yesterday, and it did what it was supposed to do. Today, Ollie got used to it and then harnessed its potential, and we all saw the result. We managed to make it into Q3 and P8 behind the big teams, so that's a testament to everyone's hard work. Of course, on the flip side, Ollie making that mistake in FP3 and receiving a 10-place grid drop for the second time is not good. We're starting P18 so that's just something we have to deal with, and we can't repeat that. Esteban's Q2 lap on his second run was compromised during his out lap so he didn't get everything out of it. He was less happy with the car today, so we need to look into that. Tomorrow we have to give it everything starting from P14 and P18 – we'll aim to get into a points scoring position."

Carlos Sainz: "I don't think there was much more for us out there today. I missed Q3 by the slightest of margins, but this weekend we've been consistently running in the gap between P10 and P14, so I think our position is representative of where we are. We've been dedicating this weekend to a lot of set-up experimentation, so it hasn't been the ideal build-up to Qualifying, but in the end, my lap felt really clean. I have trust in our race pace tomorrow, so we'll do our best to fight for those points and be ready to take any opportunities. It's incredible the amount of support we have at home, and I want to thank our fans with a good race!"

Alex Albon: "We need to review what happened today. We put on new tyres after Franco crashed, then went out when a Red Flag was likely coming, so we ultimately wasted a set. That left us on used tyres for our first Q2 run, which actually went well, but we had a compromised second run. We've been quick all weekend, so it's frustrating. The car is getting faster and should've been in Q3. I'm not saying I'm happy with my job in Q2, but we're not always making it easy for ourselves. We're always focusing on improving things at Williams, so it's days like this that highlight areas for us to work on."

James Vowles, Team Principal: "The field is very close now. You can see that a matter of milliseconds is still separating four or five cars, and we always knew getting into Q3 would be a gigantic effort for both cars. With Carlos, I think we ran a good programme. He drove well and he's managed to improve a few areas on the car. With Alex, we started the outlap a little bit close to Verstappen, so we weren't able to get the right temperature in the tyres, and he was compromised in his first sector. Without that, it's difficult to say exactly where he would have ended up, but certainly ahead of where we start on the grid. That said, we have a fast race car based on Friday and every opportunity to race in the points with both cars tomorrow."

Nico Hulkenberg: "So far, it’s been a tough weekend for us, and the lack of pace was clear from the start. As the wind picked up, Sector 1 became even more challenging, and I wasn’t able to put the lap together the way I wanted. The windy conditions, especially as the light rain approached, made things difficult. While everyone had to deal with it, we seemed to be a bit more affected.

“Compared to recent weekends where we were competitive, this circuit has highlighted some of our limitations. This track layout simply doesn’t suit us as well as others. Hopefully, some changeable conditions tomorrow will give us an opportunity to fight back."

Gabriel Bortoleto: “It’s been a difficult weekend for us so far. From the first session, we struggled with overall pace and balance compared to recent events, and the gusty wind made it even tougher – it's something our car doesn’t cope with well, though that’s the same for everyone. Compared to Austria, where we were strong across all sessions, this circuit just didn’t suit us. Unfortunately, I had a couple of spins during practice, which damaged the upgraded floor, so I had to run the older spec in qualifying. That definitely didn’t help in such a tight midfield, but I still gave it everything I had. I don’t think there was much more left to extract today.

“Despite the setbacks, my confidence hasn’t been affected. Spinning or even crashing is part of the job when you’re pushing the car to the limit – it's not ideal, of course, and I’m sorry to the team for the extra work. They did an incredible job to get the car rebuilt in time, and I’m really grateful for that. In qualifying, I was already pushing hard from the first lap and felt strong—even in the same corner where I’d gone off earlier. Tomorrow, we’ll try to make the most of any opportunities. If the weather turns chaotic, we may get opportunities to move forward. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “It was a tough qualifying session today, reflecting where we are in our journey with the C45. We’ve made good progress with the car at previous circuits, but this weekend we struggled to extract the same level of pace. Despite the setback in FP3, Gabriel showed resilience in qualifying, settling into a rhythm and ultimately securing P16 for tomorrow’s starting grid, following Bearman’s penalty. Nico had a relatively clean run, but the pace simply wasn’t there for us today, and he finished in P19. Looking ahead to tomorrow, there’s a chance of rain, which could mix things up – and if that happens, we’ll be ready to capitalise.”