FP3: The start of the session was delayed by 5 minutes so that rubber marbles left by the earlier F3 sprint race could be cleared off the track.
It was much colder than yesterday with even a few drops of rain falling towards the end of the session. Charles and Lewis worked on qualifying preparation and completed their programme. At the end of the session, the Brit had to abort what was a very fast lap up to that point, as the session was red flagged because of debris on track. The session was cut short by a few minutes, due to another red flag, this time triggered by Gabriel Bortoleto going off the track.
Q1: Drizzle at the start meant that three minutes into the session Charles and Lewis went out on track for their first run. The session was red flagged after 7 minutes, when Franco Colapinto went off at the final corner. The Scuderia pair made the cut using one set of new Softs.
Q2: For their second run, Lewis and Charles fitted new Soft tyres and were first and second quickest respectively.
Q3: Lewis' best effort netted him fifth place, while Charles was sixth, so the Scuderia Ferrari HP duo will share the third row of the grid tomorrow.
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: 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.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Silverstone here.
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