logo
Verstappen shades Piastri for pole at Silverstone

Verstappen shades Piastri for pole at Silverstone

France 24a day ago
McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri will start alongside the Dutchman on the front row of Sunday's race.
Piastri's teammate Lando Norris starts on the second row with the Mercedes of George Russell for company.
Piastri took provisional pole until Verstappen produced a perfect final flying lap to front the grid by only a tenth of a second from the Australian.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc made it an all Ferrari third row.
"It was tricky out there with the wind, it was all shifting around a bit and around here with these cars, it is extremely sensitive to it," said four-time former world champion Verstappen.
"This is a proper track, when you have to go flat out you have to be super committed.
"We are quite quick on the straight, we have to wait and see what tomorrow will do but I am happy -- it is a big boost for the team and excited to go racing tomorrow," the 27-year-old added.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Emotional Norris wins epic rain-hit British Grand Prix
Emotional Norris wins epic rain-hit British Grand Prix

France 24

time30 minutes ago

  • France 24

Emotional Norris wins epic rain-hit British Grand Prix

The 25-year-old Briton made the most of series leader Piastri's mid-race misfortune, when he was given a 10-second penalty for slowing excessively while leading behind the safety car, to finish 6.8112 seconds clear. It was his first home win, his fourth win of the year and the eighth of his career, lifting him within eight points of the Australian. "Thank you, McLaren, thanks everyone," said Norris. "This is beautiful. Winning at home. This is a dream." Nico Hulkenberg finished a stirring third for Sauber to claim the first podium appearance of his long career after 239 races. "It feels good," the veteran German said. "A long time coming! But we had it in us and I had it in me somewhere. It's pretty surreal. All a bit crazy now." Piastri was careful not to express his disappointment at the time penalty verdict. "I want to congratulate Nico," he said. "That's the best story of the day – but I don't want to say much else to avoid getting into trouble." Norris became the 13th different home winner of the British race. Lewis Hamilton took fourth for Ferrari ahead of Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen. In an epic event run in extreme and changeable weather conditions, Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Williams' Alex Albon, two-time champion Fernando Alonso in the second Aston Martin and Mercedes' George Russell. On a cool and wet summer's day in central England, the race began as the sun slanted through the clouds following torrential rain, Verstappen leading a controlled formation lap behind the safety car. In F1's 75th anniversary year, it was the 1,173rd race since the inaugural world championship event at Silverstone on May 13, 1950, and with the field so closely-packed few races had been more keenly anticipated. Russell and Leclerc gambled on switching to slick tyres before the start as Verstappen led the opening lap from his 44th pole ahead of Piastri, Norris and Hamilton. RB's' Liam Lawson went off at Stowe on lap one, triggering a virtual safety car (VSC), and Franco Colapinto retired his Alpine after stalling in the pit-lane. The race re-started on lap five with Piastri hounding Verstappen before a second VSC intervention when Gabriel Bortoleto abandoned his Sauber. It was stop-go stuff with everyone waiting for more rain. After chasing him, Piastri passed Verstappen at Stowe on lap eight to lead. Verstappen then ran off at Becketts and Norris passed him before they all pitted as the rain resumed. Blinded by spray Norris suffered a slow stop, giving second, behind Piastri, back to Verstappen, in appalling conditions that prompted another full safety car and wiped out the Australian's 13-second advantage. "There's water in my visor, a huge splash and I can't see," reported Leclerc after bouncing across the grass at Becketts. Hamilton was also blinded by spray, dropping to eighth, as the field cruised through puddles. Racing resumed on lap 18 amid plumes of spray before a third full safety car was deployed when RB rookie Isack Hadjar crashed into Antonelli's Mercedes at Copse. The action re-started on lap 22 with a gripless Verstappen sliding off out of Copse as he spun, after Piastri had braked dramatically in front of him before the safety car peeled in. After a brief investigation, Piastri was given a 10-second penalty. By lap 26, and mid-race, Piastri led Norris before the Australian pitted to serve his time penalty, leaving Norris to soak up a memorable win.

Norris wins home British Grand Prix
Norris wins home British Grand Prix

France 24

timean hour ago

  • France 24

Norris wins home British Grand Prix

Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg took third for the veteran German's first ever podium in 239 races. Briton Norris returned to a rapturous reception from his home fans as he moved to within eight points of Piastri in the drivers' standings. "It's beautiful, everything I ever dreamed of, this is everything I wanted to achieve, aside from winning the championship this is as good as it gets," beamed Norris. Piastri, who finished less than seven seconds behind Norris, threw away the win after the Australian was hit with a 10-second penalty for a safety car infringement. As last week's heatwave gave way to a more typical British summer's day -- spells of blue sky mixed with torrential showers -- drivers had to keep their wits about them with puddles forming on the track. And Norris emerged from the chaos all smiles as he added to his wins already this season in Austria, Monaco and Australia.

Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions
Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions

France 24

timean hour ago

  • France 24

Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions

The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat Britain's Sonay Kartal 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre Court. But the glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by players earlier in the tournament. A fully-automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, ending nearly 150 years of history. The automated technology has become standard across tennis, with all events on the men's ATP Tour and many WTA tournaments using it. The Australian Open and the US Open are fully automated but the French Open remains an outlier, sticking to human line judges. On Sunday, a tight first set between Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal was marred by a computer failure that could have proved pivotal. At 4-4, Pavlyuchenkova, who had saved two break points in the game, held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline. But no call came and instead of the point being awarded to the Russian, it was replayed and Kartal went on to break. Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "You took the game away from me." Kartal held set point serving for the opener in the next game but Pavlyuchenkova saved it, breaking back and dominating the tie-break. The world number 50 maintained her momentum in the second set, breaking immediately and although she was broken back, the Russian broke again in the fifth game and went on to win the match. The All England Club released a short statement. "Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question," said an spokesman. "The chair umpire followed the established process." Britain's Emma Raducanu said she was unhappy about one call in particular during her defeat by Aryna Sabalenka on Friday. Jack Draper, the men's fourth seed, queried the accuracy of the system after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic. © 2025 AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store