Max Verstappen laid down a real statement of intent at the debut of the F1 sprint qualifying race as he edged past Lewis Hamilton in the first lap itself
Saturday marked a historic occasion in the land of Formula 1. With the first ever F1 sprint qualifying race getting underway ahead of the British Grand Prix on Sunday, we were in for an intoxicating brew.
Introduced in a bid to spice things up and offer us a pure driver vs driver format, the think thank had foraged a 30 minute, 100km race ahead of the main race. And we were in for a thrilling half an hour on Saturday as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen went at loggerheads in a bid to earn the valuable three points at stake.
At the end of the day, it was Max Verstappen who once again ruled supreme. Thriving in the rich vein of form he’s in at the moment, Verstappen despite sitting behind Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race managed to outdo the Mercedes man inside the first lap itself.
F1 Sprint Qualifying Race: Max Verstappen Wins To Take Pole For British Grand Prix
Hamilton and Verstappen had both decided to go in with the medium tyres for the F1 sprint race. And Verstappen decided to go all out inside the opening lap itself as he went for the kill and managed to successfully poach Hamilton.
There onwards, there was no looking back for the Red Bull man. Despite Hamilton snapping at his heels all across the race, Verstappen managed to dictate proceedings as he raced the fastest qualifying time of the sprint race and with it ended up 1.43 seconds faster than Hamilton.
Verstappen being ultra smooth on the Mediums on a race fuel run. He’s clearly looking after the front-left which may be critical for the sprint race. #BritishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/v3SHqGkHxb
— Vinodh Moodley 🏳️🌈 (@vmoodley) July 17, 2021
Sprint yarışı sonrası;
🔹Max Verstappen (3)
🔸Lewis Hamilton (2)
🔹Valtteri Bottas (1) puan kazandı.#F1 | #BritishGP🇬🇧
pic.twitter.com/AZ7ij8gcHa— Aerodinamik F1 #BritishGP (@aerodinamikF1) July 17, 2021
Verstappen said after his win: “Around here it’s difficult to pass but we had a good start and a good fight with Lewis in the first lap and then we tried to do our own pace but you could see we were pushing each other hard.
Not only did Max Verstappen earn pole for Sunday’s British Grand Prix but more importantly he ended up with three crucial points to further extend his lead atop of the Driver’s Championship. Lewis Hamilton came second while Valtteri Bottas took third place.