London, July 2 (BUS): It took Carlos Sainz 151 attempts to win the first pole in Formula 1. Now he will chase that first victory out of reach, reports the Associated Press.
But starting with Sainz on the front row on Sunday at the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen will defend the F1 champion, a year after the crash with Lewis Hamilton that turned their title fight into a bitter rivalry.
Sainz set the fastest time late in the third qualifying session to edge Verstappen by just 0.072sec.
It was seventh in Ferrari’s 10 races this season, although Sainz teammate Charles Leclerc had secured his first six poles before Sainz’s shock start.
Sainz narrowly missed out on what could have been his first career win two weeks ago at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing just behind Verstappen.
The Spaniard has been on the podium 11 times in his career but has not been on top. He has finished second three times this season. Leclerc will start third, ahead of Sergio Perez in Red Bull’s second race.
Sunday’s race is expected to dry up largely after a rainy qualifying session. Improved conditions may be in the Red Bulls’ favor after Verstappen set the fastest lap time for anyone this weekend in the last practice session before it rains at Silverstone.
Seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for his home race as Mercedes appeared to be making progress with its high-speed jump problems. His teammate George Russell was eight.
insult