Lorraine McKenna
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Sainz on pole in thrilling wet qualifying
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz snatched pole position for the British Grand Prix from Max Verstappen with the last lap of a thrilling wet qualifying session.
Verstappen looked favourite for pole in treacherous conditions at Silverstone after topping the first two sessions.
But Sainz snuck ahead by just 0.072 seconds at the end of the top-10 shootout, with his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in third.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton took fifth, behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
Sainz, who had been slower than Leclerc for much of the session, giggled in disbelief over the team radio as he was told he had taken pole. "I didn't expect that one," he laughed, saying how difficult conditions had been.
Join us on Sunday at 13:30 BST
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
A Ferrari is on pole position again in 2022, but it's Carlos Sainz - and not Charles Leclerc - who will head the field at Silverstone tomorrow.
Come back and join us again at 13:30 BST as we build up to what could be a thrilling British Grand Prix.
I'll leave you with Andrew Benson's qualifying report.
Get some rest and we'll see you on Sunday.
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How many more tyres can Carlos Sainz collect this season?
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Keanu Reeve is dripping wet but he says being trackside for qualifying was "thrilling". He adds: "To be that close, Silverstone in the rain, perfect!"
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'I was pushing hard' - Hamilton
"I'm a little bit disappointed for the crowd," says Lewis Hamilton to Sky Sports after qualifying in fifth position. "I was pushing so hard to get on the front row and pole position today and I think we could've been in the top three, honestly.
"I was gunning for second at least. I qualified fifth, but at least I've got this amazing crowd, so I'll try and push forward."
Disappointed but there is still promise - Russell
Mercedes' George Russell, who will start in eighth for Sunday's British Grand Prix, speaking to Sky Sports: "As the session progressed, things got progressively worse. I had really good confidence in Q1 for the majority but then we didn't have that come Q3 when it mattered.
"The car definitely had the pace for P4, P5 today - I made a mistake when it mattered on the last lap, so, little bit disappointed but there is still promise there.
"The pace in the dry this morning looked really strong. It's going to be dry tomorrow and our pace at high fuel could be on a par with the guys at the front - but obviously starting down at P8 is going to be a hard task."
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Can George Russell keep his streak going of finishing every race in the top five this season? Here's the thoughts of the Mercedes man after a lacklustre qualifying...
'Hopefully we can put everything together and come back'- Leclerc
Charles Leclerc after finishing qualifying in third said: "I am (disappointed) but happy for Carlos, he did a great job today. I spun on that last lap, I knew it was the lap where I had to put everything together and I didn’t as a driver, so I didn’t deserve to be on pole.
"P3 is still a good position to start in for tomorrow’s race and hopefully we can put everything together and come back."
On looking ahead to tomorrow, he added: "I think the pace is there so if we have a clean race then everything should go well."
'Tricky qualifying' - Verstappen
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who starts in P2: "It was quite a tricky qualifying with the rain. You had to be on the track at the right time. I think overall the car was working really well.
"In Q3 it's always a bit of a lottery when you have to put the fast lap in. I got caught with the yellow flag at the end of my lap, unfortunately, but I think still to be on the front row is still good for us and we have a good race car in the dry and the wet."
On tomorrow's race: "It's not only about the first lap, it's about the race. Like I said, we have a good race car and it's about tyre management as well. Looking forward to tomorrow."
'Came as a surprise'- Sainz
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who takes his first pole of his career, said: "It was a good lap. I was struggling a lot with the standing water on the intermediates, there was a lot more standing water on the racing line and it was very easy to catch snaps and lose the lap.
"In the end I put together a lap that I didn’t think was anything special, but I just put it on the board and see how it is, and it was pole position, which came as a bit of a surprise."
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Shall we hear what the top three had to say?
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That really was quite a spectacular spin by Max Verstappen.
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Jennie got a souvenir snap with Nigel Mansell and now the 1992 world champion is handing Sainz his Pirelli Pole Position award.
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Charles Leclerc said he was disappointed not to have taken his seventh pole position of the season but he was happy for team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Sainz on team radio said he "didn't expect that one!"
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Full qualifying times to have a look over. What happened to Mercedes in that session? Hopefully we'll get some reaction from either Lewis Hamilton or George Russell shortly.
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What can Carlos Sainz do from the front of the grid tomorrow? Can he hold on for his first ever Formula 1 win or will the threat of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull alongside his Ferrari prove too much?
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Cheers galore for Carlos Sainz though.
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A few boos ring out as Max Verstappen steps up give his thoughts on that qualifying session.
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Sergio Perez was fourth, Lewis Hamilton fifth, Lando Norris was sixth, Fernando Alonso finished seventh, George Russell qualified in eighth, Zhou Guanyu was ninth and Nicholas Latifi was 10th.
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