Silverstone Pole for Hamilton in F1 Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton scored pole position for Mercedes in his home grand prix of Silverstone amidst loud cheering and wave formations. Lewis Hamilton scored pole with a 1:29.607 and was the only driver below the 1m 30 sec time.

Hamilton’s team mate Nico Rosberg came second 0.452 seconds adrift at 1:30.059.

Sebastian Vettel of Redbull who is leading the championship till now was third at 1:30.211. His team mate and bitter rival Mark Webber, who is retiring from F1 at the end of this season, will start his last Silverstone F1 grand prix in the fourth position along side Vettel in the second row. Mark Webber was 0.009 seconds slower than Vettel.

Paul di Resta of Force India, who have their base nearby, will start in row three in as he qualified in fifth position with a time of 1:30.736. Paul di Resta, being Scottish, will find many supporters in the crowd, although winning for him is unthinkable.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso, who is touted to be graduate to the sister team of Red Bull and take up Mark Webber’s seat next year, will line up alongside di Resta in sixth position. Ricciardo scored 1:30.757s.

Paul di Resta’s team mate Adrian Sutil came seventh with a time of 1:30.908. Lining up alongside him in grid will be Romain Grosjean of Lotus. Romain outscored his more famous team mate Kimi Raikkonen by 0.007 seconds ie. Seven hundredths of a second. Romain scored 1:30.955 vis a vis 1:30.962 of Kimi Raikkonen. Lotus is increasingly falling behind in the development battle and Kimi’s hopes of winning the championship is fast dwindling unless he can score a couple of consecutive wins. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari scored a P10 with a 1:30.979. Wily competitor that he is, he would hope for some intelligent racing tomorrow.

Jenson Button of McLaren couldn’t qualify for the Q3 shootout and scored a P11. He was followed by Felipe Massa of Ferrari at 12th position.

Jean Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso must be disappointed starting at 13th position when his teammate Ricciardo will start at sixth. Sergio Perez had another ordinary session and will start at 14th. Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber came 15th what is appearing as a wash out season for Sauber. Williams, who will be celebrating their 600 grand prix starts in Silverstone had a forgettable qualify as Pastor Maldonado qualified at 16th and Bottas came 17th. Esteban Gutierrez of sauber came 18th. Charles Pic of Caterham bit Jules Bianchi of Marussia scoring 19th and 20th positions respectively. Giedo van der Garde of Caterham scored 21st ahead of Max Chilton of Marussia in the 22nd and last position. However, Giedo van der Garde will start last as he has got a 10 place grid penalty due to the crash in Canada.

EDIT: Paul di Resta Penalty

Paul di Resta's car found 1.5 kg below minimum weight

During the post qualifying mandatory inspection, when all the fuel was drained out and car weighed, Paul di Resta's car was found to be 1.5kg below the minimum weight of 642 kg. So Paul di Resta's qualifying results were scrapped and he sent to the back of the grid.

Force India has the option of making changes to Paul di Resta's car, change his strategy and make him drive a long first stop and make him start from the pit lane. We will know that closer to the start of the race.

Starting Grid for the Race after Penalties

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Nico Rosberg
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Mark Webber
5. Daniel Ricciardo
6. Adrian Sutil
7. Romain Grosjean
8. Kimi Raikkonen
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Jenson Button
11. Felipe Massa
12. Jean Eric Vergne
13. Sergio Perez
14. Nico Hulkenberg
15. Pastor Maldonado
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Esteban Gutierrez
18. Charles Pic
19. Jules Bianchi
20. Max Chilton
21. Giedo van der Garde
22. Paul di Resta