F1 British Grand Prix sprint race qualifying LIVE: Latest with new format UNDERWAY – Hamilton starts ahead of Verstappen

FORMATION LAP

The drivers cruise around Silverstone to allow the grid to clear for this 17-lap showdown.

WHO’S GONNA DO IT?!

Huge anticipation for this sprint qualifying event. Will it be an epic, changing the state of F1 as we know it? A flop? Or something in between..?

SPRINT QUALIFYING GRID

A reminder of how the front of the pack sets up for the sprint event in ten minutes’ time…

1. HAM
2. VER
3. BOT
4. LEC
5. PER
6. NOR
7. RIC
8. RUS
9. SAI
10. VET

FAN-DEMONIUM

There are 140,000 fans across Silverstone today with Lewis Hamilton well backed for the win in sprint qualifying.

A wealth of papaya can be seen too, supporting McLaren, and arguably the biggest roar yesterday was for George Russell after his stunning qualifying run.

NOT LONG TO WAIT

The first-ever F1 sprint qualifying is almost upon us.

Just a reminder: This 100km race will last 17 laps, or around half an hour, and will decide the grid for tomorrow’s race.

The top three will win points for the main championship – and Lewis Hamilton starts on pole.

VER-Y GOOD

We have the first (and maybe only?) Dutch driver named VER to win today.

That’s because Richard Verschoor has claimed the second F2 sprint race.

The first half of the race was spent almost entirely under the safety car after two incidents left a handful of drivers stranded.

British youngster Dan Ticktum makes up some ground in the title fight with third place here at Silverstone.

CRASH IN F2

An early safety car after a hefty smash on Lap 1 of the Formula 2 sprint race.

Ralph Boschung caught the grass ahead of the Wellington Straight and spun back across the track, collecting Alessio Deledda and wiping them both out of the race.

TURN IT UP

A Ferrari darting through Silverstone in glorious sunshine with packed grandstands… is there a better sight?

PLENTY OF ACTION

Lots going on here at Silverstone.

A pair of Spitfires have just flown over the track in a Battle of Britain display and in 20 minutes the second Formula 2 race of the day starts.

W SERIES JOY FOR POWELL

Alice Powell has claimed victory in the W Series race at Silverstone to go top of the championship.

Qualifying on pole yesterday, the Brit struggled off the line but fought back to take the lead off Fabienne Wohlwend with a stunning overtake at Club.

Jamie Chadwick comes home third to relinquish her lead in the title fight, with the next race in Hungary two weeks from today.

Powell tells team radio: “Thank you guys, oh my days. What a great crowd.”

CHRISTIAN HORNER EXCLUSIVE

Red Bull chief Christian Horner has revealed to SunSport’s Ben Hunt how he beat Mercedes to youth prodigy Max Verstappen.

He tells us: “It was at Hockenheim in 2014 and I went for dinner with Helmut Marko.

“He was saying how Niki Lauda was trying to sign Max for Mercedes and he was asking me my thoughts.

“Once I knew that, I said, ‘sure, let’s go for it. It is something Mercedes cannot offer him’.”

Check out the full interview here.

SESSION DONE – VERSTAPPEN LEADS THE WAY

Advantage Red Bull? Hold on, remember this was just a warm up. Nothing won here, we still have the sprint race later on.

But that is still encouraging for Red Bull, who have made changes over night.

Mercedes could have their work cut out.

Ferrari in 2 and 3 in what was a good session for the Italian team.

GREAT TO SEE FULL STANDS HERE AT SILVERSTONE

A crowd of 140,000 is expected today. Another 140,000 tomorrow. HUGE numbers.

UNDER 10 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK

And the running order is: Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Ocon, Perez, Norris, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas and Gasly for your top 10.

HAMILTON WANTS TO SAVE HIS ENGINE

He’s asked his race engineer to turn the engine down, effectively preserving its life.

However, Merc say they want to keep running at that power as the data they are gathering is proving useful.

MAX IS BACK

The Red Bull man is top of the time sheets again. And look at those sector times. He is quick everywhere.

A LITTLE OVER 20 MINUTES INTO THE SESSION

Verstappen leads Perez in a Red Bull 1-2.

Esteban Ocon is currently P3. Bottas P4, Mazepin in P5 and Hamilton in P6.

But this session is not necessarily reflective of pace – more of an experiment.

BIG CHEERS FOR RUSSELL

The Williams driver was eight in qualifying yesterday, as he reached Q3 for the second time running.

He was treated to a big cheer as he took to the track for the first time on Saturday.

He will have to wait a few weeks though until he discovers if he will be partnering Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.

LEWIS HAMILTON IS GETTING READY TO HEAD OUT

The world champion took pole for the sprint race, beating Max Verstappen by just 0.075seconds in qualifying.

Can he take that slender advantage into this session?

GREEN LIGHT – FP2 FOR THE BRITISH GP IS GO

Now, not too get your hopes up, but this is likely to be a 60 minute tyre test.

But it is ok, the good stuff is coming later, with F1’s first sprint race to select the grid for the British GP.

SPRINT FINISH

Lewis Hamilton is fired up for today’s sprint race and has vowed to take the new concept very seriously – with points on offer for the top three finishers.

He said after qualifying: “It’s just all guns blazing,

“I need to bring out the lion tomorrow and give it everything. It starts with the start so we’ll be practising on that, we’ve got the long run practice in FP2.

“I mean passing the Red Bull is not easy, so it really helps to be where we are. But we’ve got to get off the line, and we’ve still got so many things and obstacles up ahead of us.

“The sprint race is going to be an interesting one, I think I’ve got the car where I need it, so we’ll see.”

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA TODAY?

Formula One second practice is at noon before the sprint race at 4.30pm.

The first of two F2 races has already taken place this morning, Rob Shwartzman winning despite causing a red flag with a spin in qualifying yesterday.

Their second race, on live on Sky Sports, is at 2.45pm.

And the W Series has its second race of the weekend at 1.25pm, shown live on Channel 4.

NEVER FORGOTTEN

As we prepare to go racing today, F1 takes a moment to remember one of its own who sadly passed away on this day six years ago.

‘WEIRD’

F1’s trial of a sprint race format at this weekend’s British Grand Prix has led to a timetable overhaul.

F1 has elected to stick with the final free practice session before Saturday afternoon’s sprint qualifying, a move Max Verstappen has questioned.

He said: “What I find weird is you do qualifying and then you can’t change anything on the car.

“Then you have another free practice and then the sprint race. Then I think to myself: why not drop that second free practice, as it doesn’t really matter any more?

“It feels a bit weird to do a qualifying where there is nothing at stake. You don’t really get that pole feeling or whatever. But hopefully we can attack on Saturday, we’ll see.”

‘HAS THE TALENT’

David Coulthard believes George Russell can push Lewis Hamilton in the same way that Max Verstappen has in the title race this season.

“We saw George’s hunger and racing spirit when he came together with Valtteri in Imola. He probably overreacted there, which is just an opinion.

“But what we did see was his passion behind the wheel and that’s the sort of passion he’s going to need to beat Lewis.

“He’s not going to beat Lewis with pure speed, Lewis is one of if not the fastest drivers of the last decade, George I believe has the talent to match that speed.

“He’s going to beat him with that passion, that hunger, that ‘you might be Lewis Hamilton but when we go on track, I don’t care who you are’ Which is exactly what Max Verstappen delivers when he’s in the race car.”