Lewis Hamilton goes for gold at Silverstone after finding an extra gear, Carlos Sainz shines again, but Merc remain a class apart
Wednesday 13 July 2016 15:46, UK
Four Silverstone poles for F1's foremost qualifier
It's often said by their rivals that Mercedes find an extra gear - or to be precise, a superior engine mode - when it comes to the latter stages of qualifying, but at Silverstone on Saturday it was Lewis Hamilton who lifted himself out of everyone's orbit, including his team-mate's, in a scintillating show of single-lap speed.
We had expected the world champions to dominate, but it was supposed to be a two-horse pole fight, not a one-car demonstration. After all, in the three sessions up to Q2 that both Hamilton and Rosberg had completed the difference between them had been less a tenth of a second: 0.033s in P1, 0.063s in P3, and 0.015s in Q1.
Then, out of nowhere, the narrative changed. It's not that Rosberg obviously stumbled - his Q2 lap was eight tenths of a second faster than he had gone before - he just couldn't match the scale of Hamilton's step forward.
Breaking the outright lap record for the 'new' Silverstone, Hamilton stopped the clocks in 1:29.243. The difference to Nico? Seven tenths of a second.
"Look at that!" exclaimed a near-disbelieving Martin Brundle. "That's an extraordinary lap time."
Hamilton delivers 'mental blow'
Although the deletion of Hamilton's initial time in Q3 for exceeding track limits threatened to throw a late twist into proceedings, such was his confidence in the W07 around Silverstone's sweeps that he returned a few minutes later, seemingly without tension, to claim his 55th career pole and fourth at Silverstone by a still-commanding three-tenths margin.
Even Rosberg had to concede: "It got away from me inside Lewis's car because he drove well."
That's now six poles from the eight Q3 sessions Hamilton has been able to complete so far this season and one more step closer to Michael Schumacher's F1 benchmark of 68. On this form, that record looks likely to fall before next season is out.
Mercedes remain out on their own
A word of warning: Mercedes' final qualifying advantage of one second was two tenths greater than their Silverstone pole-winning margin from 2015.
"I'm very happy with P3 because it seems like those guys have a turbo button or something," remarked Red Bull's Max Verstappen, sitting alongside Hamilton and Rosberg in the press conference.
Weren't the challengers supposed to be getting closer?
The rise and rise of Carlos Sainz
No wonder Red Bull didn't want to let Carlos Sainz go.
The road to an eventual promotion from Toro Rosso may still appear far from obvious for the genial Spaniard, but Sainz certainly continues to show that when and if the senior team need him, he's already more than ready to answer a call. Eighth in qualifying, which becomes seventh on the grid due to Sebastian Vettel's penalty, was one of the standout performances of the day.
Sky's British GP race-day schedule
"If you would have told me that yesterday after being one second off the Force Indias, I wouldn't have believed it," Sainz told Sky F1. "To be beating one Williams, the two Force Indias, and the McLaren is a great achievement.
"Today we are the first team of the midfield, which is incredible."
Traffic for 15th-fastest Daniil Kvyat accounted for some of the half-second difference between the two Toro Rossos in Q2, but Sainz has had a clear edge on the beleaguered Russian all weekend. Since Kvyat's return to the team in May, Sainz is winning on both Saturdays (four-two) and Sundays (18 points to one).
And Kvyat thought life at the 'A' team was tough…
Time for Ferrari to forget about Mercedes?
Another day, another gearbox problem for Ferrari. It must be starting to feel like a recurring nightmare for Vettel, with the German on the receiving end of the five-place grid penalty for two straight grands prix. In fact, it was his third in seven races.
The change in Russia was caused by a crash in China, the Austria failure came about after problems in Baku. But the Scuderia's newest problem is puzzling, with Vettel unable to shift up a gear at an identical part of the track, the main straight, in both P1 and P3.
Vettel unimpressed by Ferrari 'weakness'
"It happened yesterday and today - that's a weakness and we need to stop it," he said. "It's something new and we need to fix it."
Vettel will start 11th because of it but perhaps more worrying for the Scuderia is their lack of pace at Silverstone, regardless of their reliability gremlins. Red Bull have comfortably usurped them as Mercedes' closest challengers here, and it's not a track you'd back to favour the Renault power.
Max Verstappen qualified in third and out-qualified Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari's leading car, by 0.5s, though Vettel was sure he would have beaten Daniel Ricciardo to fourth without his mistake in Q3.
Still - the Scuderia's title challenge, which they continue to talk up, is quickly slipping with every passing weekend. Just 24 points ahead of Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship, perhaps it's time to start consolidating second place.
