Lewis Hamilton is downbeat about Mercedes' chances for the British GP on Sunday after seeing McLaren leapfrog them on pace at Siilverstone; watch the British Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Showcase at 3pm on Sunday, with build-up from 1:30pm
Sunday 9 July 2023 13:22, UK
Lewis Hamilton has admitted McLaren's pace in Qualifying at the British Grand Prix is a "wake up call" for Mercedes.
Lando Norris qualified on the front row at Silverstone behind Max Verstappen, with team-mate Oscar Piastri recording his best Qualifying in Formula 1 by taking third place.
Meanwhile, Hamilton will start Sunday's British Grand Prix - live on Sky Sports F1 and for free on Sky Showcase - from seventh and George Russell will be sixth.
"It's not a blow, it's just a wake up call for us. Others are overtaking us and we need to do more," said Hamilton.
"I'm not surprised by McLaren, if you look at the car it makes sense. If you put it alongside a Red Bull, it looks very similar down the sides and it's working.
"Where I was (in Qualifying), was the best I could do. I will try and be optimistic and do our best but realistically it will be difficult to get past the two Ferraris and we have got two McLarens now there. It's going to be a tough race."
Mercedes brought a significant upgrade package to the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this year that took them away from their 'no sidepods' concept.
The original design was the opposite of Red Bull's concept, which has now been copied to an extent by Aston Martin and McLaren.
Toto Wolff says both teams have proved "it's a good example of how you can turn things around" as Mercedes continue their search to get back to the front.
"From what we see on the outside, which is only half of the information, the car looks like a Red Bull. But it doesn't matter because only the stopwatch counts and this is what Lewis was referring to - that this kind of design seems to be a good direction," said Wolff.
"But this is easier said than done. Each of us had bodywork that looks like a Red Bull in the tunnel and it didn't come up in performance, so you have got to leave no stone unturned and look at it again because another team just found a second in performance."
Just a quarter of a second split Norris in second to Hamilton in seventh on one of the longest circuits Formula 1 visits.
Fernando Alonso will start ninth for Aston Martin, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez down in 16th, so it should be a highly-fought fight for the podium.
"Our numbers (in Practice Two) suggested we were 17th and 18th yesterday in Qualifying, then third and fourth on race pace. Clearly we made some improvements," Russell told Sky Sports F1.
"I was gutted to see we were half a tenth from P3, which would have been incredible. My lap felt great. I don't think there was much in there.
"Lewis has been really on it this weekend and pushing me hard. Well done to McLaren, they came from nowhere and are the big unknown for tomorrow."
He added: "We always tend to have a better Sunday that Saturday. It's an interesting grid - Fernando and Checo are out of position. Let's see what we can do. But McLaren seem really quick here."
Sunday July 9
8:10am: F3 Feature Race
9:50am: F2 Feature Race
11:50am: Porsche Supercup
1:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday - British GP build-up
3pm: The BRITISH GRAND PRIX
5pm: Chequered Flag: British GP reaction
6pm: Ted's Notebook
