Red Bull driver Max Verstappen made it five pole positions in a row, and seven for the 2023 season so far, during Saturday’s action-packed, wet to dry qualifying session at the Silverstone Circuit, beating McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the top spot.

Verstappen overcame the changeable conditions – and a moment in the pit lane that saw him damage his front wing – to emerge with the landmark pole, finishing two-tenths clear of fired-up home favourite Norris and a further tenth up on Piastri.

Ferrari and Mercedes followed line astern in positions four to seven, with Charles Leclerc edging out Carlos Sainz and George Russell getting the better of Lewis Hamilton, who survived a huge spin at the beginning of qualifying.

Nico Hulkenberg ended qualifying as the fastest of the Haas drivers in 11th, in front of Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, who were unable to make it two Aston Martins and Alpines in the top 10 shootout after getting in each other’s way at the end of Q2.

Williams rookie Logan Sargeant had several lap times deleted en route to 14th position, meaning he also had to watch on as team mate Albon starred, with Valtteri Bottas making it through to the second phase but unable to contest it due to his Alfa Romeo stopping on track in Q1.

After a Q1 exit in Monaco and Q2 exits in Spain, Canada and Austria, the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez could not make it beyond the first qualifying segment, missing the cut by two hundredths of a second in the tricky conditions.

AlphaTauri pair Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries also fell at the first hurdle in 17th and 19th respectively, sandwiching the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu, who will be investigated post-session after appearing to get in the way of Ocon at the high-speed Maggots/Becketts complex.

Kevin Magnussen brought up the rear in 20th position, the Haas driver having lost power and come to a halt at the exit of Stowe in a moment that brought out the red flags and led to a host of improvements when the action resumed.