Report: Nicky secures his best Qualifying result and our highest grid spot of 2022

Nicholas Latifi locked in a top 10 grid spot after reaching Q3 for the first time in his Formula One career, securing our best Qualifying result of the season in the process.

The Canadian will start the team’s home Grand Prix in P10, whilst Alex Albon will line up further back in P16.

In stark contrast to the preceding FP3 session, Qualifying brought with it rain, but not a downpour – Intermediate tyres were the order of the afternoon.

In Q1, lap times were changing with every tour of Silverstone with both Alex and Nicky rising and falling throughout the session.

However, when the Chequered Flag fell, our No23 managed a 1:42.078 – eight hundredths shy of his teammate's best time, putting the Canadian through to the next stage.

The rain continued to fall in Q2, with the track surface getting more damp throughout the 15-minute session, it was all about getting the best possible lap in at the right time.

And Nicky did just that – his 1:43.273 put him P10 and through to Q3 for the first time in his career.

Conditions continued to get worse in Q3, with Nicky unable to put together a clean lap, including an adventure into the gravel at T1, but his work was already done, and he’ll start 10th in the 2022 British Grand Prix.

“A very special day in tricky conditions,” explained the Canadian, adding: “To get through to Q2 was a great achievement and a nice confidence boost, and then Q3 was more than we could’ve hoped for.

“Straight out of the pits things felt good and I was getting into a rhythm. The team did a great job in Q1 and Q2 of putting me in the right place on the track when I needed to.

“We saw how important that was for Q2 getting that lap in at the right time before the track got worse with the weather.

“Coming off in Q3 was frustrating but overall a great team effort and a satisfying day.

“We have to be realistic going in tomorrow as we’re out of position with faster cars being behind us.

“We need to be very strategic in how we approach the race. It’ll be a race of attrition with how we manage the tyres.

“Anything is possible so we’ll focus on our own race and maximise any opportunities that may come our way.”

Across the other side of the garage, Alex was disappointed not to extract the full potential from his new package, explaining what he felt went wrong today:

“The conditions were actually okay today despite the rain, with the car feeling good but there was less grip on the second set of tyres.

“It’s been a bit different to drive with the new updates but in FP3 I was feeling quite comfortable with the car, even in the rain in Q1, it felt OK.

“At the end of Q1 we opted to do a cool down lap but we lost too much tyre temperature. The track was starting to dry, and everyone was starting to get faster, but I just couldn’t find enough grip.

“It was a tight call but in hindsight, I don’t think the cool down lap was the best choice, but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.

“We do have a good car, so we need to go back and analyse it.”

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance, reflected on the day by saying: “As expected, the weather played its part today and with the rain intensity varying, it was a difficult session to manage; aligning the tyre condition to the track state was tricky.

“However, Nicholas drove well throughout qualifying and was able to get in some good laps at crucial times.

“We had nothing to lose in Q3 and so took the opportunity to complete a reconnaissance lap on used tyres before pitting for the new set and getting position on a clear part of the track.

“Unfortunately, some car damage meant that Nicky couldn’t set a competitive lap time.

“Nonetheless, he had an excellent session and starts the race tomorrow in a good position.

“Alex was unfortunate to just miss out on Q2 by a tiny margin, which is very frustrating as he would also have had a good opportunity to get into Q3 today.

“His car was working well but he couldn’t get as much from the second set of tyres as he did from the first.

“We’ll look over the data to see if we could’ve done something better for him, but at least we got some useful information on how the new package works with the Intermediate tyres and how we need to balance the car in those tricky conditions.”

After Friday’s hat-trick of podiums for our Driver Academy, Saturday was also going to bring different results given the reverse grids in Formula 2 and Formula 3 Sprint races.

In F2, Logan Sargeant finished P7 from his P10 grid spot to add yet more points to his 2022 tally, whilst Roy Nissany finished P14. In F3, Zak O’Sullivan crossed the line in P14.

However, there was yet more success for Jamie Chadwick in the W Series. She continued her perfect start to the 2022 season by winning her home race, to the delight of the British crowd.