2021 BRITISH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING

- George Russell qualified 8th and Nicholas Latifi 18th ahead of Sprint Qualifying at the British Grand Prix - George secured his personal best qualifying with the team and got himself into Q3 for a second consecutive weekend, setting a 1:26.971 in the last session - Nicholas continued to improve throughout the session, posting his quickest time on his final run with a 1:28.254

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: Today has been a busy but exciting day. We felt that we struggled a little in FP1, but we were happy that we had done the work that we needed to in order to set the car up ready for Saturday and Sunday. Going into Qualifying we made a few minor changes to the cars to suit the cooler track temperature and calmer wind conditions. From the first run in Qualifying, both drivers were happy with their cars and were confident to push harder each lap. Nicholas was losing time on the straights compared to George and this is something that we need to investigate because it wasn’t expected. George benefited from having five sets of tyres in the session and was able to improve with each lap. His final lap in Q3, at his home race and with the circuit to himself was great to see and he made the most of the opportunity with yet another excellent qualifying lap. With the cars now in Parc Ferme, our attention turns to finalising the plans for FP2 and tomorrow’s inaugural Sprint Qualifying session. We can’t change much on the car, but there are still a lot of decision to be made, which could determine the final grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. There is still a long way to go this weekend, but we are pleased with our start and we are looking forward to seeing how the strategies unfold over the next two days. George Russell: It was our best qualifying session, and to do it in front of a home crowd was such an amazing feeling. This morning in FP1 I had no confidence with the car, and here we are in P8! Following practice, we had a decision to make to try and improve the car or stick to our guns and hope the track came towards us, which it did. Everything got in a much nicer window and I felt confident and comfortable out there which allowed me to get that extra tenth or two. Ultimately, we did a fantastic job to get there and it is about tomorrow now. It is not going to be easy, but we need to be aggressive and get on the front foot. Nicholas Latifi: The car was feeling good and I could have done a better lap if the car balance had been in a slightly better window but overall, I am quite pleased. When I finished the lap, I was happy and then frustrated. Happy as a I felt it was a good lap but frustrated that it was slow. We have both the Sprint Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself to move forwards and we have FP2 to try and see if we can improve the issue, so that’s what we are going to focus on.