Oscar Piastri shockingly jumped to the top of the speed charts late in Q3. His McLaren teammate, Lando Norris went a tick quicker on his lap. The last one left? Max Verstappen. The Red Bull Racing driver never flinched in scoring his 50th career front row start in what is his 150th race for the organization.

Verstappen scored his fifth straight pole as he’s eyeing his sixth straight win on Sunday. If he could do so, he’d become just the fifth driver to win six straight races. 8 of the last 9 races were won from the front row.

He’ll be joined by friend Lando Norris. Last year, Carlos Sainz Jr. scored his first career F1 in Silverstone. Can Norris do the same a year later?

Verstappen hasn’t won here since 2020 and has just two podium finishes in his last seven Aramco British Grand Prix starts.

3 of the last 6 races here were won from the second place starter. 4 of the last 6 from the outside starter as the 4th place driver, Verstappen, won in 2020.

McLaren last started on the front row here in 2008. It’s also the last time they won on their home soil too. Plus, with Piastri starting third, the last time McLaren had 2 of the top 3 starters, they finished 1-2 in 2021 in Italy.

Which is why I’m wondering if McLaren can keep Verstappen honest?

Starting Lineup

Row 1: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris

Row 2: Oscar Piastri R, Charles LeClerc

Row 3: Carlos Sainz Jr., George Russell

Row 4: Lewis Hamilton, Alex Albon

Row 5: Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly

Row 6: Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll

Row 7: Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant R

Row 8: Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda

Row 9: Guanyu Zhou, Nyck De Bries R

Row 10: Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas

Picks

1. 4 Norris – Going with the upset here
2. 33 Verstappen – He’s not won here since 2020 and has just two podiums in his last seven starts in Silverstone. However, Verstappen has scored a top two finish in 10 straight races now including all nine this season. In fact, he has 19 top two finishes in his last 21 tries. 
3. 44 Hamilton – I think the long run pace gets him a third podium in the last four races. He has eight wins and 13 podiums in his previous 17 tries including 10 straight podiums here at that. He’s scored three wins in the last five races at Silverstone and was third a year ago.
4. 16 LeClerc – He’s finished 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd and 4th respectively in his last five Silverstone tries too. He was runner-up last Sunday and fourth the race prior in Montreal. 
5. 55 Sainz Jr – Last year’s winner has finished between 4-6th in 7 of the 9 races run this season including being sixth just last week.