F1 British GP live commentary and updates - sprint qualifying

With that, we'll call time on our live text commentary on British GP sprint qualifying. Never fear, we are back tomorrow for the sprint race and grand prix qualifying. 

The British GP sprint race starts at 12pm BST before grand prix qualifying which begins at 4pm BST. You won't want to miss it!

With the reaction to sprint qualifying to come, here's what we can offer in the meantime:

Vote in our new monthly awards, including voting for the F1 driver of the month for June - British GP sprint polesitter Hamilton is one of the nominees. Vote here.

Here's the full British GP sprint race grid:

SPRINT GRID

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	1'28.376		239.970
2	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.011 1'28.387		239.940
3	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.321 1'28.697		239.101
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.327 1'28.703		239.085
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.357 1'28.733		239.004
6	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.364 1'28.740		238.985
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.396 1'28.772		238.899
8	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.459 1'28.835		238.730
9	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	+0.551 1'28.927		238.483
10	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+0.991 1'29.367		237.309
11	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.106 1'29.482		237.004
12	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	+1.303 1'29.679		236.483
13	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	+1.331 1'29.707		236.409
14	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	+1.607 1'29.983		235.684
15	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	+1.821 1'30.197		235.125
16	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	+2.274 1'30.650		233.950
17	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	+2.707 1'31.083		232.838
18	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		Haas	Ferrari	+3.338 1'31.714		231.236
19	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.400 1'31.776		231.080
20	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	+3.644 1'32.020		230.467
21	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	+4.534 1'32.910		228.259
22	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	+4.612 1'32.988		228.068
View full results

A three-tenth gap between Antonelli and Verstappen for second and third is quite something, but how about the gap between the two Mercedes drivers? Antonelli out-qualified Russell by almost half a second which is why there is two drivers between them. That's a lot of lap time missing for the British driver.

Russell cannot join the party as he sets a time only good enough for fifth place!

P1 Hamilton, P2 Antonelli, P3 Verstappen, P4 Leclerc, P5 Russell, P6 Norris, P7 Piastri, P8 Hadjar, P9 Lawson, P10 Lindblad.

That is one superb grid for the sprint!

And now all 10 drivers are on the track. Russell will be the final driver across the line. All or nothing time.

Piastri is the one to flutter his eyelids first (or something like that) as he heads out, immediately followed by Norris and both Racing Bulls.

The work is over on the #1 McLaren so it appears Norris has a fully-functioning front-right corner for SQ3. Still we wait for someone to blink first.

Another two-by-two with both Alpines, Audis and Williams all going out. All very formal.

The projected knockout time is a 1m29.5s - but Gasly is 11th with a 1m29.482s. I guess we'll forgive them for rounding up. 

Anyway, Russell does enough to go seventh fastest, which pushes Norris into the danger zone.

We've got a split strategy in SQ2 as Lawson, Gasly, Lindblad and Colapinto opt for a one-and-done attack given they've not set lap times yet with under three minutes to go.

Not a great lap by Russell who puts in a 1m29.474s which leaves him down in eighth place. It'd be a surprise if any of the midfield runners can do enough to push the Mercedes driver out of the top 10, but he is the one at biggest risk out of the big names.

With a short break before SQ2, why not take a chance to play our new game Two Seats?

Simply pick two drivers from a deck to beat your opposition in a virtual season-long competition.

Play now here.

Bearman missed out on progressing into SQ2 by 0.010s from Sainz. Those are the margins for success even in this early stage of the regulations and developments are rapid.

Yes! Albon's 1m30.779s puts him 14th and duly pushes Bearman out.

Out in SQ1: P17 Bearman, P18 Ocon, P19 Perez, P20 Bottas, P21 Alonso, P22 Stroll.

Albon is going to be last over the line so can he make it count?

Both Mercedes drivers improve with their final laps but are only fifth and sixth respectively for Russell and Antonelli - over four tenths slower than Hamilton.

Three minutes to go in SQ1 and in the drop zone is Bearman, Ocon, Perez, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll. Or, two Haas, two Cadillacs and two Aston Martins. The Noah's Ark formation.

A largely leisurely start to the session is halted after around 90s as a chunk of cars nip out, including both Ferraris and both Mercedes. Each driver has one set of new medium tyres to set their lap times in this session.