Just as the sun finally broke through the clouds over what had been a distinctly gloomy Silverstone, Lando Norris also shone for the home crowd in a thrilling finale to qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
They were on their feet roaring their approval for the British driver as he appeared to have claimed pole, their joy echoing round the old airfield, only for hearts to be broken when normal service was resumed seconds later when Max Verstappen pipped him.
It had been a trying day for the fans thronging the circuit in record numbers. With the British summer in full swing, Silverstone had been swathed in lowering, grey clouds delivering intermittent deluges to the circuit, as wind swept across the wide open spaces of the track. After they had huddled under ponchos and umbrellas for so long, there was finally reward to warm the cockles.
In the final hot runs in Q3, Norris, who has struggled in a recalcitrant McLaren all season, briefly gave fans the chance to dream of an almighty upset and a British triumph at his home grand prix. After opening in wet conditions the track had dried by the death and Norris threw his car into the sweeping high-speed corners of the circuit.
First sector, second sector and bang, he nailed the third to leap to the top of the time sheets. The crowd, expectant no doubt of another Verstappen walkover, leaped to their feet – he had beaten the Dutchman’s first time in spectacular fashion.
The McLaren team principal, Zak Brown, began bouncing off the walls of the garage with Verstappen down on Norris in the middle sector as the impossible loomed, only for the Dutchman to steal it back with a punishing final third to take the top spot by two-tenths and his fifth pole in a row this season.
It was, nonetheless, a magnificent run by Norris, his best qualifying since he took pole in Russia in 2021. Better still, his teammate, the Australian rookie Oscar Piastri, banged in a similarly superb run to claim third. McLaren had brought upgrades to Silverstone but this was beyond their wildest dreams.
To put it in context, it is the first time they have made the front row here since 2008 and they comprehensively beat the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz into fourth and fifth and George Russell and Lewis Hamilton into sixth and seventh for Mercedes. Both teams have barely been troubled by McLaren almost all season.
Just as he had provided the crowd with a welcome shock it was more than Norris had expected. “I was a little bit surprised. I wasn’t expecting for myself to be here, we are very happy with the result,” he said.
“I want to be hopeful. I am not normally hopeful going into a Sunday because of how this year has been but I’ve got some reasons to believe and some hope after our pace today. I think we can have a good race tomorrow.”
Norris has described Verstappen as his best friend in F1 and the world champion reciprocated by saying the McLaren driver would undoubtedly win races in the right car but it was clear there would be no quarter given when the lights go out.
“Me and Max are very good friends. We have grown up in similar generations and similar times. We have always got along, we have similar mentalities,” he said. “But as soon as you put the helmet on you forget about everything else.”
Norris said this week winning the this grand prix in front of his home fans was the goal he wanted to achieve most. He faces an almighty struggle against the dominant Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday but at the very least has given himself every chance to be in the mix. He will doubtless be roared home whatever the outcome.
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In damp conditions and with rain beginning to fall again early in the session the conditions were treacherous, indeed Hamilton spun at Stowe on his first hot lap in Q1 and did well to return his car to the track and return to the pits. But as the track dried after a red flag delay, the final lap times plunged and Sergio Pérez paid the price having gone out first for his last run he finished in 15th. It is the fifth time in a row he has failed to reach Q3 and he has now started outside the top 10 for the last five races, a run that has all but ended any faint hopes he had of competing for the title.
Organisers are still expecting that Just Stop Oil will launch some form of protest on Sunday. They have increased security at the circuit, including the police using live facial recognition to scan the faces of people attending, the first time the technology has been used outside London or south Wales.
There will also be extensive bag searches on entry but with a record crowd of 150,000 expected, they face an enormous task. Last year, five Just Stop Oil protesters invaded the track on the first lap of the race.
Alex Albon was eighth for Williams, Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly 10th for Alpine.
Nico Hülkenberg was 11th for Haas, Lance Stroll 12th for Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon 13th for Alpine, Logan Sargeant 14th for Williams while Valtteri Bottas was 15th for Alfa Romeo but disqualified for a fuel irregularity and relegated to 20th.
Kevin Magnussen came to a halt on track in Q1 and will start in 19th for Haas. Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries are in 16th and 18th for AlphaTauri and Zhou Guanyu 17th for Alfa Romeo.
