The first-ever F1 sprint race qualifying is taking place at Silverstone this afternoon and Express Sport brings you all the action live. Lewis Hamilton will start at the front of the grid after setting the fastest lap during Friday’s qualifying session.
4:30pm: There is a free choice over tyres for both sprint qualifying and the British Grand Prix, as the formation lap is underway. Bottas is on soft tyres; the rest of the top 10 are on medium.
4.25pm: Five minutes until we’re off at Silverstone.
4.20pm: “We have been missing this for a whole year. I have lost my voice. I am so grateful to see everyone here,” Hamilton said after Friday’s qualifying session.
“I was hopeful that with the great work we have done within the team, the energy of the fans would get us there, so this one is for them.
“That first lap was great and the second was looking better, but I lost the back end through the final corner and my heart was in my mouth as I crossed the line.
“But I could see the crowd and it was really reminiscent of my first pole here in 2007. I couldn’t have done it without you guys. It is incredibly special to do it on home turf. There is no greater feeling.”
4.15pm: Good afternoon and welcome to Express Sport’s live coverage of the British Grand Prix sprint race.
The new format is a 17-lap sprint to the chequered flag with no mandatory pit stops.
The position in which each car finishes the sprint is the place they will start Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton will hope to fend off Max Verstappen to ensure he starts Sunday’s race on pole position.
What is the qualifying sprint race?
Essentially it is a shorter version of the main race with no mandatory pit stops.
It is 100km rather than the 305km race distance used on a Sunday and the results will form the grid for the main Grand Prix.
The starting grid for the sprint race will be decided by a usual qualifying session on Friday afternoon.
The British Grand Prix is the first of three weekends where a sprint race is set to be used.
What are the rules?
The race will be 17 laps at Silverstone and is expected to last around 30 minutes in total.
Pirelli will provide three options for tyres with all drivers free to use whatever compound they wish.
The session will be timed out after 60 minutes and has a maximum time period of 90 minutes if there is a red flag.
There will also be points awarded in the sprint qualifying race.
The winner will walk away with three points, the runner-up two points and third place earning one.
No points are available for the fastest lap in the sprint qualifying race.
The race will take place from 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon with the weather forecast looking like hot and sunny weather with mild temperatures.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will both look to pick up important points this weekend as they battle it out for the championship.
The Red Bull driver is currently 32 points clear of his Mercedes rival as he looks to end their era of dominance in the sport.
Traditionally Silverstone has been a circuit that has suited Hamilton and the Silver Arrows and they are in desperate need of a strong weekend.
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