British GP: Mixed qualifying for Williams Martini

Team Summary:
Q1: The opening eighteen minute period would commence the knowledge that Vettel would get another five place grid penalty. Ericsson was out of qualifying as a result of his practice crash. With the start both Manor cars were out first along with a rush of drivers including both Mercedes. It was reported that the Williams team would not be using the new front wing. The early quickest time would be a 1m:30.724 from Rosberg with Hamilton second. Grosjean and Gutierrez were third and fourth. Verstappen and Ricciardo were now third and fourth with the Williams pair fifth and sixth after their first runs.

Both Williams drivers would pit currently seventh and ninth. Rosberg was still quickest from Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Valtteri, Sainz, and Felipe with Alonso tenth. Four minutes remaining as Perez went eleventh. It was not looking like the Williams drivers would come back out for a second run as the minutes counted down. Gutierrez was now tenth as the period came to an end. Both Williams drivers were in the top ten with those not making it through including Button and Palmer.

Q2: The second period would commence with the Mercedes cars out quickly. Both Rosberg and Hamilton were on new sets of soft tyres with Rosberg setting a 1m:29.970 but Hamilton would go ahead with a 1m:29.243. Verstappen would move into third and Ricciardo fourth. Vettel would go fourth with the Williams pair sixth and fourteenth. Valtteri would drop to seventh but for Felipe his qualifying would end as he could only manage twelfth with his second run. The top ten would be Hamilton from Rosberg, Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Valtteri, Sainz, Alonso, and Hulkenberg tenth.

Q3: The final period would again see the Mercedes pair out first with Rosberg leading Hamilton. Rosberg would set a 1m:29.606 but Hamilton would go quicker with a 1m:29.339. Hulkenberg was third and Alonso fourth. Verstappen would go third with a 1m:30.313 followed by Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, and Valtteri. But Hamilton's time would be deleted as the FIA viewed that he had exceeded the track limits. All ten drivers would pit to take on new tyres and Hamilton would join the cars returning to the track. Hamilton would go quickest in sector one but would not improve in sector two. But he would set a quickest time in the final sector to set a 1m:29.287 to be quickest. Alonso in eighth would also have his time deleted.

Rosberg would fail to improve seeing Hamilton on pole with Verstappen third followed by Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, Valtteri, Hulkenberg, Sainz, and Alonso. But Vettel will drop five places moving Valtteri to sixth on the grid. A mixed result for the Williams team with Felipe certainly not showing the same level of pace and consistency as his team-mate.

Felipe Massa:
Q1: With the period underway Felipe would be seen sitting in his car. With five minutes completed Felipe would take to the track running on the soft tyre. Felipe was on his flying lap and would finish with a 1m:32.146 to be third but the Red Bull cars would push him down to fifth. He would drop to sixth as Valtteri moved ahead. Felipe would drop to eighth with Sainz ahead of him. Felipe would finish the period in ninth.

Q2: Felipe would follow his team-mate out and would set a 1m:32.617 to be a disappointing eleventh. This would become fourteenth as Felipe returned to his pit. With just over two minutes remaining Felipe was back out on a new set of soft tyres in what would be a one lap run to get himself into the top ten. Felipe would go quicker in sector one but not in sector two. Felipe would finish with a 1m:32.002 to manage only twelfth. This was the fourth time this year that Felipe had failed to make it into the top ten.