Max Verstappen claimed pole for the British Grand Prix for Red Bull, a blistering run beating the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris into second and third. Mercedes’s George Russell was fourth, with Lewis Hamilton very much in the mix, taking fifth for Ferrari.
The pole was somewhat against odds for Verstappen, who absolutely wrung the neck of the Red Bull to beat a very strong assault from both McLaren and an improved Ferrari. The world champion has not been particularly happy with his car all weekend, having struggled with its balance all season. With the team using a trimmed back low-downforce configuration at Silverstone, it required every bit of his considerable skill to wrangle across the old airfield. As he has demonstrated previously this season, sometimes he can be the ultimate differentiator.
Max Verstappen during qualifying at Silverstone, where he took his first pole since Miami, six races ago. Photograph: Andrej Isaković/AFP/Getty Images
It was a salutary reminder of quite why there is so much interest in his future, with Mercedes considering him again and Red Bull just as anxious to hang on to their prized asset.
With Red Bull having brought what is likely to be their last major upgrade of the season to the last race in Austria, with a revision to the floor of the car aimed at helping address the balance issues that have plagued it all year, they will be buoyed that this time they had the advantage over McLaren, at least in Verstappen’s mercurial hands.
The team have been honest in that no quick fix was expected to the problems, with a disconnect between wind-tunnel predictions and real-world performance at the heart of their inability to solve the problems, but Verstappen enjoyed his lap at Silverstone perhaps more than many of late to take his fourth pole of the year and his first since Miami, six races ago.
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Verstappen opened the running in Q3, taking the top spot, but was swiftly eclipsed by Piastri, who set a time of 1min 24.995sec. Norris followed but could not quite hook it up and was just under two-tenths back, while Hamilton was enjoying his best qualifying of the season to grab second place just over one-tenth back from Piastri, with Verstappen fourth.
The final laps would prove decisive and were a suitably tense affair. Norris went out first and pushed hard but did not improve enough over Piastri, while Hamilton set a superb first sector but was unable to quite make the difference. However, behind them Verstappen was flying, putting together his best lap of the session when it really mattered. Hammering it to the very limit, he took the top spot with a time of 1:24.892, a full tenth up on Piastri and Norris.
Quick Guide
British Grand Prix qualifying times
Show
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1min 24.892sec
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:24.995
3. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:25.010
4. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:25.029
5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:25.095
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:25.121
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes, three-place grid penalty) 1:25.374
8. Oliver Bearman (Haas, 10-place grid penalty) 1:25.471
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1:25.621
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1:25.785
Q2
11. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1:25.746
12. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1:25.826
13. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 1:25.864
14. Alex Albon (Williams) 1:25.889
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1:25.950
Q1
16. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1:26.440
17. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1:26.446
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1:26.504
19. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1:26.574
20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1:27.060
Ollie Bearman was in eighth place for Haas but has a 10-place grid penalty for failing to slow under a red flag in third practice. Kimi Antonelli was seventh but has a three-place penalty for his crash with Verstappen in Austria.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In their first of two matches of the Cathy Bessant International Series against No. 10 New Zealand, the No. 14 U.S. Women’s National Team defeated the Black Sticks, 3-0, over Independence Day weekend.
The first quarter of play was uneventful, with USA earning the first penalty corner of the match several minutes into the second frame. Caroline Ramseysent in a high flick, which was saved but earned USA a second set piece chance. The second flick by Ramsey was right on target, but met with a nice save by the New Zealand goalkeeper.
USA’s first goal came late in the second quarter, when Abby Tamer sent a ball in toward the stroke spot and there was a scrum in front of the cage. Phia Gladieux held onto the ball and scooped a backhand flick into the cage to put the United Eagles up 1-0.
RangeGoats GC star Peter Uihlein shot a 1-under 72 on Saturday at The International Series Morocco to put himself in position for a run at the trophy at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat.
Uihlein, who won twice on The International Series last season, enters Sunday’s final round tied for eighth and four shots back of leader Scott Vincent. Uihlein is at 7-under for the week at the par-73 layout.
LIV Golf reserve player John Catlin, who has been a force on The International Series recently, is T12 after he recorded a 3-under 70 in the third round. He is 5-under for the week and six back of the lead.
Stinger GC’s Charl Schwartzel is T18 after a stellar 4-under 69 in the third round and sits seven shots off the lead. Torque GC’s Mito Pereira (T24), HyFlyers GC GC’s Andy Ogletree (T24) and RangeGoats GC’s Ben Campbell (T41) will look to go low on Sunday. Campbell is the defending champion in Morocco.
Click here for scores from Morocco
PUIG GRINDING ON DP WORLD TOUR
Fireballs GC’s David Puig continued his gritty play at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, and is six shots off the lead after a 2-under 70 in Round 3. Puig, who is tied for 12th, had five birdies and three bogeys on Saturday.
Cleeks Golf Club Captain Martin Kaymer, playing in his home country, is tied for 34th entering the final round. He shot 2-under 70 on Saturday.
Click here for scores from Munich
(Uihlein photo courtesy of Steve Bardens/Asian Tour)
(The International Series staff contributed to this story)
Max Verstappen has clinched pole position at the British Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver storming through with a stunning lap to put himself at the front of the grid ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
While Piastri had secured provisional pole during the first runs of Q3, the Australian made a mistake on his final effort and could not improve. But Verstappen put his lap together perfectly to go fastest on an effort of 1m 24.892s, putting himself 0.103s clear of Piastri’s McLaren.
The other papaya car of Lando Norris will start from third, the Briton also unable to better his previous time on his last flying lap. George Russell followed for Mercedes in fourth, while Lewis Hamilton wound up in fifth, despite the Ferrari driver being Piastri’s closest challenger in the first runs.
Hamilton’s team mate Charles Leclerc claimed sixth, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli taking seventh ahead of Ollie Bearman in eighth, though the Haas driver will start near the back of the field thanks to a 10-place grid penalty for a red flag infringement in third practice.
Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin in ninth place, while Pierre Gasly was an impressive 10th at the wheel of the Alpine.
Williams had a disappointing day, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both exiting Q2 in P11 and P14 respectively. It was also another tough outing for Yuki Tsunoda, who found himself down in P12 for Red Bull.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took 13th place, with the Haas of Esteban Ocon the final car to miss out on the top 10 shootout in 15th.
There was drama in Q1 when Alpine’s Franco Colapinto spun off into the barriers at the final corner, bringing out the red flags and leaving the Argentinian driver down in P20.
Also eliminated in the first segment of Qualifying – which saw the whole field barring Colapinto covered by just six-tenths – were Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in 16th, the Kick Sauber duo of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg in 17th and 19th respectively and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll between them in 18th.
AS IT HAPPENED
Q1 – Verstappen fastest as Colapinto brings out red flags
After three busy practice sessions – each featuring a different driver at the top of the timesheets – it was time for Saturday’s highly-anticipated Qualifying session. Russell clinched pole at home in 2024, but who would put themselves at the front of the grid this time around?
Bortoleto was the first to hit the track as the green light signalled the start of Q1, the Kick Sauber team having repaired the car in time following the Brazilian’s spin into the gravel during FP3. Conditions looked to be dry, but Gasly hinted at a change as he radioed in to report “some drizzle”.
As the rest of the pack started to emerge – all sporting the C4 soft tyres – Piastri went fastest during the early runs, his lap of 1m 26.002s putting him 0.039s clear of Verstappen in second and Alonso in third.
There was drama with just over eight minutes remaining as Colapinto had a moment at the final corner and spun into the barriers, bringing out the yellow flags. The Alpine driver initially got going again before then pulling off the track again near the pit exit, resulting in a red flag being thrown to allow for the Argentine’s car to be recovered.
When the session resumed with six minutes and 49 seconds remaining, the drivers at risk were Bortoleto, Ocon, Hulkenberg, the stricken Colapinto and Gasly, with Tsunoda on the bubble in 15th place – while leader Piastri stated that the drops of rain seemed “worse than before”.
Albon improved to climb up to third, while Verstappen and Piastri swapped fastest laps at the top of the timesheets. Elsewhere Hamilton and Leclerc looked to potentially be at risk in P11 and P13, with Hamilton told that he did not have enough fuel remaining for another lap.
Leclerc went on to move himself up to ninth, while Hamilton was pushed to 14th but stayed out of the elimination zone and Sainz climbed to eighth. Others were not so lucky, however; Lawson exited in 16th, a contrast from his sixth place on the grid last time out in Austria.
The Kick Saubers of Bortoleto and Hulkenberg exited in P17 and P19 respectively, with Stroll sandwiched between them in P18 while the aforementioned Colapinto ended the segment in P20 following his accident. Colapinto aside, the entire field was covered by just six-tenths in an incredibly close Q1.
Q2 – Hamilton leads Leclerc, Williams face double exit
After an initially quiet start, Verstappen led the field out as Q2 got underway at Silverstone. The Dutchman soon went fastest on a 1m 25.316s – before Piastri incredibly set the exact same time, going into P2 given that he set his time after Verstappen.
More was to come though from Norris, who beat both drivers by 0.085s to go to the top, a welcome sight to the fans watching on in his grandstand. Further back, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly and Tsunoda were the names at risk in the bottom five, all of whom had sported used tyres on their first runs.
Alonso, meanwhile, was left unimpressed after encountering a slow-moving Antonelli, the two-time World Champion calling the incident “crazy” before suggesting that the Italian – who already has a three-place grid drop from his Lap 1 crash in Austria – would receive a penalty.
As the segment entered its final minutes, everybody was back out on track in an effort to improve and get themselves into the top 10 shootout. The Scuderia cars bolted on fresh rubber for this run, enabling Leclerc to initially go fastest but Hamilton stormed to the head of the timesheets on a 1m 25.084s, just under five-hundredths clear of his team mate.
Despite moving up to 10th, Tsunoda found himself pushed down the order as others bettered their times, dropping the Red Bull driver down to 12th. Williams also faced disappointment as Sainz and Albon exited in 11th and 14th respectively, with a downbeat Albon reporting: “We made it difficult for ourselves.” Also out were Hadjar in P13 and Ocon in P15.
Knocked out: Sainz, Tsunoda, Hadjar, Albon, Ocon
Q3 – Verstappen beats the field to pole
After an action-packed build-up, attentions turned to the top 10 shootout at Silverstone, with the Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes duos joined by Verstappen, Alonso, Gasly and Bearman, though the latter would drop down the order thanks to a 10-place grid penalty from a red flag infringement in FP3.
As the first laps went on the board, Piastri secured provisional pole position by pumping in a 1m 24.995s, while Hamilton proved to be his nearest challenger on a lap 0.135s adrift of the Australian. The other McLaren of Norris was third, with Verstappen and Leclerc following behind.
With the clock ticking down, the time arrived for the decisive final runs. Could Piastri hold on to score his fifth P1 grid slot of the year, or might Hamilton add a record eighth pole position at Silverstone to his name – and his first in general since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix?
Piastri looked to be improving, but a mistake on his lap meant that the Australian could not better his previous lap. The likes of Norris, Hamilton and Leclerc were also unable to make improvements – but Verstappen put together a sublime lap to grab pole position, the Red Bull man going quickest thanks to his effort of 1m 24.892s.
This put him 0.103s clear of Piastri, while Norris had to settle for third. Russell moved up the order to take fourth, pushing Hamilton and Leclerc down to fifth and sixth respectively, while Antonelli claimed seventh, though the Italian will drop down three places after receiving a penalty last time out in Austria.
Bearman slotted into eighth but, like Antonelli, will not keep his original position owing to a grid drop, the Haas driver moving down 10 places. Alonso and Gasly, meanwhile, rounded out the top 10.
Key quote
“It was tricky out there with the wind,” said Verstappen. “Throughout the whole of Qualifying it was shifting around a bit, and around here with these cars they are extremely sensitive to it. Just tried to tidy it up throughout Qualifying and that final lap was good enough. This is a proper track in Qualifying, where you have to go flat-out on all these corners, you have to be really committed and that’s really enjoyable.”
What’s next
The 2025 British Grand Prix is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Silverstone.
The Carrera Cup made a triumphant return to the Norisring after a six-year hiatus, with Flynt Schuring securing a commanding lights-to-flag victory. The 19-year-old Dutchman dominated the first race of the weekend on the street circuit in Nuremberg.
Race 7, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, Round 4, Nuremberg (DEU).
Schuring, the younger brother of Porsche DTM driver Morris Schuring, fended off a strong challenge from his Schumacher CLRT teammate Alessandro Ghiretti. Thanks to his second place, the French Porsche Junior extended his lead in the overall standings of the one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Robert de Haan crossed the line in third place. With this result, the Dutchman from Proton Huber Competition maintains his second position in the overall standings.
Flynt Schuring, a member of the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland Talent Pool, built up a lead of nearly four seconds in the opening laps, only to have a safety car phase wipe out his advantage. ‟After the restart, I couldn’t pull away again. Alessandro put me under a lot of pressure in the second half of the race,” said the Dutchman after securing his second victory of the season. ‟It’s really something special to win on my debut here at the Norisring.” With this result, Schuring moved up to third in the overall standings.
Flynt Schuring
‟Flynt was simply too fast for me today,” admitted Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti. ‟But I’m happy with second place, I’ve extended my lead in the standings, and it’s a fantastic result for Schumacher CLRT.” Robert de Haan echoed the sentiment: ‟I tried everything to force Alessandro into making a mistake – but it didn’t work,” said the Dutchman, who completed the podium in third place.
Behind him, compatriot Huub van Eijndhoven (Team GP Elite) crossed the line in fourth. Fifth place went to German Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus (Bonk Motorsport), who successfully fended off Kas Haverkort (Team GP Elite).
In the Rookie classification, Sacha Norden continued his winning streak. The 24-year-old Dutchman claimed his fifth Rookie victory of the Carrera Cup season. Despite the success, the Proton Huber Competition driver was not entirely satisfied: ‟Of course I’m proud of the Rookie win, but I was hoping to finish further up in the overall results,” admitted Norden, who finished 13th overall. The Rookie podium was rounded out by Norden’s British teammate Joe Warhurst and Brazil’s Matheus Ferreira (Target). Michael Schrey claimed his third ProAm class win of the season. ‟My little daughter Emma was cheering me on again today – she’s definitely becoming my good-luck charm,” joked the German from Bonk Motorsport. ‟But seriously, my 911 felt super stable under braking today – and on a circuit like the Norisring with its two hairpins, that’s crucial.”
Michael Schrey
The race was red-flagged on the final lap following a crash. After contact in a battle for position, Michael Essmann’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup hit the barriers hard. The entrepreneur from the Rhineland was taken to hospital for a precautionary check but was classified second in the ProAm category. In the event of a race interruption, the results are based on the order from the previous lap – and at that point, Essmann was running second in class. Third place among the drivers without a professional racing background went to GP Elite driver Sören Spreng from Germany.
Trophies were presented by, among others, Vinzenz Pflanz, Chief Business Officer of Sixt SE. ‟As always in the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland – a fantastic event with thrilling motorsport and incredibly passionate teams. It perfectly reflects the values of Porsche and Sixt,” he said of the Norisring experience.
Huub van Eijndhoven tackles Sunday’s race from pole
The eighth race of the season will see the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars back in action on Sunday at 11:15 am. Two Dutchmen will line up on the front row: Huub van Eijndhoven (Team GP Elite) starts from pole position, with Robert de Haan (Proton Huber Competition) alongside him. Fans can follow the weekend’s second race live on the internet, including on the Porsche Motorsport Hub and the Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland channels on YouTube and Facebook Facebook.
Huub van Eijndhoven
Result race 7, Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland, Nuremberg (DEU)
1. Flynt Schuring (NLD/Schumacher CLRT), 32 laps 2. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA/Schumacher CLRT), +1.004 seconds 3. Robert de Haan (NLD/Proton Huber Competition), +2.439 seconds 4. Huub van Eijndhoven (NLD/Team GP Elite), +3.718 seconds 5. Porsche Junior Theo Oeverhaus (DEU/Bonk Motorsport), +5.892 seconds 6. Kas Haverkort (NLD/Team GP Elite), +7.616 seconds
Standings Porsche Sixt Carrera Cup Deutschland (after 7 of 16 races)
As well as Jannik Sinner is playing at Wimbledon, he doesn’t appear to need much in the way of help. Still, he got some Saturday when his opponent, Pedro Martinez, was dealing with a problematic shoulder that compromised his serve.
The No. 1-ranked Sinner has dropped a total of 17 games so far, made his way to the fourth round for the seventh consecutive Grand Slam tournament — he’s collected three such trophies in that span — and never was truly in trouble during a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 52 Martinez.
“We all saw that he was struggling,” Sinner said, then noted about his own form: “First week couldn’t have gone better.”
Sinner has yet to drop serve across his opening three matches, and the 17 games he has conceded are the fewest by any men’s No. 1 seed at Wimbledon to make the second week since the Open era began in 1968. He’s the second man overall to cede just 17 games through three completed matches, the other being Jan Kodes, who ended up losing in the semifinals in 1972.
There’s been zero sign of any sort of inability on Sinner’s part to move past last month’s French Open final, which he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets despite taking the first two and holding three championship points.
Against Martinez, Sinner went up 5-0 after 20 minutes. During that stretch of 29 points, Martinez managed just one winner, while Sinner accumulated 10.
That’s when Martinez took a medical timeout, and a trainer massaged the back of his right shoulder. The Spaniard was delivering first serves as slow as 76 mph, compared with Sinner’s high of 133 mph.
That aspect of Martinez’s game improved incrementally, but the only, ever-so-brief, moment of intrigue at Centre Court came in the second set, about 75 minutes in, with Sinner up a break and serving at 4-3. That’s where Martinez managed to accrue his first four break points of the match.
Sinner stayed as calm as can be — “I don’t think Sinner’s changed expressions once in this match,” John McEnroe observed on the telecast — and erased all four of those chances, held for 5-3, then broke to end the set.
Soon enough, Sinner — twice an Australian Open champion, once a US Open champion and a 2023 semifinalist at Wimbledon — was heading into a contest Monday against Grigor Dimitrov or Sebastian Ofner, whose match was delayed by rain in the second set.
Sinner will be making his 17th fourth-round appearance in a Slam, passing Nicola Pietrangeli for the most by an Italian man in tennis history
In other men’s singles results Saturday, No. 22 Flavio Cobolli earned his debut trip to a major’s round of 16 by defeating No. 15 Jakub Mensik 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WIMBLEDON — Belinda Bencic returned to the Wimbledon fourth round for the fourth time after coming from a break down in the third set to edge Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4, 3-6, 7-6[8] in 2 hours and 58 minutes.
Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws
The match was the second-longest of this year’s Championships so far, behind only Aliaksandra Sasnovich’s 3-hour, 24-minute 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6[8] first-round win over Varvara Gracheva. Bencic has now reached the last 16 of both of her Grand Slam events since returning from maternity leave, having also made that stage of the Australian Open. She was forced to miss Roland Garros due to an arm injury, only returning to action in Bad Homburg last week.
This marks the 11th time that Bencic has made the second week of a Grand Slam — but she has only progressed past the fourth round three times, all at the US Open. At Wimbledon, she was denied at that stage by Victoria Azarenka in 2015, Angelique Kerber in 2018 and Iga Swiatek in 2023. The Swiss player will bid to overcome that hurdle against either No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova or Zeynep Sonmez.
The Royal Box on Centre Court is always filled with stars, and on day six of Wimbledon 2025, it had a golden glow.
Twelve British Olympic champions were invited to the Royal Box, the most prestigious seats on the grounds of the Grand Slam tennis tournament, on Saturday (5 July).
Before the first match of the day, each athlete was celebrated with a special video montage of their Olympic highlights, before being presented to the crowd to a rapturous applause for their sporting achievements.
Among them were Paris 2024 gold medallists Alex Yee (triathlon), Toby Roberts (sport climbing) and Nathan Hales (shooting), almost a year on from their maiden individual Olympic titles earned in the French capital.
There were also plenty of Olympic heroes from Great Britain’s home Games of London 2012, where Wimbledon played host to tennis.
WIMBLEDON — Clara Tauson’s first three visits to Wimbledon’s main draw all ended in the first round.
After Saturday’s 7-6 (6), 6-3 upset of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, Tauson has now collected three wins in the span of a week.
Coming into this third-round match, Rybakina had the best record at the All England — 21-3 — of any woman in the field. As the match progressed, you could see the fearless Tauson accelerate through the steep learning curve on this tricky surface.
In the end, she scored one break against Rybakina’s serve (on 10 break opportunities) and did not get broken herself.
This was the 22-year-old Dane’s first Top 20 win on grass, and it sends her into the second week at the All England Club. She’ll play the winner of the later match between No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek and Danielle Collins in the fourth-round on Monday.
Some takeaways:
History all around: Tauson has already equaled her best-ever Grand Slam result — her Round of 16 run last year at Roland Garros. It ended with a loss to Ons Jabeur.
In the larger picture, a victory Monday would give her the best Wimbledon result achieved in the Open Era by a woman from Denmark. Caroline Wozniacki reached the fourth round six times but never took the next step.
A delicate touch: These two players came into the match at No. 1 and No. 2 in aces among Hologic WTA Tour players. For the record, Tauson clung to her narrow lead by adding three to her total of 250, Rybakina, with five aces, is at 249.
But it was Tauson’s extraordinary touch that ultimately won this match.
Serving at 4-5 and facing her first set point, Tauson hit the shot of the match — a gorgeous drop shot that took Rybakina by complete surprise.
Delaying tactics: For the second straight day, rain visited the All England Club. But unlike Friday, when play was delayed at the outset, this was far more invasive.
With the score tied 4-all in the first set, there was a two-hour rain delay on Court 2. When play resumed, Tauson found an equilibrium after saving two set points in her first service game and settled down in the tiebreak.
Then, with Tauson serving at the critical juncture of 4-2, 40-30 in the second, a light drizzle began. This time the players didn’t leave the court but were permitted to warm up after about 15 minutes of waiting.
With a single serve — and a Rybakina return into the net — Tauson forged a 5-2 lead.
An abrupt exit: It was a disappointing performance from Rybakina, who failed to take advantage of a main draw that had already lost six Top 10 seeds.
This was the first time in five appearances here that she’s failed to reach the fourth round.
Rybakina dropped only seven games in her first two matches, but dropped that many in the first-set tiebreak. It was 6-all when she hammered a backhand past the baseline and failed to land a forehand return.
Rybakina finished with 31 winners and 31 unforced errors. Tauson was just a little bit better, with 25 winners and 22 unforced errors.
