Rosberg snags Silverstone pole in final moments of wet qualifying session

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the surprise at the end of a soggy qualifying session ahead of the FIA Formula One 2014 British Grand Prix tomorrow, as he crossed the line and took pole position in the final moments of Q3.

Prior to the German driver securing the top spot on the grid for the race start tomorrow, his team mate, Lewis Hamilton provisionally held pole position until Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets.

Rosberg proved to be the man of the moment though, as he grabbed the ultimate spot and his first pole position at the Silverstone circuit. Rosberg will be accompanied by his fellow countryman, Vettel on the front row of the grid who qualified in second place in the end.

McLaren’s Jenson Button proved to be the best of the three British drivers in the field, as he completed qualifying to secure a place in the top three driver line up. Button was sporting a vivid pink crash helmet, in a fitting tribute to his father who sadly passed away in January this year, as the 2009 World Champion made his way around the circuit in his car.

Button will be joined by Hulkenberg on the second row of the grid, who showed good form in qualifying and finished Q3 in fourth place overall. Hulkenberg will find himself in a McLaren sandwich as he begins the race tomorrow. The German driver will have Button’s team mate, Kevin Magnussen on the row behind him, as the Danish driver qualified in fifth place.

Rosberg’s team mate, Hamilton will now begin the race from sixth place after initially being in pole position and aborting his final flying lap as Q3 was in the closing stages. The Englishman will line up alongside Magnussen on the third row of the grid.

Hulkenberg’s team mate, Sergio Perez finished qualifying just a few places behind him and will start from seventh position. The Mexican driver managed to beat Vettel’s team mate, Daniel Ricciardo though who will begin the race in eighth place.

The final two drivers, who managed to secure a place in the all-important top 10 shootout, were the Toro Rosso duo of Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne. The pair qualified in ninth and 10th respectively.

Beyond the top 10, the rest of the field will make up the positions from 11th Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, made a shocking early exit from Q1 as both drivers failed to get through to the latter stages. Alonso and Raikkonen qualified in 19th place.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa also bowed out of qualifying at the end of Q1 and finished the session in 17th and 18th place.

Prior to Q1 coming to a close, Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi returned to the pits and was pushed into the garage due to a suspected problem with his car. The Japanese driver was joined by his team mate, Marcus Ericsson who was also out after Q1, as the Swedish driver went off the track at Brooklands corner and Alonso had a mishap there as well.

Sauber’s Adrian Sutil was another driver to fall at Brooklands corner. The German driver did make it through to Q2, but he was not able to set a lap time and played no further part in qualifying at the end of the middle session. Sutil was accompanied by his team mate, Esteban Gutierrez who also did not manage to secure a place in Q3. The Mexican driver went off the track as the clock was ticking down in the final moments of Q2.

Marussia’s Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton impressed with their performance in qualifying, as the pair made it through to Q2 for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix last year. Bianchi and Chilton finished Q2 in 12th and 13th place. Chilton will unfortunately fall down the grid by five places, as a result of a penalty for a gearbox change ahead of his race on home turf.

Following today’s shocking outcome in the closing stages of qualifying, Rosberg is the one who proved to be the best of the rest and will be the driver to beat as the lights go out to mark the 50th British Grand Prix. It is certain that the local heroes; Button, Hamilton and Chilton will have their sights set on success in front of their home crowd. It remains to be seen whether the three British drivers will achieve their desired goals in the race tomorrow, or if the likes of last year’s winner and pole sitter, Rosberg will remain on top and secure his second consecutive race victory at Silverstone.