Check drivers' statements after qualifying for the F1 2022 British Grand Prix

The qualifying for the British GP was intense and unpredictable because of the rain that fell on Silverstone. And the one who managed to avoid the wet track and the mistakes was Carlos Sainz, who got the first pole position of his F1 career. The Ferrari driver's lap was 1min40s983 - just 0s072 seconds better than Max Verstappen's. The two rivals will share the front row of the grid on Sunday.

While Sainz saw the achievement with surprise, especially due to the adverse conditions on Saturday, the world champion understood that the session that decided the grid was a lottery. Behind them, Charles Leclerc secured third place, just ahead of Sergio Pérez.

Lewis Hamilton opens the third row. The seven-time champion regretted having missed the chance to start further ahead. In front of a crowded Silverstone, the Englishman tried hard to be among the front row, but the final part of the qualifying session frustrated Mercedes' chances. George Russell was only eighth.

Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso were ahead of the youngest Englishman of the German team, while Guanyu Zhou and a surprising Nicholas Latifi completed the top-10. Check out below what the drivers had to say about the decisive session of the British Formula 1 weekend.

Carlos Sainz, pole: Sainz admits surprise with first career pole in England: "I was suffering".

Max Verstappen, second: Verstappen sees "lottery" in Q3 and is happy with 2nd place in England: "We have a good car"

Charles Leclerc, third: Leclercends disappointed with Q3 mistake in England: "I didn't deserve the pole"

Sergio Pérez, fourth: Pérez says that 4th place in England "was not ideal" and hopes for competitiveness in the race

Lewis Hamilton, fifth: Hamilton regrets 5th place on grid in front of fans at Silverstone: "Devastated

Lando Norris, sixth: Norris celebrates 6th place at Silverstone: "Best we could have done"

Fernando Alonso, seventh: Alonso sees Alpine well "in the dry and the wet" and assures: "I could start in the top five"

George Russell, eighth: Russell admits mistake and sets goal for England: "Pass Norris and Alonso fast"

Guanyu Zhou, ninth: "Qualifying today was a challenge, but I'd say I didn't do too badly for a rookie! It was my first time driving an F1 at Silverstone in the wet, the conditions were very different from yesterday, but today was good, I felt I was progressing and improving with every lap. It was particularly tricky between Q2 and Q3, when it was getting wet and there were puddles, but I managed to keep the car on track and I think I was able to maximize everything I had, so I can say I'm satisfied with the work done. It's amazing to get into Q3 twice in a row, I feel like I'm growing as a Formula One driver and I'm very happy about that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, the track conditions should be different and I think we have a chance to score some points, which is always our main goal. We have potential, the grid is very tight, but I think we are doing well and both cars will fight for points tomorrow."

Nicholas Latifi, 10th: Latifi celebrates "great achievement" in qualifying, but expects little from the British GP

Pierre Gasly, 11th: "Since free practice it has been extremely difficult here. We knew it would be a struggle on this track, we couldn't find solutions, but we managed qualifying well and have to be content with 11th on the grid. Of course you can't be satisfied with this performance, we want more, but this is the current level of our car on this type of track. Tonight I will do the rain dance, hoping to have different conditions than tomorrow's dry in the race."

Valtteri Bottas, 12th: "It was a challenging day for me: the conditions were tricky, changing all the time and it seemed like every lap the track was a little different. Q1 was good, but as soon as I entered Q2, with more water on the track, it was difficult to reach the ideal tire temperature. Still, we are 12th and the points are not too far away: we are expecting a dry race tomorrow, so I am confident that we can get some points. Our car is much stronger in racing."

Yuki Tsunoda, 13th: "Considering how free practice went, we thought it would be difficult to move into Q2 today, so I can only be satisfied with this result. The conditions were tricky, but the team did a great job and I'm happy with what happened. I think it's a very positive result for us, considering how the weekend has gone so far. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow in the race, because my car has a dry track setup and I hope I can make the most of it and try to score. I can't wait to race: it will be difficult, but I think we can still have a good chance."

Daniel Ricciardo, 14th: "I'm disappointed with today's result. I think I needed the lap to be done earlier because the track was at its best at the start, but then I struggled with grip. Mostly, I don't think I got the lap when the conditions were at their best, and that cost me more than anything else today. So it's on my bill. That put us a little behind on the grid, so we have a lot of work to do tomorrow."

Esteban Ocon, 15th: "It was one of those tricky days today. We lost power due to a lack of battery in Q2, we couldn't be competitive like that, and then we ended up 15th, which is not good for tomorrow's race. I'm still positive, though, since we started further back in 2022 and still scored, so it's the same goal for tomorrow. Let's see if we understand the problem we had, hopefully we can solve it and be good for the race. It's a good track to overtake on, let's take advantage of the opportunities and get a decent result."

Alexander Albon, 16th: "The conditions were good today despite the rain, but there was less grip on the second set of tires. It was a bit different driving with the upgrades, but already in TL3 I was feeling very comfortable with the car, even with rain in Q1, I felt good. Only, at the end of Q1 we opted to do a cooling lap, but we lost a lot of tire temperature. The track was starting to dry out and everyone started to turn faster, but I just couldn't find enough grip. It wasn't the best choice, but let's see what happens tomorrow. We have a good car."

Kevin Magnussen, 17th: "Mick was fine in TL3, I had no problems, but I could see what the car could do, so I was confident. Then it rained, and that made me even more confident, but for some reason we didn't have the pace today in the wet. It's interesting, we've been fast in the wet a few times this year, but on tracks very different from this one. There's something to learn from that, so we'll try again tomorrow and see if we can fight our way back into the top-10."

Sebastian Vettel, 18th: Vettel blames lack of pace and says 18th makes race in England "more difficult"

Mick Schumacher, 19th: "Unfortunately, we had a problem with the car. It looked like something with the steering bar, which is definitely not something we want, especially in these conditions. We will analyze what happened, but I think that was the big reason why we didn't go to Q2. For me it doesn't matter what the weather is like tomorrow, it's going to be just as fun."

Lance Stroll, 20th: "We tried a new set of intermediates at the end of Q1, but I had a terrible warm-up lap, full of traffic and it was very difficult to generate any temperature in the tires like that. With only 1 lap to go, my tires weren't warm enough, I couldn't do a decent lap. I'm frustrated to start at the bottom of the grid, but we can have a better race if the weather improves."

GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the British GP weekend. On Sunday, the start is scheduled for 11am (GMT-3).