Lando Norris of McLaren placed second at Silverstone, behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull. His teammate Oscar Piastri was third.

“It’s not a blow,” said Hamilton, who will start seventh, one spot behind teammate George Russell. We just need to pay attention. We are falling behind, and we need to do more.

Norris was the star of an exciting qualifying session. Verstappen set the pace on his first lap, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc came close to beating that time on his second run. Then Norris beat it, and Silverstone held its breath to see if the world champion would replace Norris at the top of the times.

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Even though it was predictable, it didn’t stop McLaren from being happy with their best qualifying performance since Hamilton and Jenson Button locked out the front row in Brazil in 2012.

Norris said, “There are a lot of TV screens around the track, so I tried to watch as many as I could. I was surprised at how long I was on top, but it kind of depended on when Max was going to cross the line.”

“Well, I guess I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t expect us to be here, and I didn’t expect myself to be here either.”

Norris was upset that he didn’t get pole, but he was also realistic and funny about the fact that Verstappen would take it from him in the end.

Norris said, “We couldn’t have had a better day, except for Max again. He messes everything up.” Other than that, he said, “the rest was pretty amazing.”

As for the race, McLaren is not known for its speed over long distances. But Norris said he had “some reasons to believe” he could finish at least in the “top five” in his home race.