Adrian Quaife-Hobbs scored his maiden GP3 Series pole position in qualifying at Silverstone. The Manor driver was 0.398 seconds quicker than fellow Brit James Calado, with another home racer Lewis Williamson in third.
Williamson set the pace early on, with MW Arden teammate and championship leader Mitch Evans in second place. Quaife-Hobbs and Alexander Sims moved ahead of the Arden pair, but Williamson soon returned to top spot.
Nico Muller broke the British stranglehold when he went quickest, but Williamson then went quicker again with five minutes remaining. In the closing stages Calado moved into first place, but would be denied pole position by Quaife-Hobbs.
Calado was handed a penalty for ignoring yellow flags in practice which would have seen him drop down the grid. However, the stewards later rescinded the penalty to allow him to start the race on the front row.
Williamson made it a British 1-2-3, just like in Valencia, with Evans the best of the rest in fourth. Sims was fifth with Muller in sixth. Valtteri Bottas was seventh, ahead of Nigel Melker and Rio Haryanto, who will both drop ten places due to race incidents in Valencia.
Qualifying results:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
1 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:51.190 | 13 | |
2 | James Calado | Lotus ART | 1:51.576 | 0.386 | 13 |
3 | Lewis Williamson | MW Arden | 1:51.600 | 0.410 | 13 |
4 | Mitch Evans | MW Arden | 1:51.790 | 0.600 | 14 |
5 | Alexander Sims | Status Grand Prix | 1:51.847 | 0.657 | 14 |
6 | Nico Muller | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:51.889 | 0.699 | 14 |
7 | Valtteri Bottas | Lotus ART | 1:51.921 | 0.731 | 12 |
8 | Nigel Melker* | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 1:51.927 | 0.737 | 13 |
9 | Rio Haryanto* | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:51.932 | 0.742 | 14 |
10 | Tom Dillmann | Addax Team | 1:51.992 | 0.802 | 14 |
11 | Antonio Felix Da Costa | Status Grand Prix | 1:52.252 | 1.062 | 14 |
12 | Michael Christensen | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 1:52.319 | 1.129 | 13 |
13 | Gabby Chaves | Addax Team | 1:52.371 | 1.181 | 11 |
14 | Aaro Vainio | Tech 1 Racing | 1:52.439 | 1.249 | 13 |
15 | Tamas Pal Kiss | Tech 1 Racing | 1:52.445 | 1.255 | 13 |
16 | Matias Laine* | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:52.450 | 1.260 | 14 |
17 | Simon Trummer | MW Arden | 1:52.504 | 1.314 | 13 |
18 | Maxim Zimin | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:52.633 | 1.488 | 14 |
19 | Nick Yelloly | Atech CRS GP | 1:52.678 | 1.488 | 14 |
20 | Vittorio Ghirelli | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:52.741 | 1.551 | 14 |
21 | Ivan Lukashevich | Status Grand Prix | 1:52.782 | 1.592 | 14 |
22 | Marlon Stockinger | Atech CRS GP | 1:52.826 | 1.636 | 13 |
23 | Daniel Morad | Carlin | 1:52.855 | 1.665 | 12 |
24 | Luciano Bacheta | RSC Mucke Motorsport | 1:52.856 | 1.666 | 13 |
25 | Dean Smith | Addax Team | 1:52.936 | 1.746 | 13 |
26 | Pedro Nunes | Lotus ART | 1:52.943 | 1.753 | 13 |
27 | Thomas Hylkema* | Tech 1 Racing | 1:54.018 | 2.828 | 12 |
28 | Zoel Amberg | Atech CRS GP | 1:54.049 | 2.859 | 12 |
29 | Leonardo Cordeiro | Carlin | 1:54.789 | 3.599 | 12 |
30 | Conor Daly | Carlin | 1:54.835 | 3.645 | 11 |
* Ten place grid penalty