Lando Norris accused Max Verstappen of “ruining everything” after he was denied a shock pole position at the British Grand Prix by Formula One’s dominant Dutchman.

For a dozen seconds, Norris sat at qualifying’s summit in front of a sell-out Silverstone crowd only to watch Verstappen – the second-but-last man over the line – knock him off his perch.

Verstappen snatched top spot from Norris by 0.241 seconds, with Oscar Piastri third on an excellent day for McLaren.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton only sixth and seventh on another sub-par afternoon for the grid’s once dominant team.

Norris, 23, has endured a poor season in his under-performing McLaren machine, but the British team’s first major upgrade of the season worked wonders on home turf.

Norris threatened throughout qualifying – sitting at the top of the timings at various stages in Q1, Q2 and Q3 – before a knockout blow from Verstappen stopped him landing only his second career pole.

“I was so close,” said Norris. He added with a smile: “Max ruins everything for everyone.

“I was watching the TV screens and I was surprised how long I stayed up there for. I did not make a mistake. It was all about when Max crossed the line and if he made a mistake, not if we could beat him.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown celebrated wildly, hugging and high-fiving anyone he could find dressed in the team’s papaya colours.

Norris added: “I could hear Zak on the radio during the in-lap, which was the best thing ever. To be second and third was amazing for the whole team.”

Norris will have his work cut out to claim what would be a maiden win in his 92nd start, with Verstappen in a class of one this year.

The 25-year-old Dutchman will be bidding to take his eighth win from the 10 rounds so far on his unrelenting march to a third straight world championship.

“I have some reason to believe we can do OK but not enough to beat this guy,” added Norris, pointing towards the Red Bull man.

“It is clear we have made some progress and we have made a decent step forward. It is payback for the work that has been done by the team.

“Max and I are very good friends. We grew up at a similar time, and we share the same mentality because we love it.

“But as soon as we put the helmet on, all the respect we have off the track, we forget that. It makes no difference about us being friends.”

No driver has won the British Grand Prix on more occasions than Hamilton, with the 38-year-old winning seven of the last 10 races staged here.

But the Mercedes driver will be deeply frustrated to start only seventh, half-a-second off the pace, in front of his home fans.

Sergio Perez’s dismal run of form continued after he was eliminated from the opening phase of qualifying.

The Mexican was first out of the pits when the action resumed following a red flag to clear Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

Perez momentarily headed to the top of the order, but the evolution of a drying track saw him tumble all the way down to 16th when Q1 came to an end.

It marked the fifth consecutive grand prix in which Perez has failed to make it into Q3 in a machine Hamilton described as the fastest the sport has ever seen.

Despite the threat of action from Just Stop Oil protesters, qualifying passed off without incident.

However, F1 bosses, Silverstone and Northamptonshire Police remain on high alert that a protest could yet disrupt Sunday’s 52-lap race where 150,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Security has been beefed up, with facial recognition cameras posted around the 3.66 mile track in a move to foil a potential plot.

Lando Norris accused Max Verstappen of “ruining everything” after he was denied a shock pole position at the British Grand Prix by Formula One’s dominant Dutchman.

For a dozen seconds, Norris sat at qualifying’s summit in front of a sell-out Silverstone crowd only to watch Verstappen – the second-but-last man over the line – knock him off his perch.

Verstappen snatched top spot from Norris by 0.241 seconds, with Oscar Piastri third on an excellent day for McLaren.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton only sixth and seventh on another sub-par afternoon for the grid’s once dominant team.

Norris, 23, has endured a poor season in his under-performing McLaren machine, but the British team’s first major upgrade of the season worked wonders on home turf.

Norris threatened throughout qualifying – sitting at the top of the timings at various stages in Q1, Q2 and Q3 – before a knockout blow from Verstappen stopped him landing only his second career pole.

“I was so close,” said Norris. He added with a smile: “Max ruins everything for everyone.

“I was watching the TV screens and I was surprised how long I stayed up there for. I did not make a mistake. It was all about when Max crossed the line and if he made a mistake, not if we could beat him.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown celebrated wildly, hugging and high-fiving anyone he could find dressed in the team’s papaya colours.

Norris added: “I could hear Zak on the radio during the in-lap, which was the best thing ever. To be second and third was amazing for the whole team.”

Norris will have his work cut out to claim what would be a maiden win in his 92nd start, with Verstappen in a class of one this year.

The 25-year-old Dutchman will be bidding to take his eighth win from the 10 rounds so far on his unrelenting march to a third straight world championship.

“I have some reason to believe we can do OK but not enough to beat this guy,” added Norris, pointing towards the Red Bull man.

“It is clear we have made some progress and we have made a decent step forward. It is payback for the work that has been done by the team.

“Max and I are very good friends. We grew up at a similar time, and we share the same mentality because we love it.

“But as soon as we put the helmet on, all the respect we have off the track, we forget that. It makes no difference about us being friends.”

No driver has won the British Grand Prix on more occasions than Hamilton, with the 38-year-old winning seven of the last 10 races staged here.

But the Mercedes driver will be deeply frustrated to start only seventh, half-a-second off the pace, in front of his home fans.

Sergio Perez’s dismal run of form continued after he was eliminated from the opening phase of qualifying.

The Mexican was first out of the pits when the action resumed following a red flag to clear Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

Perez momentarily headed to the top of the order, but the evolution of a drying track saw him tumble all the way down to 16th when Q1 came to an end.

It marked the fifth consecutive grand prix in which Perez has failed to make it into Q3 in a machine Hamilton described as the fastest the sport has ever seen.

Despite the threat of action from Just Stop Oil protesters, qualifying passed off without incident.

However, F1 bosses, Silverstone and Northamptonshire Police remain on high alert that a protest could yet disrupt Sunday’s 52-lap race where 150,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Security has been beefed up, with facial recognition cameras posted around the 3.66 mile track in a move to foil a potential plot.

Lewis Hamilton said his “disappointing” result in qualifying for the British Grand Prix must serve as a “wake-up call” for Mercedes.

Hamilton will start his home race in front of a 150,000 sell-out crowd at Silverstone only in seventh place, with team-mate George Russell one spot better off on the grid.

As Max Verstappen, perhaps predictably, raced to his fifth consecutive pole position, McLaren stung a surprise with Lando Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri second and third respectively in their upgraded machines.

Informed of his position over the radio, Hamilton said: “We are so slow.”

McLaren’s resurgence means Hamilton is now even further away from the front – qualifying half-a-second off Verstappen – despite Mercedes bringing a new front wing to Silverstone.

“It is not a blow, but it is just a wake-up call for us,” said Hamilton. “Others are overtaking us and we need to do more.

“I will be optimistic and do my best to get on the podium, but realistically I am not sure we can. We have two Ferraris and two McLarens ahead of us so it is going to be a tough race.

“It is always a great feeling to be at the British Grand Prix, but today it was disappointing that we could not deliver for the fans. Hopefully we can tomorrow.”

Hamilton is the most successful driver at the British Grand Prix – winning seven of the last 10 races staged here.

But 580 days have now passed since Hamilton last took to the top step of the podium – a run of 32 races which extends back to the final round of the 2021 season.

Mercedes’ major upgrade arrived at Monaco in May, and Hamilton delivered successive podiums at the ensuing rounds in Spain and Canada to provide him with hope he might soon be back in winning contention.

But he finished only eighth in Austria a week ago, and he is facing a tall order to salvage a respectable result on Sunday.

McLaren have been well off the pace so far this year, but their new package – which Hamilton likened to Verstappen’s dominant Red Bull machine – has propelled them ahead of the Silver Arrows.

“I am not surprised by McLaren because if you look at the car it makes sense,” said Hamilton.

“If you put it alongside a Red Bull, it looks very similar down the sides and it is working. They had the edge on us at the last race so I anticipate tomorrow will be the same.

“McLaren have been on a bad run for so long so I am happy for them. We have another team up in the mix which is what we want to see in the sport.”

Tom Marquand timed his run to perfection aboard Perotto to claim the Coral Challenge and secure a double on the Coral-Eclipse card at Sandown.

He had been undone when making his move a shade early when 10th of 30 in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot 17 days ago, but on this occasion, Marquand’s mount was faultless.

The Roger Varian-trained five-year-old was brought with a decisive effort a furlong out to score by a length and quarter from Ouzo, having had plenty in his favour this time, a fact his rider alluded to.

Marquand said: “I spoke to Roger this morning about the horse and he has a tendency to just be a bit fizzy. They did a bit of work just to get him out the gates at Ascot and he probably broke a little too well and just got left over-racing a touch.

“Today, we had a kind draw, he was racing down into a bend, he had the hood on – everything just pointed in the right direction for him. The plan came easy because he broke nicely and we had that easy tempo early down to the bend.

“They got everything spot on today for him to be able to conserve the energy he needed to get that last couple of furlongs.”

Possible targets include the International Handicap back at Ascot and the Golden Mile.

Marquand added: “I do just wonder about having a bend to race around, because it shuts the race down for him, but I will leave that to Roger to discuss, because he has some solid form at Ascot and if the race is run to suit for him, it is a great place. He had proven he is consistent to a high level and he needs little bits to go his way.”

Pat Dobbs was another who provided a masterclass of jockeyship, timing the run of Classic to perfection to claim the Coral Racing Club Handicap for trainer Richard Hannon.

The Julie Wood-owned three-year-old did not quite live up to expectations in the Greenham, but had run well twice subsequently in handicap company and Dobbs delivered the Dubawi colt in the dying strides to land the seven-furlong heat by a length from Novus.

“He is very tricky at home,” said Dobbs. “He is keen to get on with things and has only just started to settle down.

“He obviously has a very good pedigree so it was important to do it again at three and he is definitely going the right way.

“He had a different bit on today and a cross noseband which was a bit more manageable. He was galloping with his head in the air for the first three furlongs last time. Mentally he is getting better.”

The Ralph Beckett-trained Lord Protector gave Rossa Ryan success when staying on nicely after leading at the furlong pole to down Haunted Dream in the Coral Play ‘Racing-Super-Series’ For Free Handicap Stakes.

Like Tom Marquand, Ryan Moore also recorded a double on the afternoon.

“He’s improving every season”, was Aidan O’Brien’s assessment of the jockey after partnering Paddington to success in the Coral-Eclipse.

Having vanquished the John and Thady Gosden-trained Emily Upjohn, he gave that training duo a measure of compensation when guiding Lisboa to a runaway success in the concluding Coral ‘Get Closer To The Action’ Handicap.

The Galileo colt was making a quick turnaround from a below-par showing at Kempton 10 days ago and equipped with first-time blinkers, was given a positive ride by Moore, who had the nine-furlong contest in hand from the two-furlong pole.

After the runaway success, John Gosden said: “He didn’t pay much attention last time at Kempton, got between horses and decided he wouldn’t be bothered.

“So we popped the blinkers on and he decided to show what talent he has. He was kept in training this year. I thought he might have gone to the sales last year, but he will be in the July Sales next week.

“He flashed ability last year, then we had to pack in with him as he had a bit of an issue with a knee, but that has come absolutely right now – he’s been in good form.

“It is a pleasant surprise, particularly when Ryan goes that pace early on. He got a breather round the bend, but had the ability to still win comfortably. I thought once he got a lead, he wouldn’t be caught.”

He added: “It has been a great day’s racing and a phenomenal Eclipse. It was like an old-fashioned match-race.”

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka marched into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a routine 6-2 6-3 victory over Anna Blinkova.

Australian Open winner Sabalenka needed three sets to overcome Varvara Gracheva in a trick tie on Friday but 24 hours later remained in total control against her Moscow-born opponent.

Sabalenka, part of the unofficial ‘big three’ in women’s tennis alongside defending champion Elena Rybakina and world number one Iga Swiatek, finished the match with consecutive aces and hit 30 winners to stay on course to reach the last-four of a fourth successive grand slam.

Both players missed Wimbledon last year after Russian and Belarusian players were banned due to the Ukraine war, but Sabalenka had shown her potential on grass in 2021 with a semi-final showing and quickly set about making the last-16.

There were aces and backhand winners aplenty for the world number two during a first set on Court One that lasted 31 minutes and contained three breaks for the right-hander.

Blinkova had struggled with her serve, but the harsh reality was she could not handle Sabalenka’s relentless hitting.

An early break for the Russian in the second was wiped out instantly with a crunching forehand return by Sabalenka, who had to be at her best to hold during a 14-minute seventh game.

Victory in 81 minutes was sealed with back-to-back aces to send the 25-year-old into the second week of Wimbledon once again.

“I think it was definitely better tennis than yesterday the first set,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview.

“It was tough, she played really well, tough end to the match and super happy with this win.

“It was like a nightmare that (seventh) game. Somehow I managed to finish that game with a win, but yeah it was crazy.

“A crazy game. Super happy I was able to handle myself in that situation.”

Sabalenka will face another Russian in round four after 21st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova was the first female winner on day six with a 6-0 6-4 victory over Dalma Galfi on Court 18.

The wet weather disrupted some of the early play on Saturday but Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia beat the rain to down Sorana Cirstea 6-2 6-2 on Court Three before a suspension meant there was no time for an on-court interview.

When play did resume in SW19, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova finished the run of qualifier Natalija Stevanovic in straight sets.

Carlos Alcaraz remains on course to meet Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final – but the seven-time champion will not be having sleepless nights just yet.

World number one Alcaraz, touted as the only realistic challenger to Djokovic this fortnight, joined the Serbian in the fourth round after beating Nicolas Jarry.

But it took the Spaniard four sets and almost four hours to get past a player who had not played at Wimbledon for four years and before this week had only won one match here.

Chilean Jarry is a player on an upward curve, however, having risen from 152 in the world at the start of the year to a career-high 28.

Nevertheless, it looked like being plain sailing when Alcaraz won his 17th consecutive set with a solitary break.

But in the second-set tie-break, Alcaraz dumped a forehand into the net to drop a set for the first time since he played Arthur Rinderknech in the first round at Queen’s last month.

Alcaraz regained the initiative to take the third with a solitary break while Jarry hit the roof – literally – with one particularly wild swing.

Yet the indefatigable Jarry found a second wind and broke again at the start of the fourth, before an incorrect challenge from Alcaraz – who stopped playing only to discover Jarry’s return had clipped the baseline – left him on his haunches in annoyance with himself.

But Alcaraz steadied himself to hit back for 3-4 and then showed why he is the player at the top of the tree with an unstoppable backhand return to break before serving out for a hard-earned 6-3 6-7 (6) 6-3 7-5 victory.

“It has been really tough, Nicolas is a really great player, he’s playing really well,” said Alcaraz. “I’m just really happy with the level I played to get through this tough round.

“I had to stay focused. I knew I would have my chances. I would say the key is to believe and stay focused all the time.”

Third seed Daniil Medvedev also dropped a set but hit back to beat Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

Lordship continued his rapid ascent up the staying ladder with a fast-finishing victory in the bet365 Handicap at Haydock.

The William Haggas-trained three-year-old was bidding for a quick-fire hat-trick in the £100,000 contest, having supplemented a mid-June novice win at Chepstow with success at Yarmouth just last week.

He was the 100-30 favourite to complete his hat-trick under 3lb claimer Adam Farragher and finished with a flourish from an uncompromising position to seal a one-length verdict over Flower Of Dubai.

Maureen Haggas, assistant to her husband, said: “He’s not done much wrong, has he? It was an interesting route round, as it was at Yarmouth the other day, but once he got out it always looked like he was going to win.”

When asked whether the Melrose Handicap at York could be next on Lordship’s agenda, Haggas added: “That would be a nice target to aim at, wouldn’t it?

“It’ll be interesting if we ever get him on some decent ground – he’d prefer a bit of juice – but he’s a nice, straightforward horse who is going in the right direction.”

Ramazan completed a lucrative double for trainer Richard Fahey in the Price Promise At bet365 Handicap.

The Musley Bank handler had earlier plundered the £150,000 Old Newton Cup with the Joe Fanning-ridden Wootton’Sun and Ramazan was the 11-4 favourite to pick up the lion’s share of £50,000 in the hands of Oisin Orr following a creditable effort in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Orr left it late, but Ramazan answered his every call to get up and beat Chartwell House by a length.

Fahey said: “I don’t think he stayed the mile at Ascot, but I thought he ran a big race there.

“I think he’s just a seven-furlong horse. He might go six, it’s just his whole demeanour isn’t for six furlongs yet, but he’s from a fast family.

“He’s in the Bunbury Cup (at Newmarket next week) and he’s in the International at Ascot (July 29), but I don’t think he’ll get in either. He’ll definitely get in them next year, he’s that sort of horse.”

Jm Jungle (9-2) recoded an overdue victory in the Bet Boost At bet365 Handicap.

John Quinn’s three-year-old had been placed on several occasions since opening his account at Hamilton in May of last year and after travelling strongly, he knuckled down to see off the challenge of Spirit Of Applause by a length and a quarter.

“He’s been running really consistently and I thought he was very unlucky to bump into a really well handicapped one the last day (Count D’Orsay),” said winning jockey Jason Hart.

“He went to bite the second horse so I just had to drag him back off, but he’s done it well.”

Tierney was a 28-1 winner of the bet365 Nursery for trainer Hugo Palmer and apprentice rider Harry Davies, while the concluding Best Odds Guaranteed At bet365.com Handicap went to the Richard Hughes-trained Nails Murphy (9-2).

This was a day to gamble. Aidan O’Brien admitted the ‘lads’ had wanted to see if crack three-year-old Paddington could stay 10 furlongs – and against older opponents – for the first time.

It was also a punt to know the appropriate attire, with oppressive humidity coupled with band of slow-moving showers meaning it was 10-11 each of two for shirt-sleeves and straw hats making way for raincoats and trilbies.

The rain set in an hour and a half before racing, with the resulting two millimetres not enough to spoil perfect summer racing ground.

It could have been an uncomfortable afternoon too, for the sponsors. Although far from vintage numerically, with just four runners, this was still a test for punters and equines alike.

It only takes two to make a good horse race and the big two did not disappoint.

Paddington had carried all before him, winning an Irish 2,000 Guineas before proving himself the best mile Classic winner with a thoroughly conclusive defeat of Newmarket victor Chaldean in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

O’Brien initially hinted the Siyouni colt would head to Goodwood for the Sussex Stakes, yet the temptation to take on top four-year-old filly Emily Upjohn, in receipt of a 7lb weight concession, was too great to pass up.

Gamble though this was, especially just 18 days after his Ascot romp, Coolmore’s breeding empire could add a nought to the end of his stallion fee by winning top-class 10-furlong races.

A bundle of eager, brown muscle in the paddock, the 8-11 favourite looked even better in his coat than he had at Ascot, if that was at all possible, and that translated into a wonderful display of patience and power.

Ryan Moore took a tow from West Wind Blows, hit the front soon enough in the straight and fended off proven stayer Emily Upjohn after a rip-roaring duel to prevail by half a length.

Paddington is now the winner of six of his seven races, his sole defeat coming on his debut at Ascot last September.

It may have been an expected and record seventh win in the race for the trainer, but Paddington keeps surprising him.

“We thought he was a very good horse the first time he went to Ascot when he was a baby. We gave him a lot of time then to recover and he won very impressively at the Curragh in a maiden,” said O’Brien.

“We decided to leave him alone and let him winter and start him in as low a grade as we could start him and that’s what we did.

“But I suppose the surprising thing about him is the progress he is making from race to race. He is getting more confident, he is getting stronger mentally and physically.

“He is getting more professional and it is amazing what he is doing. We didn’t intend on coming here, but he was a lot heavier today, two weeks after running at Ascot, which is very unusual.

“He came out of Ascot in a very unusual good way.

“There are always outliers, there are always special horses – that is the way it is. There is no rule, because horses do different things, but it is very surprising what he is doing.”

O’Brien is surrounded by those with impeccable instincts, men not averse to risk taking. Michael Tabor (owner of Victor Chandler), Derrick Smith (former trading director for Ladbrokes), Joe Lewis (currency trader) and John Magnier, Coolmore owner, a genius who always backs his bloodstock judgement.

O’Brien is the steady hand on the tiller and you now have to dig deep to the lint at the bottom the bag of superlatives to find a new way to laud his remarkable talent.

Right on cue, the sun then made an appearance as O’Brien admitted it was something of a gamble to run Paddington in his third top-level race so fleetingly.

“Everything is a gamble. Every day you run is a gamble with these horses. When you find those type of horses, what the lads try to do is expose them, because their job is to breed racehorses and supply mares to them.

“They want to expose them with all their flaws, all their strengths. Every year they do that more and more. They don’t protect the way they used to. They want to see what they are able and not able to do.

“I admire them for that. I suppose the big thing is they love their racing and the racing is rising above everything else now. They love going racing, they love planning and they love thinking about those horses and it’s gone more of a love and a passion with then now than it has ever been before, for me. I can’t tell you how passionate they are about racing.”

O’Brien has now eclipsed Alec Taylor Jr and and Sir Michael Stoute as the trainer with the most wins in the Group One contest, which he first won with Giant’s Causeway in 2000.

“He is a lot quicker than Giant’s Causeway. His constitution is amazing too,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“Giant always ran at the same weight but this horse is getting heavier. So, obviously, physically, he is doing very well. He has surprised us so much with every run.

“Seamus (Heffernan) rides him work every day and the last day he rode him, he got off and couldn’t talk. When those fellas who are riding that many horses and are getting that way, it just takes you back a little bit.

“I try not to delve into it too much, because I try not to get everyone thinking about what could be too much, so we just go on quick, to the next one, the next day. There is something very different happening.

“It was different today with the way he hit the gates and the way he travelled. With the ease he got to the front and when he got to the front, he knew he’d gone professional and he knew he’d won his race. Obviously for us it is very exciting.”

Emily Upjohn is set to go back up to a mile and a half following her brave effort in defeat when chasing home Paddington in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

The Coronation Cup winner was beaten by half a length by Aidan O’Brien’s year younger rival, who was in receipt of 7lb, over 10 furlongs at the Esher venue.

John Gosden, who trains Emily Upjohn in partnership with his son Thady, felt the filly had lost little in defeat racing over a shorter trip in a four-runner contest.

He said: “It is disappointing when you only get four runners in a race of this class and nature. She has run great, a little slow out the gate, so she settled into third but had every opportunity up the straight and obviously had to take the length and a bit to get to him, but it was a superb race and we are thrilled with her.

“Back to a mile and a quarter – she hasn’t run a mile and a quarter since the Musidora (last year) – so obviously it was a super run and she is a mile-and-a-half filly.

“But full marks to the winner, he is a very laid-back, good-looking horse and he did it well.

“But of course, we are giving 7lb and that tells. But it would tell, it is a four-year-old to a three-year-old.

“I remember what Lester (Piggott) said, the three-year-old has the edge in the Eclipse and the four-year-old in the King George.”

Gosden would not shy away from taking the winner on again, but feels it is unlikely.

“I wouldn’t mind a crack at the winner again, but we’re going back to a mile and a half. I don’t think you’ll see him ever run a mile and a half – I would be very surprised,” he added.

“His pedigree, obviously, the dam stayed well, but I don’t know – Aidan (O’Brien) is capable of doing anything!

“You are more likely to see Aidan’s Derby winner (Auguste Rodin) in the King George. The races are the King George, Yorkshire Oaks and Arc – those are the three big races. We don’t have to run in the King George and you wouldn’t want to run in the Yorkshire Oaks as a prep.

“Enable was second in it (Eclipse) and she won it (King George), so older fillies can do it, but I would be very happy with her run.

“Great run and William Buick rode her perfectly. Jamie (Spencer on West Wind Blows) wisely stayed off the rail to get fresh ground on the outside and by staying off the rail it is going to mean no-one getting boxed in. It makes a big difference.”

Ed Crisford, who trains along with his father Simon, will be looking further afield with West Wind Blows, who was beaten six lengths in third.

He said: “He ran super and I’m really pleased with him. Jamie set nice, honest fractions and he ran his heart out. I’m very pleased he finished third and it was probably a career best for him.

“I think we will definitely be looking at international races with him. I think he could be very competitive in Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong. He has got lots of options over a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half and we will take it from there really.”

Mark Cavendish’s bid to take a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win is over after he was forced to abandon the race following a crash on Saturday.

Less than 24 hours after he came within a few metres of an historic victory in Bordeaux, Cavendish left what he has said will be his final Tour in the back of an ambulance, on his way to hospital in Perigueux with a suspected broken collarbone.

A seemingly innocuous touch of wheels brought an early end to his last appearance in the race he loves, with Cavendish braking to avoid an incident in front but hitting the deck around 60km from the finish of stage eight from Libourne to Limoges, unable to get up as he held his shoulder in agony.

Mads Pedersen took the stage win, powering up the slight rise to the line and holding on to deny the hard-charging Jasper Philipsen a fourth victory of this Tour, but there was only a muted sense of celebration afterwards, with Philipsen paying an eloquent tribute to the master sprinter.

“For me it was a pleasure to be able to race with Mark,” the former world champion said. “I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton. It’s so sad that such a legend has to finish the Tour like this…

“I wish all the best for Mark. Hopefully I can do the last race he’s going to do to honour a legend who stops in cycling.”

Cavendish’s former team-mate Mark Renshaw, brought in by the Astana-Qazaqstan team as a consultant to help a team with little sprinting pedigree prior to Cavendish’s arrival this year, admitted to crying in the team car when he realised it was over for his friend.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme said: “It is an emotional day. He was so sad just after the fall. He is the best sprinter in the history of the Tour de France and he wanted to try to win the 35th stage.

“He was second yesterday and for two or three seconds we thought he would succeed in his goal, and today it’s over. He is sad, we are sad, the Tour de France is sad.”

It means Cavendish, who announced in May that he will retire at the end of the season, will finish his career level with Eddy Merckx on 34 Tour stage wins – barring a decision to keep racing.

Cavendish was agonisingly close to breaking the record on Friday, getting the jump on Philipsen on the sprint to the line in Bordeaux, only for his gears to skip when he was trying to apply full power.

While hugely disappointed, Cavendish afterwards spoke optimistically regarding his form and that of his team, saying “I think so” when asked if he had the shape to win.

It is not just the opportunity of the record that Cavendish – who moved level with Merckx in 2021 – has lost with Saturday’s crash.

His love affair with the Tour began before he won his first stage back in 2008 and he could be seen throughout the opening week taking the opportunity to soak up the admiration of fans at the roadside.

In recent years when it came to finding new teams, and battling illness and depression, Cavendish fought to end his storied career on his terms, and the timing of his retirement announcement in May was made with the Tour in mind.

Whether he had taken a stage win or not, Cavendish would have loved to have ridden into Paris one final time, but that moment is now gone.

As Pedersen celebrated the win, Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Jai Hindley all finished in the front group to ensure no change at the top of the general classification before Sunday’s stage on the Puy de Dome, but Simon Yates lost 47 seconds after a late crash.

That saw the Lancastrian drop from fourth to sixth overall, with brother Adam up to fifth.

Westover made the trip to France worthwhile by winning the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud for Ralph Beckett and Rob Hornby.

Winner of the Irish Derby last season, he had run two fine races in defeat this year behind Equinox in Dubai and Emily Upjohn at Epsom.

Sent off favourite to add a second Group One to his tally, he raced in third as Tunnes and Malabu Drive, Westover’s pacemaker, ensured a stiff gallop.

Hornby was keen to put the Juddmonte-owned colt’s stamina to good use and took over at the head of affairs with fully two furlongs to run, but was made to work hard as Christophe Soumillon appeared to be travelling the better on Zagrey, who was one place behind Westover in Dubai and having his first run since.

Westover, to his credit, galloped strongly to the line and ultimately ran out a clear-cut winner by two lengths.

Betfair cut the winner to 6-1 from 10s for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later this month.

Hornby told Sky Sports Racing: “Winning a Group One in these colours is the stuff of dreams.

“I was brought up watching these colours win prestigious races and to be able to do it at Group One level is the highest honour and I’m grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way.

“Ralph has trained this horse so well from two to three and three to four, so to win a Group One at four is so important. These are things you dream of, so when they come true you don’t know how to think.”

Of the race, he added: “The pace was really good early on, Dougie (Costello on Malabu Drive) was able to keep it honest the whole way.

“When he dropped the bit he was able to work into it but funnily enough, once he shut down he took some stoking up again, so I was keen to get on my bike early. He hit the line strong and the time matches that.

“This is my third Group One for Ralph and fourth overall but it’s nearly a year since my last one and they are so important for a jockey.”

Beckett said: “Inevitably there was pressure as it was a long time since he won, over a year, and the longer that goes on the harder it gets.

“There was nothing wrong with his two runs this year, he’s only had the one blip in the King George. He was great today and it was a very fast time.

“For so long we had a reputation for training long distance fillies, so it’s important to change the dial, as Angel Bleu has done as well.

“I think we’ll either stay at a mile and a half or even have a conversation about going up in trip, because the peloton came to him but he stretched away in the last half a furlong.

“We’ll enjoy today and see what comes next, this was important.

“We’ll certainly consider the King George and see how he is closer to the time. There will be a bit of a monkey on the shoulder saying is this a good idea after what happened last year but we’ll see.

“The Arc will be under consideration too, he ran a great race in it last year (sixth) but got stuck in the ground.”

Max Verstappen dented Lando Norris’ dream of a shock pole position at the British Grand Prix by taking top spot in the closing seconds of a dramatic qualifying session.

Norris surged to the summit of the order to the delight of the Silverstone crowd, only to see Verstappen snatch pole by 0.241 seconds as the last driver over the line.

Norris starts alongside Verstappen, who took his fifth consecutive pole, with Oscar Piastri third on an excellent day for McLaren at the British team’s home race.

Lewis Hamilton could manage only seventh, one place behind George Russell in the other Mercedes.

Verstappen, a winner at seven of the opening nine rounds of a one-sided campaign, has already established a commanding 81-point lead in his pursuit of a hat-trick of world championships

The Dutch driver cruised to the chequered flag a week ago at Red Bull’s home race in Austria and he will head into Sunday’s race favourite to extend his lead, particularly after Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez failed to make it out of Q1. He lines up a lowly 16th.

No driver has won the British Grand Prix on more occasions than Hamilton, with the 38-year-old winning seven of the last 10 races staged here.

But the Mercedes man will be disappointed to start only seventh, half-a-second off the pace, in front of his home fans.

Perez’s dismal run of form continued after he was eliminated from the opening phase of qualifying.

The Mexican was first out of the pits when the action resumed following a red flag to clear Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

Perez momentarily headed to the top of the order, but the evolution of the track saw him tumble all the way down to 16th when Q1 came to an end.

It marked the fifth consecutive race in which Perez has failed to make it into Q3 in a machine Hamilton described as the fastest Formula One has ever seen.

Perez’s early exit capped a frantic few minutes which saw Verstappen and Hamilton dice for position on a piece of asphalt now named after Britain’s seven-time world champion.

Verstappen fought his way ahead of Hamilton, with the latter almost colliding with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in the mad scramble to post a lap before the chequered flag fell.

Prior to that, Verstappen required a new front wing after he grazed the wall along the pits just moments after he left his garage.

And even earlier Hamilton survived a spin through the gravel when he lost his control of his Mercedes on the entry to Stowe.

Despite the threat of action from Just Stop Oil protesters, qualifying passed off without incident.

However, F1 bosses, Silverstone and Northamptonshire Police remain on high alert that a protest could yet disrupt Sunday’s 52-lap race where 150,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Security has been beefed up, with facial recognition cameras posted around the 3.66 mile track in a move to foil a potential plot.