MotoGP™ returned to Silverstone for a cloudy Super Saturday at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom, with Red Bull KTM Tech3 facing qualifying in the morning, before 10 laps of sprint craziness later in the afternoon. After qualifying in 18th on the grid, Maverick Viñales finished 13th in the sprint, and teammate Enea Bastianini took the 15th place, from 17th on the grid.
Grand Prix of The United Kingdom
QUALIFYING
The weather was not quite the same on Saturday morning in Silverstone, leaving riders to face different track conditions – cold, humid and windy – ahead of the tricky qualifying shootout. After having narrowly missed out on a direct Q2 ticket, Maverick Viñales was eager to try securing that coveted place for the ultimate fight for the pole. The feeling was positive after FP2 as we saw ‘Top Gun’ take the 4th fastest time of the session with a 1'59.531, just before heading to qualifying 1. In a very busy session, Maverick started with a 1’59.159 which powered him up to a provisional 2nd just behind Raul Fernandez. Others logically improved, and Viñales was in 6th as all returned to their pit boxes. Unfortunately, the number 12 was denied his share of opportunities as a technical issue forced him to retire from the session shortly after his return on track. His 1’59.159 meant that he will start both sprint and main race from 18th on the grid. After his 13 laps in FP2 and a best in 2'00.542, Enea Bastianini kicked off his Q1 shootout with an early lap in 1'59.400 which had him in 8th at the break. After a quick change of tyres, the Italian managed to improve to a 1'59.158, which will see him line up in 17th on the grid, just ahead of his teammate, by 0.001 seconds!
TISSOT SPRINT
As lights of the Tissot Sprint were out at 16:00 local time (UTC+1), Enea Bastianini first gained one position to 16th through the packed first corners, then up to 13th after the second sector to place himself just behind Brad Binder, before eventually dropping two positions to exit the opening lap in 15th behind Marco Bezzecchi. Shortly after, Franco Morbidelli moved past him, but the early lap 2 crash from Brad Binder gave him back the 15th place, now just 0.285 from Bezzecchi. The number 72’s solid pace saw him quickly grow the gap, leaving ‘Bestia’ behind Franco Morbidelli for a while, until Maverick Viñales caught him back from behind to move past him on lap 4. If we are usually used to an increase of pace as laps go by, Bastianini appeared to struggle finding the right way on his RC16 today. Viñales made a significant gap ahead, while Miguel Oliveira was more than one second behind. Enea kept his 15th position until the checkered flag, and he will be looking forward to trying to bring some improvements for the long distance on Sunday. After a disappointing qualifying, Maverick Viñales launched from 18th on the grid behind his teammate. He struggled to find his way in the hectic few turns, and dropped to 19th after one lap, 0.161 seconds behind Miguel Oliveira. Maverick moved up to 17th on lap 2 after overtaking the Portuguese, and the next lap, he overcame Raul Fernandez thanks to a faster early pace. Quickly, he caught back on teammate Bastianini just ahead, and that was P14 for Maverick after 4 laps. Next ahead, there was Franco Morbidelli, which was now Maverick’s focus, while his pace allowed him to significantly make the gap on the number 23. A late mistake from Firmin Aldeguer at the front in the final lap eventually earned Maverick one more position, as he crossed the finish-line in P13. No sprint points today for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders, but they will be both eager for the long distance on Sunday. Tomorrow is the big day, with the main event of the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom scheduled at 13:00 LT (UTC+1), for 20 laps!
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "We are clearly lacking experience with the KTM on this low-grip track, so it is a good weekend to learn and improve the feeling. We felt good in the second half of the sprint, I was catching the group in front, but we need to be patient and keep working. We have to improve how we enter the corners, because it then compromises the acceleration, and all of this is because of the low grip. We have a good set up when track conditions are normal, but we have seen this weekend that there is still a long way to go when conditions are different."
ENEA BASTIANINI: "The day has been quite difficult, because it is a bit frustrating to compare my lap times this year to the ones I had last year at that same track. Starting this morning, we felt something on the bike, the tyres were dropping quickly, so we tried some changes and it became better. We gave everything we had in qualifying, but it is not enough at the moment to make it to Q2 unfortunately. In the sprint, we suffered a lot with the rear grip, after 3 laps, the tyre dropped a lot which was strange. The strong wind was also not easy to manage, but anyway, we need to check all of these issues carefully tonight, and arrive tomorrow with better solutions."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "This British Grand Prix is not exactly going as we were expecting. Maverick Viñales does not feel bad on the bike, but he was unlucky in Q1 with a technical issue in his last run. He would have had a good chance to go through without this issue, but that meant 18th on the grid, and the story becomes totally different. In the sprint, he rode with a decent pace and finished with a P13, which still highlights his potential for Sunday. It is not what we wanted, but I believe that tomorrow will be a different race with different tyres, and he has strong chances for the top 10. Enea Bastianini has not felt comfortable since the start of the weekend, he has struggled to find a good set up. He struggled in qualifying, and then in the sprint. However, we are staying positive, we know that Enea is strong with low grip conditions, and a different rear tyre on Sunday should help him score a few points."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Fabio Quartararo (FRA), Yamaha MotoGP Team, 1'57.233
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +0.309
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, + 0.589
17. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.949 (Q1)
18. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.950 (Q1)
TISSOT SPRINT RESULTS
1. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 19'53.657
2. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, + 3.511
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team, +5.072
13. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +11.933
15. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +18.135
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'57.233 - 181.1 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - A. Espargaro (SPA) - 1'58.895 - 178.6 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'57.233 - 181.1 km/h
Top Speed: 2022 - E. Bastianini (ITA) - 340.6 km/h
