Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton took pole, but it doesn’t count

Lewis Hamilton topped the qualifying session for this weekend’s Formula 1 race at Silverstone Circuit, but it doesn’t count as a pole.

This weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit is set to see the first ever Formula 1 sprint qualifying race set the starting grid. This race, which is roughly one-third of the distance of tomorrow’s main event, is set to be contested later today.

The starting grid for this sprint qualifying race was set the same way that every other starting grid (for an actual Grand Prix) is set: a traditional three-round, knockout qualifying session.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton topped the speed chart in this qualifying session by recording a top lap time of 86.134 seconds (153.013 miles per hour) around the 18-turn, 3.661-mile (5.892-kilometer) road course in Silverstone, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom in the third and final round of qualifying.

Set to start the 17-lap race alongside Hamilton on the front row in second place is Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

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But despite the fact that Hamilton secured this pole the same way he took his most recent pole for the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya back in May, this does not count as an official pole for the seven-time and four-time reigning world champion.

Hamilton’s career pole total will only move from 100 to 101 this weekend if he wins the sprint race, as it was decided that the sprint race winner, not the actual top driver in the traditional weekend qualifying session, would be classified as having taken the pole during race weekends for which sprint qualifying is used.

On one hand, this makes sense. This way, you don’t have the so-called “polesitter” starting the Grand Prix in eighth or ninth place place if he drops seven or eight positions in the sprint race.

But on the other hand, it really doesn’t make sense.

Many have suggested that a “pole” earned by winning a sprint qualifying race be classified as something other than what have been classified “poles” for many years and that the actual “pole” be credited to the driver who tops the speed chart in the regular qualifying session, considering that’s how every other pole is credited.

Some have even gone as far as suggesting that pole records are at risk of becoming meaningless, depending on the direction Formula 1 goes with sprint qualifying beyond 2021.

Such a suggestion makes quite a bit of sense, considering the fact that, at its core, the sprint qualifying race is really nothing more than an extension of the full-length Grand Prix, just with a night to sleep on it before the main event actually gets underway in the usual fashion. The “polesitter” is, in essence, the leader at the one-quarter mark.

Additionally, Formula 1 doesn’t award points for pole position. Yet the winner of the sprint race is set to receive three points, with the runner-up receiving two and the third place finisher receiving one. Is this really necessary if we are supposed to classify this pole position like any other?

Tune in to ESPN2 at 11:30 a.m. ET today for the live broadcast of British Grand Prix sprint qualifying from Silverstone Circuit. The British Grand Prix itself is set to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET tomorrow morning.