Carlos Sainz celebrated his first-ever career pole on Saturday, coming out on top in qualifying for Formula 1's 2022 British Grand Prix at a packed-out Silverstone.
The rain took its toll on the course as the weather was miserable throughout the afternoon, but it brought the best out in Sainz and he was the pick of the bunch.
"I didn't expect this, how have I done it?" Sainz was heard saying on the team radio, clearly ecstatic.
Before Saturday, Fernando Alonso was the only Spaniard to have claimed pole in F1 history, first doing so in Malaysia in 2003 in what was his 18th race. His most recent came in back in 2012, now 10 years ago.
Sainz brings an end to Spain's 3,632-day wait to see a Spaniard on pole, and in doing so became the 104th F1 driver to boast a pole position, and Ferrari's 34th. It's their 237th pole in all.
With 23 pole positions now, Spain are 11th in the rankings but a long way off the elite group. Britain have 290, 166, and Brazil 126. Australia are 10th in the rankings with 35.
2022 British Grand Prix Qualifying Top 10
The front 10 drivers in the 2022 British Grand Prix will be as follows after Saturday's qualifying:
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)