Hamilton edges Antonelli to sensational Silverstone Sprint pole for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton is back on pole at Silverstone, with the Briton beating Kimi Antonelli to the coveted P1 slot for Saturday’s Sprint.

Hamilton brushed aside talk of Ferrari’s power unit struggling at the power-hungry circuit to claim Sprint pole by 0.011s ahead of the championship leader. Max Verstappen will line up third.

Oliver Bearman the first Briton eliminated in SQ1

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Lewis Hamilton went into Sprint qualifying as the driver to beat, having topped the weekend’s sole practice session by two-tenths ahead of Kimi Antonelli. Third-placed Charles Leclerc was a further four-tenths off the pace.

The Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were the first out on their shiny new medium tyres. The rules for Sprint quali dictate that all the drivers have to use the medium Pirelli tyres in SQ1.

Perez got the timesheet rolling with a 1:31.862.

Hamilton lived up to pre-session expectations with a 1:29.582, putting him a tenth up on Leclerc, with Isack Hadjar third fastest.

As the clock counted down Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman were languishing in the bottom six.

Bearman clawed his way out in 15th place, putting Carlos Sainz into the drop zone. But Sainz improved, as did Alex Albon and Bearman became the first Briton eliminated in Sprint quali.

Eliminated: Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

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Lando Norris scraps through by 0.071s in SQ2

Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver out of the pit lane for SQ2, with the drivers once again using the medium tyres. The Audi driver crossed the line with a 1:29.729 to get the timesheet rolling.

Max Verstappen and Hadjar made it an early Red Bull 1-2 before they lost out to Leclerc, then Antonelli, and then Hamilton. The Ferrari driver clocked a 1:28.747.

Antonelli reported no deployment through Stowe, costing him time as he was up on Hamilton early in the lap.

Heading into the final five minutes, Sainz, Albon, Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto were in the drop zone. Russell was on the cusp in ninth place.

The Briton improved to seventh place, putting two-tenths between himself and 11th place. That pushed Norris down to 10th place, the McLaren driver making it through by 0.071s.

Eliminated: Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Lewis Hamilton beats Kimi Antonelli to Sprint pole

SQ3, run on the soft tyres, began but there were no takers as the drivers all waited for someone else to get it going.

Sitting in their cars, looking at data, cooling down, they waited… and waited…

And then the top ten ventured out. All of them!

Piastri was the first driver to make his mark, a 1:28.772 for the McLaren driver. His teammate Norris went quicker, but he lost out to Antonelli and Leclerc.

And then came Hamilton with a 1:28.376.

The Briton claimed pole position by 0.011s ahead of Antonelli. Verstappen was third, three-tenths down, with Leclerc in fourth place.

Russell and Norris will line up on the third row ahead of Piastri and Hadjar, with the Racing Bulls teammates completing the top ten.

British Grand Prix: Sprint Qualifying

1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.376
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.387
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:28.697
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.703
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.733
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.740
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.772
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:28.835
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.927
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:29.367

The full result from Sprint Qualifying at the British Grand Prix

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