F1 starting grid: Hamilton pips Antonelli to Sprint pole at Silverstone

The F1 starting grid has been set for the Sprint at the 2026 British Grand Prix, with 17 laps of Silverstone to come on Saturday.

Lewis Hamilton will start his home Sprint from pole position, beating Kimi Antonelli by just 11 thousandths of a second to send the Silverstone crowd into raptures on Friday.

F1 starting grid: Hamilton takes Sprint pole at Silverstone

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As per the rules, SQ1 saw mandatory medium tyres on every car and something of a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of teams went out in the first session, with both Aston Martin, Cadillac and Haas drivers all dropping away.

It was another set of fresh mediums for SQ2 as a packed crowd watched on at Silverstone, with all of Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes seemingly in the hunt and closely-matched through the first two parts of the session – with Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls showing a turn of pace by finishing fourth in SQ2.

Both Alpines, Audis and Williams all dropped away, though, with the fight for pole to come.

Repairs were taking place on Lando Norris’ car between SQ2 and SQ3, with the front wing removed as the car appeared to suffer damage during the session, with the team subsequently confirming work took place on his front brake ducts.

Soft tyres were on for SQ3, and with only one run possible, every driver emerged at once for their flying runs.

Kimi Antonelli set an initial benchmark and with the likes of both McLarens and Charles Leclerc falling short, it was Hamilton who fought his way around to take pole by just 0.011s at his home circuit.

Max Verstappen will line up third ahead of Leclerc in fourth, while George Russell and Lando Norris create an all-McLaren third row.

The Sprint will take place at 12pm locally at Silverstone, with 17 laps to come before the teams and drivers dust themselves down, for British Grand Prix qualifying later on Saturday.

Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix

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F1 Sprint starting grid: 2026 British Grand Prix

1 – Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
2 – Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
3 – Max Verstappen Red Bull
4 – Charles Leclerc Ferrari
5 – George Russell Mercedes
6 – Lando Norris McLaren
7 – Oscar Piastri McLaren
8 – Isack Hadjar Red Bull
9 – Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
10 – Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls
11 – Pierre Gasly Alpine
12 – Gabriel Bortoleto Audi
13 – Nico Hulkenberg Audi
14 – Franco Colapinto Alpine
15 – Carlos Sainz Williams
16 – Alex Albon Williams
17 – Oliver Bearman Haas
18 – Esteban Ocon Haas
19 – Sergio Perez Cadillac
20 – Valtteri Bottas Cadillac
21 – Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
22 – Lance Stroll Aston Martin

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