Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton achieved pole position at his home race, Silverstone, fending off his Mercedes successor Kimi Antonelli.
In a single-lap shoot-out on the soft compound, Antonelli set the provisionally quickest time, only for Hamilton to go faster by a tiny margin of 0.011 seconds to take his first sprint pole since last year’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s one minute, 28.376 seconds lap was a full three tenths quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with the four-time champion narrowly beating Charles Leclerc to fourth.
Austrian Grand Prix winner George Russell suffered a difficult SQ3 segment, losing two tenths through Silverstone’s first sector on his way to fifth on the grid.
As expected before the British Grand Prix weekend, McLaren struggled for performance compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, with a less aerodynamically efficient car. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took sixth and seventh respectively.
Isack Hadjar was ninth, while Racing Bulls continued its impressive form by making it into SQ3 with both cars as Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten.
Hamilton led the first series of laps from Antonelli in SQ2, which was run on Pirelli’s medium tyres. Last year’s British Grand Prix winner Norris survived a scare when he only just managed to go through in P10.
There was some improvement at Alpine after a tough weekend at the Red Bull Ring, but Pierre Gasly was still knocked out in P11, followed by Audi duo Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. Franco Colapinto was P14, ahead of the Williams cars of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
In SQ1, none of the heavy hitters were under significant pressure, although Lando’s effort only left him P10 as Lewis led Charles – foreshadowing what would be a tricky session for the world champion.
At the back of the grid, Williams survived the segment with both cars, as Sainz held off a disappointed Oliver Bearman by 0.010 seconds for the P16 and final position. Both Haas cars were eliminated with Esteban Ocon in P19, followed by both drivers from Cadillac and Aston Martin.
So the home crowd favourite will start the British Grand Prix sprint race in pole position. There’s only 17 laps in the sprint and if Lewis Hamilton can resist the pressure from Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, then it will be popular result.
British Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.376
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.387
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:28.697
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.703
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.733
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.740
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.772
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:28.835
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:28.927
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:29.367
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.482
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.679
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:29.707
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.983
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:30.197
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:30.650
17 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:31.083
18 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:31.714
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.776
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.020
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.910
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.988