Antonelli keeps Mercedes' pole position streak alive at Silverstone
- Chloe Buckley
- Jul 4
- 5 min read
Following this afternoon’s sprint race, the Formula One grid got back out on track at Silverstone to confirm their starting positions in tomorrow’s British Grand Prix.
On a hot streak in qualifying is Mercedes, who claim their ninth pole position in 2026. After winning the sprint race earlier today, Kimi Antonelli went fastest at Silverstone during today's qualifying session and will start on pole for the British Grand Prix tomorrow.
On the front row with Antonelli is Charles Leclerc who qualified ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
Here's how the fast-paced qualifying session unfolded at Silverstone:
Q1
Carlos Sainz was first to attempt a flying lap, but his front tyres locked up and he aborted his first attempt to get some more temperature in his soft compounds.
The young Briton, Oliver Bearman, set a benchmark time of 1:31:315, slightly outpacing his teammate Esteban Ocon who clocked a time of 1:21:648.
Leclerc soon took that top spot with a time of 1:29:534, and Lewis Hamilton at his home race was just a tenth of a second off his Ferrari teammate, slotting into second place.
McLaren was missing a bit of pace around Silverstone in Q1, with last year's winner, Lando Norris, slotting in behind Hamilton in third.
There was a yellow flag for George Russell who unfortunately suffered from a bit of understeer which caused him to lock up and go into the barriers at Luffield. At the same time, Kimi Antonelli was on a flying lap and was slightly quicker than Antonelli. Russell managed to get out of the gravel and back into the pits safely and Q1 continued as normal.
Arvid Lindbald at his first home race in F1 managed to slot himself in just behind Antonelli. The 18-year-old rookie has been on a points streak recently along with his Racing Bulls teammate, Liam Lawson, who managed to go fifth fastest behind Lindblad with a time of 1:30:000.
Oscar Piastri was also off pace and only managed to go ninth fastest out of the 22 drivers. Meanwhile, George Russell managed to get back out on track to finally get a time on the board. He got himself out of the bottom six and up into fifth. Max Verstappen who was down in tenth place managed to move up into second, but his teammate Isack Hadjar managed to go fastest overall with a time of 1:29:276.
Another yellow flag was waved when Colapinto went off track at Turn 13. It was a high speed spinout at the Becketts section of the track and cost him a chance of progressing to Q2. Lawson went fastest in sector one and managed to go second fastest on new soft tyres, continuing with that momentum that he and the team have had for the previous couple of race weekends.
Both Aston Martins failed to make their way out of Q1 again, as well as both Cadillacs. Ocon and Colapinto also rounded out the eliminations in the first part of qualifying.
Q1 eliminations
17. Esteban Ocon
18. Valterri Bottas
19. Franco Colapinto
20. Sergio Pérez
21. Lance Stroll
22. Fernando Alonso
Q2
The start to Q2 was delayed whilst marshals swept up gravel brought onto the track from Colapinto.
Starting back after the delay, Verstappen and Hadjar were first out of the pits. Verstappen came over the radio to say his engine wasn't responding like normal, but regardless, he put in a decent time of 1:29:308. But Hadjar went a slightly faster with a 1:29:183.
Leclerc soon after went fastest with a lap time of 1:29:069, but the hometown hero Hamilton went even quicker to top the sheet with a time of 1:28:864.
Racing Bulls stayed on fire this weekend as Lindblad went quickest in sector one, but he lost a little bit of pace at the end and slotted into fifth.
Russell then went second fastest behind his former teammate, whereas Antonelli's lap was ruined after running wide. He managed to go around for another run, and got himself out of 16th and into third with a 1:29:043.
Russell went into the pits to get a new seat. And on the other hand, McLaren were struggling again as Piastri was in the danger zone. He complained of no grip in his tyres.
Most drivers went back into their garages before going out closer to the chequered flag. However, Verstappen went back out to try and set a better time and stayed in fifth place even on fresh tyres. Hadjar managed to go slightly faster and moved into sixth. Norris only managed to go ninth fastest, and Lawson stayed in tenth on his last attempt. They were lucky to progress to Q3 as none of the bottom six were able to set fast enough times to qualify higher in the order.
Antonelli at the last minute went quickest overall with a 1:28:493, a good bit of momentum going into Q3.
Whilst both Williams' , both Audi's, Pierre Gasly and Bearman were eliminated, it was the same lineup as SQ3 yesterday that progressed to the final part of today's qualifying.
Q2 eliminations
11. Gabriel Bortoleto
12. Pierre Gasly
13. Nico Hülkenberg
14. Oliver Bearman
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Alex Albon
Q3
First out in Q3 was Piastri hoping hoping for a better performance out of the car compared to the previous parts of the session. He set the first time of this last bit of qualifying with a 1:29:231.
Verstappen went quickest soon after, but it was a constant chop and change with Leclerc, Hamilton and Antonelli all outpacing each other in succession. Russell made it a Mercedes top two slotting in behind his teammate. Lindblad waited in the pits until the latter stages of the session as he only had one set of tyres left for qualifying. Lawson also went back to the RB garage after aborting his lap on used tyres, and saved his fresh set for one lap at the end. With three and a half minutes to go, the 10 drivers were ready for one final go around Silverstone to determine their starting positions for tomorrow's Grand Prix. Lindblad was noted for an unsafe release in the pits as Piastri had to slam his breaks behind the RB's garage exit. Antonelli was first to set a time of this final run. Despite questioning the plan of going first, he beat his previous provisional pole time for a 1:28:111 and remained in the top position.
Norris moved from eighth to sixth, and Piastri was unable to out-qualify his teammate and will start eighth tomorrow.
Lawson went slowest of the 10 drivers with Lindblad just ahead, whereas Leclerc moved up to second for a front row start tomorrow. He qualified just ahead of his teammate Hamilton in third. Russell qualified fourth and Hadjar rounded out the top five ahead of his teammate Verstappen in seventh.
British Grand Prix Starting Grid
1. Kimi Antonelli
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. George Russell
5. Isack Hadjar
6. Lando Norris
7. Max Verstappen
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Arvid Lindblad
10. Liam Lawson
11. Gabriel Bortoleto
12. Pierre Gasly
13. Nico Hülkenberg
14. Oliver Bearman
15. Carlos Sainz
16. Alex Albon
17. Esteban Ocon
18. Valterri Bottas
19. Franco Colapinto
20. Sergio Pérez
21. Lance Stroll
22. Fernando Alonso
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