Lewis Hamilton takes sprint pole at the British Grand Prix
- Jason Sharp
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Written by Jason Sharp
After just one hour of practice, it was straight into Sprint Qualifying at the venue that’s hosting a Sprint for the first time since the inaugural in 2021.
After topping every session, it was Lewis Hamilton who took his fourth Sprint Pole.
SQ1 - Hamilton continues to lead the way
The first part of Sprint Qualifying showed that Ferrari are still on the pace that they showed in Practice, securing a 1-2 ahead of both the Mercedes.
It wasn’t good fortune for all the Brits in the field, however, as Oliver Bearman was eliminated by just 0.010 seconds by Carlos Sainz in the Williams. The Haas seemingly had no more pace as Estaban Ocon could only muster P18.
Cadillac are much closer to the pace of their rivals, with Sergio Perez being within only one hundredth of a second from Ocon.
SQ1 Exits
P17 - Oliver Bearman
P18 - Esteban Ocon
P19 - Sergio Perez
P20 - Valtteri Bottas
P21 - Fernando Alonso
P22 - Lance Stroll
SQ2 - Hamilton leads Antonelli as Lindblad makes the top ten
Hamilton continued to lead the order ahead of Antonelli by 0.099 seconds despite having a snap of oversteer at the entry of Vale.
Both of the Racing Bulls made it into the top ten with Liam Lawson putting together an impressive lap to go P4 and the home hero of Arvid Lindblad was P9 ahead of Lando Norris.
Both the Alpines, Audis and Williams were all eliminated from this session with Pierre Gasly fractionally missing out on the top ten for two races in a row.
SQ2 Exits
P11 - Pierre Gasly
P12 - Gabriel Bortoleto
P13 - Nico Hulkenberg
P14 - Franco Colapinto
P15 - Carlos Sainz
P16 - Alexander Albon
SQ3 - Hamilton takes pole ahead of Antonelli
All of the drivers waited until there was just over three minutes remaining to go out and set one quick lap in the shoot-out.
It was Hamilton who was quickest, just 0.011 seconds ahead of Antonelli with Max Verstappen producing an excellent lap to finish P3, albeit 0.321 seconds behind.
George Russell could only manage P5. Tomorrow’s Sprint will be a matter of damage limitation for the last race’s winner.
Top 10
P1 - Lewis Hamilton
P2 - Kimi Antonelli
P3 - Max Verstappen
P4 - Charles Leclerc
P5 - George Russell
P6 - Lando Norris
P7 - Oscar Piastri
P8 - Isack Hadjar
P9 - Liam Lawson
P10 - Arvid Lindblad
Looking ahead
The key questions are if Russell can do anything from P5, and if Ferrari can keep their pace throughout the course of the race.
Regardless, with the top two in the championship being separated by such a small margin, and lining up side-by-side with Max Verstappen just behind, it is set to be a thriller of a Sprint at the home of Formula One.
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