F1 Silverstone: Lewis Hamilton Takes Sprint Pole; Kimi Antonelli Misses Out by a Hair’s Breadth

After topping the free practice session, Lewis Hamilton repeated his performance in qualifying for the British Sprint Race: Ferrari’s No. 44, on his home track at Silverstone, set the fastest time right at the end of SQ3, clocking a time of 1:28.376. He edged out World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli: the Mercedes driver from Bologna, who will still start from the front row, missed first place by just 11 thousandths of a second.

Starting from the third and fourth grid positions, respectively, Max Verstappen (Red Bull, +0.321) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, +0.327), while the third row will feature George Russell (Mercedes, +0.357) and Lando Norris (McLaren, +0.364). Rounding out the Top 10, from seventh place onward, are Oscar Piastri (McLaren, +0.396), Isack Hadjar (Red Bull, +0.459), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls, +0.551), and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls, +0.991).

Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg (both Audi), Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Carlos Sainz, and Alex Albon (Williams), who finished between 11th and 16th place. Finally, Ollie Bearman, Esteban Ocon (both Haas), Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas (both Cadillac), Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll (both Aston Martin) were eliminated at the end of SQ1.

The British Grand Prix will feature two races awarding championship points: Saturday’s Sprint, with a reduced distance and corresponding points, and Sunday’s main race, with the standard 25 points awarded to the driver who crosses the finish line first. Kimi Antonelli leads the standings with 171 points, followed by his teammate George Russell with 131 and Lewis Hamilton with 125.