Kimi Antonelli Secures Pole Position At British Grand Prix, Silverstone

Kimi Antonelli completed a dominant Saturday at Silverstone by following sprint victory with pole position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix, topping qualifying ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton and underlining control of both the weekend and the Drivers’ Championship fight.

The Mercedes driver had already increased the overall lead to 43 points over George Russell by winning the sprint race earlier on 4 July, then handled changing track conditions to secure a fifth career pole in Formula One and tighten the grip on the British Grand Prix weekend.

Antonelli posted a best lap that was 0.175 seconds quicker than Leclerc’s effort, with nine-time British Grand Prix winner Hamilton taking third place on the grid ahead of former team-mate Russell, while Isack Hadjar claimed fifth and outqualified Max Verstappen for only the second time in the 2026 season.

Lando Norris, who won the British Grand Prix last year, could manage only sixth, with Red Bull’s Verstappen behind Hadjar, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri next, and Racing Bulls pair Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completing the top ten, yet the overall storyline at Silverstone still centred on Antonelli’s strong response after Hamilton had started the sprint from pole.

Earlier in the day, Antonelli had overtaken sprint pole-sitter Hamilton to win the shorter race, then carried that momentum into qualifying while again outperforming Ferrari and Red Bull, despite admitting discomfort about being sent out first for the final Q3 runs at a gusty and unpredictable Silverstone circuit.

"I was a bit stressed because I never really liked going first for the last run, but the last lap was very tidy, I have to be honest, Antonelli said. It all came together. It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty and unpredictable. We built our way through qualifying, and to bring the pole home is very satisfying."

The Italian still improved by 0.3 seconds compared to the earlier benchmark in Q3, and when asked whether any technical changes had been made between sprint and qualifying, Antonelli explained the work had focused on driving tools rather than hardware or setup changes on the Mercedes car.

"No, we did not change the car at all. It was just about differential, brake migration, driving.We worked around it, and we managed to find a good setting that helped me to progress through qualifying."

That pole meant Antonelli drew level with Giuseppe Farina on five career poles, giving both drivers the third-highest tally for an Italian in Formula One history, while also leaving Antonelli with an opportunity on 5 July to beat Sebastian Vettel’s age record as the youngest British Grand Prix winner, set in 2009 at 21 years, 11 months and eight days.

Hamilton, who had been chasing an eighth British Grand Prix pole, missed out and will start third at Silverstone for the first time in a career that includes seven world titles and the best points-per-race average of the last five seasons, yet still expressed mixed feelings about the result and Mercedes’ pace relative to Antonelli.

"Am I satisfied? Of course not, I'm P3. But I am happy to be up here. Both these guys did a great job today. Charles has been making good improvements, Hamilton said. We just didn't have the pace, unfortunately, overMercedes. It has been a thing for a while, but we are slowly closing the gap and to have us both up here is great for the team."

Looking ahead to Sunday, Hamilton accepted that catching Antonelli would be difficult but believed that starting alongside Leclerc on the second row with another Mercedes ahead created room for strategic options that might still produce a tenth home victory at the British Grand Prix.

"It is definitely great to have us both up here, Hamilton added. Because that means, hopefully, whether we cankeep up with Kimi, we will see tomorrow, but hopefully, we can play with the strategy and work as a team to try to topple them. We will do our best for sure."