Antonelli holds off Ferraris for British GP pole

Title leader Kimi Antonelli claimed his fifth pole position of the season in a commanding qualifying performance at the British Grand Prix.

As had been the case in Sprint qualifying on Friday, Mercedes’ battle was with Ferrari, and the two scarlet drivers were quickest in Q1 before a late flurry of laps jumbled the order. Antonelli, though, peaked at the right time, moving into top spot by the end of Q2 and then flexing his advantage through to the end of Q3.

The Italian held a slender 0.096s advantage over teammate George Russell at the end of the first runs after the Briton suddenly turned up on a weekend he’s struggled to match his teammate, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc following 0.2s adrift.

Mercedes unexpectedly deployed Antonelli first on track for the final laps, despite expectations that track evolution would be beneficial, but he had no trouble improving his time by almost 0.3s to lay down the gauntlet.

Russell failed to improve, leaving him vulnerable to the Ferrari drivers.

Hamilton made limited gains thanks to a poor middle sector, leaving him 0.347s off the pace. Leclerc, though, improved markedly with his final lap, picking up 0.334s with his final attempt – though it was good enough for only P2 as Antonelli secured pole position by 0.175s.

“I was a bit stressed because I never really like going first for the last run,” he said. “But the last lap was very tidy. We built our way through qualifying, and to bring the pole home Is very satisfying.”

After beating Hamilton to victory in the Sprint earlier in the day, the championship leader expressed confidence he can extend his points advantage again on Sunday.

“I’ve got two Ferraris behind me, and for sure they’re going to work together,” he said. “Their pace is good, but ours was strong in the Sprint race. Hopefully we can keep that tomorrow.”

Leclerc was satisfied to qualify second – and outqualify surging teammate Hamilton – for the second grand prix in succession.

“I’m pleased,” he said. “It’s been a few tough races where the feeling was not quite right, where I was struggling to put everything together. There’s been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling inside the car, but today is probably the first time where I had it back. That is a good thing.

“It’s only the beginning, but it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Hamilton was downbeat to have slipped backwards through the weekend, from Sprint pole to P2 in the Sprint and now to third in GP qualifying, but the nine-time Silverstone winner was hopefully having two Ferrari cars in the mix in the race could boost his victory chances.

“Of course [I’m not satisfied]. I’m P3, but I’m happy to be up here,” he said. “We just didn’t have the pace, unfortunately, of the Mercedes – that’s been [the case] for a while – but to have both of us up here is great for the team.

“Whether or not we can fully keep up with Kimi, we’ll see tomorrow, but hopefully we can maybe play with the strategy and work as a team to try to topple them. We’ll do our best for sure.”

Russell hung onto fourth place, 0.37s off the pace of his pole-getting teammate – itself fortunate after understeering through the gravel and into the barriers in Q1, forcing a hasty wing change and a hurried last lap just to make Q2.

Isack Hadjar was impressive for Red Bull Racing, lapping 0.635s off the pace for fifth place and outqualifying teammate Max Verstappen for only the second time this season.

Lando Norris led McLaren to sixth but was a daunting 0.766s off the pace.

Verstappen complained during qualifying that his engine was “not responding [like] normal” and described his session as a “disaster” on his way to seventh and 0.782s off the pace.

Oscar Piastri led teammate Norris after the first runs of Q3 but failed to gain enough with his second runs, leaving him eighth and last of the front-runners, 0.921s off the pace.

Both Racing Bulls drivers made Q3 for the second consecutive weekend and the third time this season, with Arvid Lindblad qualifying ninth and 0.411s ahead of teammate Liam Lawson. It’s just the third time the rookie driver has outqualified the Kiwi this year.

Gabriel Bortoleto was only 0.032s short of making it into Q3 at Lawson’s expense, with the Brazilian apologizing over team radio on his in-lap for leaving time on the table that could have seen him qualify inside the top 10.

Pierre Gasly followed but 0.602s behind the Audi driver. Gasly, however, will see the stewards after the session for allegedly impeding Lance Stroll in Q1. Nico Hulkenberg qualified 13th, losing out to Gasly by just 0.013s.

Oliver Bearman qualified 14th for Haas ahead of Williams teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Esteban Ocon qualified 17th, missing out on a spot in Q2 by just 0.042s in part because of yellow flags on his final lap, though he will be investigated after the session for ignoring the caution.

Valtteri Bottas qualified a season-best 18th and a further 0.547s off the pace. It was the first time since the Miami Grand Prix that the Finn outqualified teammate Sergio Perez, who was two places and 0.713s further back.

Franco Colapinto sandwiched himself between the Cadillac drivers in 19th, 0.094s slower than Bottas, after spinning off the track at Becketts.

Lance Stroll outqualified teammate Fernando Alonso for the second time in three races and just the third time since the 2024 British Grand Prix. Stroll was 1.412s short of a shot at Q2 and 3.587s off the pace in Q1, while Alonso was another 0.025s off the pace. It’s the fourth time in succession and the fifth time of the season that Aston Martin has locked out the last two places in qualifying.

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