Antonelli seizes fifth pole of 2026 at Silverstone as Wolff hails teenager's greatness traits

Kimi Antonelli will start Sunday’s British Grand Prix from pole position after the 19-year-old Mercedes driver beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by almost two tenths of a second in qualifying at Silverstone, his fifth pole of the 2026 Formula 1 season. The result came on the same afternoon that Antonelli overtook Lewis Hamilton to win the Silverstone sprint race, extending a run of form that has left him 43 points clear at the top of the drivers’ championship.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was unambiguous in his assessment of the teenager’s trajectory. “I think he has all the traits to be a great one, but you need to lock in the results and yeah, he doesn’t show any weaknesses,” Wolff said. “It’s a pleasure to watch. You can see the delta time getting faster and faster and faster and no mistakes.”

The pole was made more striking by the circumstances surrounding it. Antonelli was sent out first for his final Q3 run — a disadvantage no driver welcomes — and voiced his frustration over the radio. He then, in Wolff’s words, “parked it” and delivered regardless. “It’s compartmentalised. It doesn’t play any role in his ability to drive fast,” Wolff said.

Antonelli now has five wins from eight races in 2026, with team-mate George Russell — the heavy pre-season championship favourite — sitting second in the standings. The contrast with Antonelli’s debut season is stark: in 2025 he finished seventh overall, 169 points behind Russell, and went nine consecutive mid-season races without scoring more than two points finishes.

Should Antonelli convert his current form into a world title, he would become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history, surpassing Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days old when he claimed the crown in 2010.

Wolff acknowledged the scale of the turnaround while urging perspective. “He had a really bad run last year and George was operating very well. But I think he’s probably victim to the pressure, to the new environment that comes upon you — he was just 18. In that way, it’s remarkable how he came out of the blocks at the beginning of this year. It’s almost like, experienced, mature, but he’s just 19.”

He stopped short of crowning Antonelli prematurely, however. “He hasn’t won the world championship yet, so we always need to consider the big picture because he’s being compared to the great ones.”