Antonelli snatches fifth pole of 2026 at Silverstone as Russell fades to fourth

Kimi Antonelli secured his fifth pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season in British Grand Prix qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with an improved final Q3 lap to keep Mercedes’ perfect qualifying record intact. George Russell, who had sat second after the opening Q3 runs, dropped to fourth after going more than half a second slower on his second attempt.

Antonelli’s pole — his first since Monaco a month ago — came under genuine pressure from the Ferrari camp. Leclerc found significant time on his final run to snatch second from Lewis Hamilton, who could only add a tenth to his first effort and was shuffled back to third. The result means Mercedes have yet to be beaten in qualifying at any round of the 2026 campaign.

Hamilton had offered a hint that the Silver Arrows’ streak might be vulnerable, posting a surprisingly strong time in sprint qualifying earlier in the weekend. But Antonelli answered emphatically, first winning Saturday’s sprint race and then topping the timesheets in grand prix qualifying to reinforce his championship credentials.

Isack Hadjar was a distant fifth for Red Bull ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with both teams facing a sizeable pace deficit to Mercedes and Ferrari. Max Verstappen could only manage seventh after reporting problems with his power unit deployment, while Oscar Piastri struggled for grip throughout and will start eighth.

Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson locked out row five as the strongest midfield runners, with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missing out on Q3 by just 0.032 seconds. Bortoleto apologised to his team for the shortfall. Pierre Gasly was 12th on a difficult weekend for Alpine, followed by Nico Hulkenberg in the second Audi.

Oliver Bearman qualified 14th, expressing frustration that the Haas had been outdeveloped by its midfield rivals. Williams endured another difficult session, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon qualifying 15th and 16th respectively.

Q1 was complicated by gusty conditions at Silverstone, including a 20km/h tailwind into Copse and a crosswind through the Maggotts-Becketts complex. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto suffered a heavy spin on his final Q1 attempt when his rear end snapped, ending his session early.