Hamilton pips Mercedes successor Antonelli by 0.011s to claim Silverstone sprint pole

Lewis Hamilton claimed sprint pole for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Friday, beating his Mercedes successor Kimi Antonelli by a razor-thin 0.011 seconds in the single-lap shoot-out. His 1m28.376s effort on soft tyres marks his first sprint pole since last year’s Chinese Grand Prix.

Antonelli had set the provisional fastest time before Hamilton responded to go quicker, underlining the symbolic weight of a contest between the seven-time world champion and the teenager chosen to replace him at Mercedes. Max Verstappen was third, a full three tenths adrift of Hamilton’s benchmark, narrowly edging Charles Leclerc into fourth.

George Russell endured a difficult SQ3 segment in the second Mercedes, losing two tenths through the first sector to end up fifth. McLaren, hampered by a less aerodynamically efficient package compared to Mercedes and Ferrari this weekend, could only manage sixth and seventh through Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri respectively.

Isack Hadjar qualified ninth in the second Red Bull, while Racing Bulls impressed by placing both cars inside the top ten — Liam Lawson eighth and Arvid Lindblad tenth.

In SQ2, run on medium tyres, Hamilton again led the way ahead of Antonelli. Norris survived a scare, scraping through in tenth to advance to the final segment. Alpine showed some improvement after a difficult Austrian weekend, but Pierre Gasly was still eliminated in 11th, followed by Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. Franco Colapinto was 14th in the second Alpine, with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon rounding out the SQ2 exits in the Williams cars.

SQ1 passed without major drama for the frontrunners, though Norris’ lap left him only tenth. At the back, Williams got both cars through after Sainz held off Oliver Bearman by just 0.010 seconds for the final advancing spot. Both Haas cars were eliminated, along with Esteban Ocon in 19th and the Cadillac and Aston Martin drivers.