Kimi Antonelli storms to Silverstone pole as Ferrari pace falters in F1 British GP qualifying

Andrea Kimi Antonelli took a convincing Formula 1 pole position at the British Grand Prix after Ferrari’s one-lap challenge faltered in qualifying at Silverstone. 

The Italian teenager, who leads the world championship by 43 points over Mercedes team-mate George Russell heading into Sunday’s 52-lap race, beat the Ferraris to pole but there was a surprise as Charles Leclerc outpaced Lewis Hamilton. 

Antonelli produced a stunning improvement with his second Q3 effort to finish 0.175 seconds clear of Leclerc, while Hamilton, who secured a brilliant pole for the sprint race on Friday, was 0.347s adrift in third as he could not add to his seven poles at Silverstone. 

2026 F1 Silverstone: Full British GP qualifying results

It extended Mercedes' unbeaten streak in Grand Prix qualifying this season, with Antonelli sealing his fifth pole of 2026, and a ninth for the Silver Arrows. 

"A bit stressed because I never like going first for the last run!" Antonelli said. "The last lap was very tidy. I have t to be honest, it came altogether. It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty and unpredictable.

"But we built out way through qualifying. To bring the pole home is very satisfying. We didn't change the car at all - just differential, brake migration, driving. We worked around it and managed to find good settings that helped me to progress through qualifying."

George Russell recovered from a bizarre crash in Q1 that saw him break his front wing to take fourth as he once again trailed his Mercedes team-mate for pace. 

Isack Hadjar was fifth-fastest for Red Bull, ahead of reigning world champion Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. 

Racing Bulls locked out the final two positions inside the top-10 as Arvid Lindblad outpaced team-mate Liam Lawson to secure ninth on the grid at his maiden British Grand Prix. 

Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly missed out on a Q3 spot as he qualified 11th, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the second Audi of Nico Hulkenberg. 

Ollie Bearman will line up for his home grand prix from 14th on the grid after outpacing the two Williams of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

Esteban Ocon failed to join his Haas team-mate in Q2 and had to settle with a time good enough for only 17th. 

Valtteri Bottas got the better of his Cadillac team-mate in qualifying as he took 18th, while also out-qualifying Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, whose qualifying was ruined by a high-speed spin through the Maggotts and Becketts sequence. 

Perez was 20th but still a second clear of the Aston Martins. Lance Stroll claimed a rare qualifying scalp over team-mate Fernando Alonso to avoid lining up at the very rear of the grid.