Sprint Qualifying Report - Hamilton storms to pole

Lewis Hamilton
© Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton delighted a capacity Silverstone crowd by claiming sprint pole position for Formula 1’s British Grand Prix, edging Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds in a thrilling qualifying session.

The Ferrari driver produced a superb lap of 1m28.376s in the decisive SQ3 shootout, denying Antonelli after the Mercedes driver had briefly taken provisional pole with a 1m28.387s. It marked Hamilton’s first sprint pole since the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix and gave Ferrari the perfect start to its home weekend.

The final battle for pole was remarkably close. Max Verstappen qualified third for Red Bull with a 1m28.697s, just ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, whose 1m28.703s left him only 0.006s behind the Dutchman. George Russell completed the top five for Mercedes with a 1m28.733s after losing valuable time through the opening sector of his final lap.

McLaren was unable to match Ferrari and Mercedes around the fast Silverstone layout. Lando Norris, last year’s British Grand Prix winner, took sixth with a 1m28.740s, only 0.007s behind Russell, while Oscar Piastri qualified seventh on a 1m28.772s. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar continued his impressive rookie campaign with eighth on a 1m28.835s.

Racing Bulls once again demonstrated its growing competitiveness by placing both cars into SQ3. Liam Lawson secured ninth with a 1m28.927s, while Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10 after setting a 1m29.367s.

Hamilton had looked comfortable throughout qualifying. He led the opening phase of SQ2, which was contested on the mandatory medium tyres, before improving again once the field switched to softs for the final eight-minute shootout. Antonelli appeared to have done enough after becoming the first driver to dip into the 1m28.3s range, but Hamilton extracted just enough extra grip over the final corners to snatch pole in front of an ecstatic home crowd.

Russell never quite matched the pace of his younger team-mate in the final segment after dropping around two tenths in the opening sector, while Verstappen again extracted more performance from the Red Bull than had looked possible during practice. Leclerc remained close throughout the session but narrowly missed out on a place on the second row.

McLaren’s relative lack of straight-line speed, which had been evident during the day’s lone practice session, again limited Norris and Piastri despite both drivers producing clean laps in SQ3. Norris also endured an anxious SQ2 after only just advancing into the final segment in 10th place.

Behind the top 10, Alpine showed signs of recovery following a disappointing Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Pierre Gasly narrowly missed out on SQ3, qualifying 11th with a 1m29.482s. Audi also placed both cars into SQ2, with Gabriel Bortoleto 12th on a 1m29.679s and Nico Hulkenberg 13th with a 1m29.707s. Franco Colapinto put the second Alpine 14th on a 1m29.983s.

Williams failed to reach the final session despite both drivers progressing beyond SQ1. Carlos Sainz qualified 15th with a 1m30.197s, while Alex Albon followed in 16th on a 1m30.650s.

SQ1 proved decisive for several teams. Oliver Bearman missed progressing by just 0.010s after recording a 1m31.083s for Haas, while team-mate Esteban Ocon was 18th with a 1m31.714s. Cadillac occupied the next row, Sergio Perez qualifying 19th in 1m31.776s ahead of Valtteri Bottas, whose best effort was a 1m32.020s.

Aston Martin endured another frustrating qualifying session as neither driver escaped SQ1. Fernando Alonso managed only 21st with a 1m32.910s, while Lance Stroll completed the field with a 1m32.988s.

Hamilton’s pole caps an encouraging day for Ferrari after he had also topped the afternoon’s sole practice session. Although sprint qualifying does not determine Sunday’s grand prix grid, it gives the seven-time world champion the inside line for Saturday’s sprint race and underlines Ferrari’s growing confidence that it can challenge Mercedes throughout the remainder of the Silverstone weekend.