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F1 Silverstone LIVE: Reaction after Antonelli takes British GP pole with Hamilton third
Live coverage of Saturday at the F1 British Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Drivers divided over Lego parade lap
- Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren bring upgrades; Mercedes does not
- Antonelli wins sprint race from Hamilton
The ninth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the British Grand Prix.
Silverstone hosted the first official F1 Grand Prix in 1950 and continues to be a firm favourite of both drivers and fans in the modern era.
On Thursday, drivers were vocal in their concerns about how energy-starved the layout could be, with few heavy braking zones to recover energy into the batteries. However, when the action got underway on Friday, the issue was far less intrusive than had been feared.
A bizarre dispute is also taking place in regard to Sunday’s parade lap, which will take place in Lego go-karts, with each driver having their own vehicle. Whilst some are all for it and are eager to get going, such as Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas, there are others who are less excited about the prospect, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both voicing concern, and the former suggesting he does not intend to take part.
Fresh off the back of his victory at the Red Bull Ring, George Russell is keen to add to his points haul with a first win on home soil, but starts the Sprint Race from fifth place after a disappointing qualifying.
Hamilton started the sprint race from pole position but lost out to Antonelli, who made a mid-race pass into Stowe. In qualifying, the pair had been split by 0.011s, with the tight margins setting up qualifying nicely.
The weekend sees the return of the Sprint Race format, meaning that a single practice session will take place before Sprint Qualifying on Friday. Saturday will see the Sprint Race contested first, before normal programming is resumed, with Qualifying. The Grand Prix will start at 3pm BST on Sunday.
2026 British Grand Prix Saturday schedule
Sprint Race: 12:00pm BST – 1:00pm BST
Qualifying: 4:00pm BST – 5:00pm BST
2026 F1 Silverstone: Full British GP qualifying results
Kimi Antonelli qualified on pole position for the British Grand Prix.
Antonelli backed up his victory on Saturday’s Silverstone sprint race, by setting the fastest time in qualifying.
Full results here…
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.
Full report here…
“I’m pleased,” said Leclerc. “I mean, it’s been a few tough races where the feeling was not quite right, where I was struggling to put everything together. On Sundays, we’ve had things that sometimes [meant] we couldn’t score points. So, to be back with a good feeling, there’s been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling inside the car.
“But today is probably the first time where I had it back, so that is a good thing.
“But at the same time, I know how much I’ve struggled to be consistent recently. So, it’s only the beginning, but it’s a good step in the right direction.”
“I was a bit stressed because I never really like going first for the last run,” said Antonelli. “The last lap was very tidy. I have to be honest, it came all together. It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty, unpredictable.
“We built our way through qualifying and uh to bring the pole home is very satisfying.”
The top 10 in qualifying for the British Grand Prix are:
- Antonelli
- Leclerc
- Hamilton
- Russell
- Hadjar
- Norris
- Verstappen
- Piastri
- Lindblad
- Lawson
Leclerc goes onto the front row in second place, and Hamilton is P3! Antonelli will start the British Grand Prix from pole position.
P2 for Russell, as he fails to improve.
Lindblad only goes to P9, as Norris and Pisatri go P6 and P7.
Across the line, and Antonelli lowers the bar to a 1m28.111s.
He’s still up on the pole time in sector two, and no one else is going purple.
Antonelli isn’t doing a pair of warm-up laps. He’s pushing now, and goes purple in sector one.
Antonelli is the first driver in the pack. This is not where he would want to be, unless he’s going for a pair of warm-up laps, although the time would be very tight on that one.
Out come the drivers. And that was a very unsafe release from Racing Bulls with Lindblad released into the path of Piastri.
Everyone is in the pits right now. The calm before the storm.
But welcome to Mercedes! Antonelli puts in a 1m28.385s to go fastest. Russell is second, one-tenth back.
Norris goes slower than Piastri, as Hamilton goes fastest with a 1m28.591s! Leclerc, Hadjar and Verstappen follow.
Piastri’s McLaren looks a complete handful. He has understeer, oversteer, and it’s just very scrappy. He goes marginally slower than his Q2 time, with a 1m29.231s.
Piastri will be the first driver to set a time.
Lindblad is the only driver not on the track now. The remaining nine are all going for it.
The clock is ticking down, but no one is massively desperate to take to the track.
The session will begin at 16:55 BST, with the delay due to the clear-up work needed for Russell’s earlier off.
Out in Q2 are:
11. Bortoleto
12. Gasly
13. Hulkenberg
14. Bearman
15. Sainz
16. Albon
Antonelli delivers a time and moves to the top with a 1m28.493s effort. Game on for pole!
Bearman, Sainz, and Bortoleto are out. Hulkenberg is out, and Gasly is not improving! Norris will survive, just!
Leclerc sets a new session best with a 1m28.626s, but everyone behind Norris is improving!
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KEY MOMENTS
- Drivers divided over Lego parade lap
- Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren bring upgrades; Mercedes does not
- Antonelli wins sprint race from Hamilton
The ninth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the British Grand Prix.
Silverstone hosted the first official F1 Grand Prix in 1950 and continues to be a firm favourite of both drivers and fans in the modern era.
On Thursday, drivers were vocal in their concerns about how energy-starved the layout could be, with few heavy braking zones to recover energy into the batteries. However, when the action got underway on Friday, the issue was far less intrusive than had been feared.
A bizarre dispute is also taking place in regard to Sunday’s parade lap, which will take place in Lego go-karts, with each driver having their own vehicle. Whilst some are all for it and are eager to get going, such as Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas, there are others who are less excited about the prospect, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both voicing concern, and the former suggesting he does not intend to take part.
Fresh off the back of his victory at the Red Bull Ring, George Russell is keen to add to his points haul with a first win on home soil, but starts the Sprint Race from fifth place after a disappointing qualifying.
Hamilton started the sprint race from pole position but lost out to Antonelli, who made a mid-race pass into Stowe. In qualifying, the pair had been split by 0.011s, with the tight margins setting up qualifying nicely.
The weekend sees the return of the Sprint Race format, meaning that a single practice session will take place before Sprint Qualifying on Friday. Saturday will see the Sprint Race contested first, before normal programming is resumed, with Qualifying. The Grand Prix will start at 3pm BST on Sunday.
2026 British Grand Prix Saturday schedule
Sprint Race: 12:00pm BST – 1:00pm BST
Qualifying: 4:00pm BST – 5:00pm BST
KEY MOMENTS
- Drivers divided over Lego parade lap
- Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren bring upgrades; Mercedes does not
- Antonelli wins sprint race from Hamilton
The ninth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the British Grand Prix.
Silverstone hosted the first official F1 Grand Prix in 1950 and continues to be a firm favourite of both drivers and fans in the modern era.
On Thursday, drivers were vocal in their concerns about how energy-starved the layout could be, with few heavy braking zones to recover energy into the batteries. However, when the action got underway on Friday, the issue was far less intrusive than had been feared.
A bizarre dispute is also taking place in regard to Sunday’s parade lap, which will take place in Lego go-karts, with each driver having their own vehicle. Whilst some are all for it and are eager to get going, such as Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas, there are others who are less excited about the prospect, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both voicing concern, and the former suggesting he does not intend to take part.
Fresh off the back of his victory at the Red Bull Ring, George Russell is keen to add to his points haul with a first win on home soil, but starts the Sprint Race from fifth place after a disappointing qualifying.
Hamilton started the sprint race from pole position but lost out to Antonelli, who made a mid-race pass into Stowe. In qualifying, the pair had been split by 0.011s, with the tight margins setting up qualifying nicely.
The weekend sees the return of the Sprint Race format, meaning that a single practice session will take place before Sprint Qualifying on Friday. Saturday will see the Sprint Race contested first, before normal programming is resumed, with Qualifying. The Grand Prix will start at 3pm BST on Sunday.
2026 British Grand Prix Saturday schedule
Sprint Race: 12:00pm BST – 1:00pm BST
Qualifying: 4:00pm BST – 5:00pm BST
[analyse_source url=”http://crash.net/f1/live/1044258/f1-silverstone-live-british-gp-sprint-race-and-qualifying-updates”]