Autobayng News Team
Lewis Hamilton will start the sprint race at Silverstone from pole position after narrowly beating Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The Ferrari driver snatched pole away from Antonelli with a lap time just a hundredth of a second quicker than his rival. Hamilton was quickest across all three stages of qualifying for the sprint race.
Championship leader Antonelli will start three places ahead of his closest rival in the points standings, team mate George Russell. He ended up in the middle of an extremely close five-way fight for third place.
Max Verstappen came out ahead, beating Charles Leclerc by just six thousandths of a second and ensuring three different teams will occupy the top three places on the grid. Russell was a mere four hundredths away from lining up immediately behind his team mate, but had the same margin in hand over the McLaren pair behind him.
Lando Norris was fortunate to reach the top 10 shoot-out as Pierre Gasly came close to eliminating him in SQ2. The two Mercedes-powered cars were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
Isack Hadjar showed strong pace on the medium tyre compound early in the session but faded after switching to softs. He took eighth on the grid ahead of the two Racing Bulls.
Gasly was separated from team mate Franco Colapinto by the two Audi drivers. Williams’ upgrade ensured both their drivers made it through the first round of qualifying, though it was a close thing. Carlos Sainz Jnr beat Oliver Bearman to the final place by just one hundredth of a second. The FW48s ended SQ2 at the bottom of the times, however.
Cadillac’s upgrade showed promise at the track where the team is partly based. Sergio Perez to qualified over a second ahead of the Aston Martins, but he remained seven-tenths of a second away from having a chance to progress.
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SQ1 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’29.273 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’29.380 | 0.107 |
| 3 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’29.470 | 0.197 |
| 4 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’29.583 | 0.310 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’29.675 | 0.402 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’29.689 | 0.416 |
| 7 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’29.746 | 0.473 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’29.850 | 0.577 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’30.107 | 0.834 |
| 10 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’30.142 | 0.869 |
| 11 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’30.407 | 1.134 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’30.444 | 1.171 |
| 13 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’30.453 | 1.180 |
| 14 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’30.779 | 1.506 |
| 15 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’30.894 | 1.621 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’31.073 | 1.800 |
| 17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’31.083 | 1.810 |
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’31.714 | 2.441 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’31.776 | 2.503 |
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’32.020 | 2.747 |
| 21 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’32.910 | 3.637 |
| 22 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’32.988 | 3.715 |
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SQ2 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’28.747 | |
| 2 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’28.846 | 0.099 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’28.922 | 0.175 |
| 4 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’29.067 | 0.320 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’29.120 | 0.373 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’29.242 | 0.495 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’29.246 | 0.499 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’29.280 | 0.533 |
| 9 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’29.330 | 0.583 |
| 10 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’29.401 | 0.654 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’29.482 | 0.735 |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’29.679 | 0.932 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’29.707 | 0.960 |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’29.983 | 1.236 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’30.197 | 1.450 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’30.650 | 1.903 |
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SQ3 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’28.376 | |
| 2 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’28.387 | 0.011 |
| 3 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’28.697 | 0.321 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’28.703 | 0.327 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’28.733 | 0.357 |
| 6 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’28.740 | 0.364 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’28.772 | 0.396 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’28.835 | 0.459 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’28.927 | 0.551 |
| 10 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’29.367 | 0.991 |
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Published by
Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine
