F1 British GP: Kimi Antonelli beats Charles Leclerc to pole place

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has snared his fifth pole of the 2026 System 1 marketing campaign on the British Grand Prix, defeating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at a sunny Silverstone as George Russell light.

Antonelli improved on his first Q3 run to safe his first pole because the Monaco Grand Prix a month in the past, which was a much-needed enchancment as Leclerc additionally discovered a bit of time to grab second away from team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Russell.

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Mercedes had but to be defeated in grand prix qualifying this yr, and a surprisingly sturdy pole lap from Hamilton in dash qualifying advised the Silver Arrows’ streak may very well be damaged in Silverstone. However after Antonelli handed Hamilton to win Saturday afternoon’s dash, the championship chief additional backed up his title credentials along with his fifth pole of the yr.

Russell was second after the primary of two Q3 runs however failed to enhance on his second lap, which was over half a second slower than Antonelli. That relegated him to fourth behind Leclerc and Hamilton, who did enhance however solely discovered one tenth in comparison with his first effort.

Isack Hadjar was a distant fifth within the Crimson Bull forward of McLaren’s Lando Norris, as each groups stared down a big tempo deficit in comparison with Mercedes and Ferrari. Max Verstappen was solely seventh after reporting points along with his energy unit deployment, whereas Oscar Piastri struggled for grip on his method to eight on the grid.

Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson once more locked out row 5 as the perfect of the midfield runners.

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

Antonelli additionally topped Q2 with a 1m28.493s lap regardless of going off observe on his first effort. The Italian subsequently went a tenth away from Leclerc with Hamilton and Russell third and fourth.

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The McLarens confirmed early indicators of wrestle with Norris solely ninth, whereas Piastri was within the drop zone after run one, however the Australian managed to discover a manner by means of in seventh as he drove round a scarcity of grip and steadiness.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto missed Q3 to Lawson by simply 0.032s, apologising to his workforce for not extracting extra out of the automobile. Pierre Gasly was twelfth on a troublesome weekend for Alpine, adopted by the second Audi of Nico Hulkenberg.

Oliver Bearman was 14th, lamenting a Haas automobile that he felt had been outdeveloped by its midfield rivals, whereas Williams’ struggles continued as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon certified fifteenth and sixteenth.

In Q1 the gusty circumstances made the beginning of qualifying difficult, with a 20km/h tailwind into Copse and a corresponding crosswind blowing into the Maggotts-Becketts complicated. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto suffered an enormous spin there on his last try as his rear finish snapped, which left the Argentine unable to enhance on his nineteenth place.

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Russell additionally had a “bizarre” scare when he went off into the gravel at Luffield on his first try as his automobile locked up, damaging his entrance wing. That meant he needed to set a lap time within the last minutes of the session to advance, however the Briton did so comparatively comfortably.

There have been additionally rapid points for Audi’s Bortoleto, who reported he could not seize sixth gear on his out-lap and returned to the storage with a suspected gearbox drawback, however the workforce managed to get him again out to qualify for Q2.

Esteban Ocon wasn’t so fortunate, the Frenchman once more being handed a qualifying defeat by Haas team-mate Oliver Bearman, who narrowly superior to Q2 at Ocon’s expense.

The luckless Colapinto cut up Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, with an off-the-pace Aston Martin workforce once more closing the ranks on the backside of the again.

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