Lewis Hamilton put Ferrari on the Sprint pole for the British Grand Prix by 11 thousandths over Kimi Antonelli, in a qualifying session that gave Silverstone the image of a competitive Hamilton on home soil. The seven‑time world champion had already been fastest in Friday FP1 and repeated in the three Sprint qualifying phases, where he set 1:28.376 on the decisive run. Antonelli was just a whisker behind with 1:28.387, and Max Verstappen will start third in the Red Bull, 0.321 behind the Ferrari.

The session began with 25.5 degrees of air temperature and track temperatures reaching 41.5 degrees, conditions that put the tyres to the test through Silverstone's high‑load corners. Hamilton had already signalled his pace with the fastest time in first practice, and in SQ1 he set a 1:29.273 to top the timesheet ahead of Charles Leclerc. Isack Hadjar put the Red Bull in the conversation with a 1:29.470 that moved him to the front briefly, but the Ferraris regained control immediately. In SQ2, Verstappen showed his teeth with a 1:29.242 that put him on top for a few seconds, until Hamilton responded with a 1:28.747 to lead again. Russell, who had won the Sprints in China and Canada, was eighth in that phase and nearly missed the cut, but the times of the Alpines, Audi and Williams were not enough to push him into the elimination zone.

Photo By Ferrari

SQ3 was a one‑lap shootout. Oscar Piastri set the first benchmark with 1:28.772, but Hamilton came right behind to lower it to 1:28.376. Antonelli ended up 11 thousandths behind with 1:28.387, and Verstappen took third, more than three tenths adrift. Leclerc was fourth, just six thousandths behind the Dutchman, sharing the second row with Russell, fifth nearly half a second off his teammate. Lando Norris and Piastri put the McLarens sixth and seventh, followed by Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad in the top ten.

The Silverstone Sprint qualifying was the fourth of the 2026 calendar, and Hamilton arrived without having won any of the previous three. Russell took the China and Canada Sprints, and Norris won in Miami. Mercedes has two wins in the format, but on Friday the spotlight was on the oldest driver on the grid. Hamilton has made Silverstone his circuit over two decades, with nine Grand Prix victories, seven poles and fifteen podiums. In 2025, his first visit with Ferrari, he finished fourth in a season where he had not yet adapted to the car. Twelve months later, he arrives with a win in Spain, 125 points in the championship and 46 behind leader Antonelli.

Saturday offers a real opportunity to score points in a format that awards eight to the winner, seven to second, and so on down to eighth. Hamilton hasn't won a Sprint race since China 2025, his first and only in that format with Ferrari. Friday's qualifying returns him to the front row at Silverstone, something that had not happened since 2024.

Sprint Qualifying British Grand Prix

Pos.	No.	driver	team	SQ1	SQ2	SQ3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:29.273	1:28.747	1:28.376
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:29.746	1:28.846	1:28.387
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:29.689	1:29.242	1:28.697
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.380	1:28.922	1:28.703
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:29.675	1:29.246	1:28.733
6	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:30.142	1:29.401	1:28.740
7	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:29.583	1:29.120	1:28.772
8	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	1:29.470	1:29.280	1:28.835
9	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:29.850	1:29.067	1:28.927
10	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1:30.453	1:29.330	1:29.367
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:30.444	1:29.482
12	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1:30.407	1:29.679
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1:30.107	1:29.707
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:30.894	1:29.983
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:31.073	1:30.197
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:30.779	1:30.650
17	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:31.083
18	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:31.714
19	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	1:31.776
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1:32.020
21	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:32.910
22	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:32.988