Lewis Hamilton takes pole for British Grand Prix sprint race

Lewis Hamilton takes pole for British Grand Prix sprint race

Lewis Hamilton has secured pole position for the British Grand Prix sprint race on Friday, after a dominant performance throughout the opening day of the Silverstone event. The Ferrari driver edged out Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.011 seconds to claim the top spot on the grid.

Hamilton's pole is his first since the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. The 41-year-old veteran recorded a time of 1 minute 28.376 seconds in the final SQ3 session, brushing aside concerns regarding Ferrari's power unit performance at the power-hungry circuit. A wobble coming out of the final corner indicated the seven-time world champion may have had further time to find.

"I love this place, I love this crowd, and I can’t express to you how big a dream it is, and still to this day, when you’re building up to this race and you think about every corner and the flow you can get into at this track if you get the setup right and if you’ve got the right team behind you,"

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari driver, via Crash.net

Hamilton had previously set the pace for the weekend by topping the sole practice session by two-tenths of a second over Antonelli, with Charles Leclerc in third and four-tenths off the pace. During the first part of sprint qualifying (SQ1), where all drivers were required to use medium Pirelli tyres, Hamilton again led with a 1:29.582.

The 19-year-old Antonelli, who currently leads the championship standings after five wins and holds a 40-point lead over George Russell, briefly held provisional pole before Hamilton's final lap. Antonelli later reported a lack of deployment through Stowe, which cost him time during his attempt. Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull, 0.321 seconds behind Hamilton.

The grid for the sprint race is rounded out in the top five by Charles Leclerc in fourth and George Russell in fifth. Russell, who won the Austrian GP last weekend, dropped significant time through the opening sector of his final run. Lando Norris qualified sixth after McLaren performed repairs on one of his brake ducts. He had narrowly entered SQ3 by 0.071 seconds, taking the 10th transfer spot.

The top 10 includes Oscar Piastri in seventh, Isack Hadjar in eighth, and the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad in ninth and 10th respectively. With Lindblad's inclusion, four of the five British drivers in the field have secured a top-10 start.

Outside the top 10, Pierre Gasly qualified 11th, followed by Audi drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg in 12th and 13th. Franco Colapinto took 14th, while Williams pair Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finished 15th and 16th after being the slowest runners in SQ2. Oliver Bearman missed the SQ2 cut by 0.010 seconds to Sainz and qualified 17th. Esteban Ocon placed 18th, with the Cadillac entries of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas filling 19th and 20th. Aston Martin finished at the back of the grid, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 21st and 22nd.

Hamilton, who is seeking a record-extending 10th victory at Silverstone, has already won once this season in Barcelona. The 17-lap sprint race is scheduled to begin at 12:00 on Saturday, followed by qualifying for Sunday's grand prix.