Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and the Italian will lead the field away for Sunday’s race after setting a final lap of 1m 28.111s. Charles Leclerc was second, 0.175s back, while Lewis Hamilton will start third at his home event.
The result matters because the qualifying session fixed the starting order for the British Grand Prix, and it put Hamilton in a different place from Friday, when he had claimed Sprint Qualifying pole. Antonelli’s lap was enough to hold off Leclerc on the final runs and leave Hamilton a step behind after beginning Q1 among the front runners in second place.
Antonelli’s pole was his fifth of the season, a marker of how often he has been able to turn a single lap into the best spot on the grid. George Russell slipped to fourth, Isack Hadjar was fifth ahead of Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri filled seventh and eighth. Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completed the top 10, while Gabriel Bortoleto missed Q3 by 0.032s and ended up 11th.
There was still movement after the flag. Pierre Gasly received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lance Stroll in Q1, a twist that shuffled the order again after the session had ended. Further back, Franco Colapinto ran off track at Becketts and finished 19th, Sergio Perez was 20th, and Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso brought up the rear.
The bigger point is simple: Silverstone F1 qualifying set a grid that rewards Antonelli’s precision and leaves Hamilton with work to do on race day, even after his sprint success on Friday. Sunday now starts with Antonelli on pole, Leclerc beside him, and Hamilton forced to chase from third.
