Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli has claimed pole position for the 2026 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Just hours after he won the sprint race, Antonelli topped Q2 then Q3 to claim pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli’s teammate, George Russell recovered from a Q1 error to qualify fourth whilst Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar qualified fifth in a surprise performance from the Frenchman.
Q1
Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was first out on track but it was his teammate, Sergio Perez who set 1m 32.199 as an initial benchmark, but his time was soon usurped by Haas’ Oliver Bearman who posted 1m 31.315 to go quickest.
Leclerc in the fifth minute set 1m 29.534 to put himself quickest at the end of the opening fliers, whilst the bottom six comprised of; Bottas, Liam Lawson, Ferando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Russell and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Russell however had ran deep at Luffield on his first flier and hit the barriers but was able to recover his Mercedes car back to the pit lane and proceeded to go fifth with three minutes left, whilst Bortoleto too hadn’t set a representative lap time.
At the checkered flag, Haas’ Esteban Ocon missed out in 17th position ahead of Bottas and Franco Colapinto – who spun off at Maggots on his final flier to cost him a chance at reaching Q2, whilst Perez, Stroll and Alonso completed the six eliminated drivers.
Hadjar meanwhile topped Q1 with 1m 29.276 and ahead of Lawson by 0.024 seconds.
Q2
Following an eight-minute delay due to a need to sweep the track clean of gravel spread across the tarmac in Q1, Max Verstappen was first on track and laid 1m 29.308 as the initial benchmark, which Isack Hadjar quickly beat by 0.125s.
Hamilton proceeded to lay 1m 28.864 to head the order at the end of the first Q2 runs, whilst the elimination zone comprised of; Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg – who hadn’t set a lap time.
As the checkered flag fell, Bortoleto missed out on Q3 by just 0.032s to Lawson as the Brazilian qualified in 11th ahead of Gasly, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Sainz and Albon.
Gasly post-session received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Stroll in Q1, which dropped him to 15th on the grid and elevated Hulkenberg to 12th, whilst Bearman and Sainz were promoted to 13th and 14th positions.
Antonelli meanwhile topped Q2 with 1m 28493 in the final minute.
Q3
Piastri was first on track and laid 1m 29.231 as the initial benchmark time but his time was soon beaten as Verstappen went 0.080s quicker, before Leclerc, Hamilton then Antonelli went quickest as the latter set 1m 28.385 to head Russell by 0.096s after the first Q3 runs.
Hamilton sat third ahead of Leclerc on the provisional second row, whilst Hadjar found himself fifth and 0.394s clear of Verstappen in sixth in a bright display from the Frenchman.
Piastri, Lando Norris, Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the provisional top ten ahead of the final runs.
At the checkered flag, Antonelli was first to set his final lap time of 1m 28.111 but nobody could match his lap time as Leclerc fell 0.175s shy in second to join him on the front row, ahead of Hamilton and Russell on an all-British second row ahead of; Hadjar, Norris, Verstappen, Piastri, Lindblad and Lawson.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1m 28.111 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.175 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.347 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.370 |
| 5 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 0.635 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.766 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.782 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.921 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.194 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.605 |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1m 29.461 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.602 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 0.615 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.040 |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.162 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.282 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1m 30.680 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 0.547 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.641 |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 0.771 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.183 |
| 22 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.208 |
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