Lewis Hamilton Takes Silverstone Sprint Pole, Beating Kimi Antonelli by 0.011s

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the British Grand Prix sprint at Silverstone, stopping the clock at 1:28.376 and beating Kimi Antonelli by 11 thousandths.

“Hamilton adapts fast for sprint pole ahead of 'unprecedented' British GP Silverstone hasn’t changed a bit and yet Lewis Hamilton is ready for a British Grand Prix on a “completely different track”

ABC News

The pole was set for the sprint race on Saturday, with the schedule in one report listing the Sprint at 13 italiane and the British GP qualifying at 17.

ABC News

In the top three, Max Verstappen qualified third and Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, while George Russell ended up fifth in sprint qualifying.

Sky Sports said Hamilton topped every segment of Sprint Qualifying to pip Antonelli to pole by 0.011s, and it framed the result as part of Hamilton’s search for a landmark 10th victory at his home race on Sunday.

The New York Times also put the margin in the same terms, saying Hamilton’s leading time was 1:28.376 and that he finished 0.011 ahead of Antonelli.

Hamilton described the pole as an “amazing surprise” after Ferrari’s pace looked uncertain heading into Silverstone, and he said, “I’m really grateful to get that pole.”

The Guardian reported that Hamilton said, “I love this place, I love this crowd, and I can’t express to you how big a dream it is,” while also noting the tightness of the lap as he beat Antonelli by 11 thousandths.

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Kimi Antonelli responded by saying, “The car felt good,” and added that Ferrari had “done an incredible step forward,” making it “definitely” very tough.

George Russell, who finished fifth, said it felt like “the story of the year” because he was “always on the back foot,” and he said the pace was “not really there” compared with Antonelli or the Ferraris.

Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle summed up the lap as “Lewis made the difference. That was a classic Lewis Hamilton Silverstone lap.”

The sprint itself was set for Saturday, with one report listing the Sprint at 12pm local time and another specifying it would be at 13 italiane, while British GP qualifying was scheduled for 17.

The New York Times said Hamilton would start from a first pole at this track since the 2021 British GP sprint race, and it noted that the last time he had such a position for one of F1’s shorter races—China 2025—he won.

Sky Sports said Hamilton’s pole was cheered by the large Friday crowd and framed the grid as a one-two-three for Hamilton, Antonelli, and Verstappen, with Leclerc fourth and Russell fifth.

The Race highlighted that the sprint pole came “by just 0.011 seconds,” and it described the session as a one-lap shootout on soft tyres after the switch for SQ3.

Looking beyond qualifying, the Motorsport.com report said Hamilton’s pole was his first sprint pole since last year’s Chinese Grand prix, and it set up the sprint as the next test of whether Ferrari’s pace can hold against Mercedes and Red Bull.