Kimi Antonelli was furious to be sent out at the head of the pack for the final qualifying runs for the 2026 British Grand Prix, but he shrugged it off to complete a perfect day at Silverstone after his sprint race victory earlier on Saturday.In the other Mercedes, George Russell recovered from a Q1 crash to put pressure on his teammate and title rival, with the pair locking out the top two places after the first runs in Q3. But as Antonelli gained time after setting the provisional pole time to clinch the real one with a lap of 1:28.111-seconds, Russell’s lack of late improvement opened the door for Ferrari.Charles Leclerc promptly charged through to take second, with sprint qualifying pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton taking third.Russell ended up fourth ahead of Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10.
Antonelli also led Q2, where Verstappen complained about the handling of his Red Bull, while 2025 British GP winner Norris only progressed in ninth.The fallers in the middle qualifying segment were Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly (who faces a post-session investigation for allegedly impeding Lance Stroll in Q1), Nico Hülkenberg, Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.In Q1, Franco Colapinto joined Russell in having a major off-track drama, albeit even more so for the Alpine driver. He lost the rear of the car in the strong wind at Becketts and spun off backwards.Russell had locked off and slid through the gravel trap at Luffield, breaking his front wing again the wall far beyond the track edge, before he was able to slowly crawl away and get repairs back in the pits.Colapinto’s off being covered by a single yellow flag stopped Esteban Ocon progressing from Q1 for Haas, as he was knocked out in 17th, along with Colapinto and the Cadillac cars and the Aston Martins.Results1 Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes2 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari3 Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari4 George Russell, Mercedes5 Isack Hadjar, Red Bull6 Lando Norris, McLaren7 Max Verstappen, Red Bull8 Oscar Piastri, McLaren9 Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls10 Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls11 Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi12 Pierre Gasly, Alpine13 Nico Hülkenberg, Audi14 Ollie Bearman, Haas15 Carlos Sainz, Williams16 Alex Albon, Williams17 Esteban Ocon, Haas18 Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac19 Franco Colapinto, Alpine20 Sergio Pérez, Cadillac21 Lance Stroll, Aston Martin22 Fernando Alonso, Aston MartinJul 4, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
