Kimi Antonelli maintained his grip on this seasons's Formula One title race after claiming pole position in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Saturday.The Mercedes driver will start the race alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the front of the grid with home hero Lewis Hamilton and Antonelli's teammate George Russell third and fourth, respectively.The 19-year-old Italian also extended his lead at the top of the drivers' championship by coming home first in the sprint race earlier on Saturday.Antonelli came home 0.175 seconds in front of Leclerc and 0.347 second ahead of Hamilton, who has won the British race a record nine times, the last of which came in 2024 while still at Mercedes.“I was a bit stressed because I never really like going first for the last run but the last lap was very tidy, I have to be honest. It all came together,” said Antonelli.“It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty, unpredictable. We built our way through qualifying and to bring the pole home is very satisfying.”Leclerc, meanwhile, insisted he was happy with his second spot for Sunday's race. “I'm pleased,” said the Monegasque. “It's been a few tough races. The feeling has been not quite right, struggled to put everything together, sometimes we couldn't score points. “To be back, it's a good feeling. There's been so much work behind the scenes. Today is the first time I had it back. It's a good thing but I've struggled to be consistent. It's only the beginning.“At the moment, I'm trying to look at a bit of everything. I've been losing a bit of time, not as much pace, I've looked at everything. We've worked really well. I'm happy with the P2, would've liked to be on pole but Kimi deserved it, he had a really good lap.”A blunt Hamilton was less than happy with his position. “Am I satisfied? Of course not, I'm P3,” said the Ferrari driver. “But I am happy to be up here, both these guys did a great job today. Charles has been making good improvements. “We just didn't have the pace unfortunately over the Mercedes. It has been a thing for a while but we are slowly closing the gap and to have us both up here is great for the team.“It is definitely great to have us both up here. Because that means hopefully, whether or not we can fully keep up with Kimi, we will see tomorrow but hopefully we can play with the strategy and work as a team to try to topple them. We will do our best for sure.”Rud Bull's Isack Hadjar will start fifth alongside Lando Norris of McLaren, with their respective teammates Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri behind them in seventh and eighth place.Earlier, Antonelli had caught and passed Hamilton to win an action-packed sprint race.With Norris, Russell and Verstappen engaging in a frantic battle in the opening laps, Antonelli waited patiently before blasting past Hamilton.Seven-time world champion Hamilton had started on pole but had to settle ⁠for second place, 2.7 seconds behind Antonelli who took his championship lead to 43 points over Russell.“In control all ​the way,” ⁠said Antonelli's race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington ‌over the team radio at the chequered flag as Antonelli became also the youngest ever sprint winner at 19 ​years old.“It was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis,” Antonelli said. “We were both pushing very hard. When I got into overtake [mode], I knew my chance was coming.“The momentum is definitely there, and we’re doing a great job together with the team. But we can’t let our guard down because Lewis and Ferrari are doing an incredible job.”