Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, seeing off a concerted challenge from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in second and third, and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell who was fourth.Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could manage only sixth and eighth for McLaren, with four-time champion Max Verstappen in seventh for Red Bull.Antonelli held his nerve in what was a tense qualifying session, slotting in a final lap of real commitment and inch-perfect execution as he was pushed to the limit by the two Ferraris. The Italian 19-year-old, who leads the world championship and won the sprint race on Saturday morning, had almost two-tenths on Leclerc and three-tenths on Hamilton, no small margins.After his victory in the sprint race, Antonelli has increased his lead in the world championship to 43 points over Russell and 47 points over Hamilton.Antonelli and Mercedes demonstrated that their superiority remains intact despite the swathe of upgrades every team has now employed. Mercedes remain unbeaten this season in qualifying despite Ferrari’s pace so far this weekend.Antonelli was as confident and assured as ever, delivering his fifth pole from nine races and once again demonstrated he is the favourite for the title. The 19-year-old has five wins already this season, with every chance of adding another on Sunday.Russell will be disappointed by fourth and had already made hard work of it when he went off during Q1. He locked up heading into Luffield and went straight off, careering across the gravel to take a glancing blow against the wall. He did manage to return to the pits but with damage to the front of the car. He was mystified as to what had happened. “That was very weird. I’ve never locked up there in my whole career,” he said, and was able to continue after repairs.For the final quick runs in Q3, the McLarens, which had been struggling for grip and looked a handful to drive, were out early but were not near the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari. Leclerc duly took the top spot and was promptly pipped by Hamilton, until the Mercedes pair proved to have the edge, Antonelli from Russell by nine-hundredths of a second and two-tenths up on Hamilton in third.The last quick laps were set up for a tense showdown, in which Hamilton knew he could go quicker, having lost a fraction correcting a minor slide at Village. Antonelli went out first, which vexed the Italian and he questioned the team as to their rationale, while Hamilton went out last, looking to benefit from the track evolution.The Italian’s concerns proved unfounded however as Antonelli did improve in the middle and final sectors. Leclerc too improved but Hamilton could not, managing only third, three-tenths back on Antonelli’s pole time of 1:28.111, with Russell relegated to fourth. – Guardian