#F1 #Qualifying: @MercedesAMGF1’s #Antonelli scores fifth-career pole at #BritishGP.

Antonelli British GP Pole – Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli completed a sensational Saturday from picking up a maiden Sprint victory to grabbing pole position for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari pairing Charles Leclerc and home favourite Sir Lewis Hamilton who rounded out the top three.

This was Antonelli’s fifth-career pole position and propels the Italian to continue his stunning form of the 2026 campaign.

In Q3, the initial flying laps saw Piastri the first of the runners to emerge.

The McLaren driver registered the opening benchmark of a 1:29.231 as RB’s Liam Lawson abandoned his flying lap.

Norris was next and the Briton slotted into second on a 1:29.315 as Verstappen went quickest with a 1:29.151.

Leclerc went even quicker with a 1:28.620, then Hamilton held provisional pole briefly with a 1:28.591.

Hadjar jumped his team-mate Verstappen into third on a 1:28.757 whilst demoted the Frenchman to fourth as Antonelli grabbed provisional pole on a 1:28.385.

Russell slotted into second place and a slim 0.096 seconds off team-mate Antonelli.

The final hot-laps saw Antonelli lead the pack out and the championship leader posted a 1:28.111 with two purple final sectors.

Norris could only improve to sixth with his 1:28.877 as Lindblad remained ninth posting a 1:29.305.

Piastri remained seventh whilst Russell stayed third.

Leclerc with a purple sector one and two personal bests moved up into second with a 1:28.286 whilst his team-mate Hamilton slotted into third on 1:28.458 for Antonelli to secure pole position for Mercedes by 0.175 seconds.

Hadjar with three personal bests ended up fifth and ahead of reigning world champion Norris who took sixth and four-time world champion Verstappen who ended up seventh in the Red Bull.

Piastri took eighth whilst the two RB’s of Lindblad and Lawson completed the top ten with the latter under investigation for an unsafe release in the pit-lane before the final flying laps began.

In the middle segment, which was topped by Antonelli, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto just missed out on a Q3 appearance by a slim 0.032 seconds meaning the Brazilian will start tomorrow’s British GP  11^th.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ended up 12^th with the Frenchman currently investigation by the stewards for both impeding with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in Q1.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg could only improve to 13^th on his final flyer and in-front of Haas’s Oliver Bearman who will start his home Grand Prix 14^th.

The two Williams FW48 entries of Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon were the slowest of the Q2 eliminatees in 15^th and 16^th respectively.

In the opening qualifying stage, which was topped by Hadjar, With less than ten minutes to go the yellow flags were brought out for 30 seconds after Russell being stuck in the barriers.

Russell tried to get going, and did so, he limped out of the gravel trap and he was on his way back to the pits with a slightly lopsided front wing.

Replays showed the Briton understeered his way into Luffield, as he slowly bumped off the road and into the gravel.

Toto Wolff looked surprised when he watched the replay, and it was easy to see why.

A late improvement from Bortoleto sent Haas F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon out of Q1 meaning the Frenchman will start tomorrow’s British GP 17^th and he missed out on Q2 by a slim 0.042 seconds.

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas followed in 18^th and ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto who wounded up 19^th with the latter bringing out a second yellow flag after suffering a massive spin down at Becketts.

Replays showed Colapinto lost the rear, spinning off and then bouncing backwards over the grass down at Becketts. It was a high-speed accident, and he was lucky not to collect another car or end up in the barriers.

The other Cadillac MAC01 entry of Sergio Perez ended Q1 20^th whilst the two Aston Martin AMR26 entries of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Pirelli British Grand Prix 2026 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 PIRELLI BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2026 – QUALIFYING

2026 British GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2026 British GP Pole Position – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – 1:28.111:

“I was a bit stressed, I never really like going first for the last run. But the last lap was very tidy. It came all together, despite being tricky with the wind. To bring the pole home is very satisfying. For sure it won’t be easy, I have two Ferraris behind me and for sure they will work together.”

2^nd Position – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari HP, SF-26 – 1:28.286:

“I’m pleased. It has been a few tough races, so to be back with a good feeling – there has been so much work behind the scenes to get the feeling, and today is the first day I have really had it back.”

3^rd Position – Sir Lewis Hamilton, #44, Scuderia Ferrari HP, SF-26 – 1:28.458:

“I’m happy to be up here. Both these guys did a good job today, and yeah, we just didn’t have the pace of the Mercedes but we are slowly closing the gap and to have both cars up here is good for the team. To have both of us here, as hopefully we can play with the strategy and work as a team.”

#Antonelli captures maiden #Sprint victory at #BritishGP. #F1