2026 British Sprint Quali Results: Silverstone Qualifying
Event: British F1 Grand Prix
Track: Silverstone circuit
Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (1) McLaren MCL40 Mercedes in the Pitlane during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 03, 2026 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Steven Tee/LAT Images)
Weather: dry 24°C
Tarmac: dry 40°C
Humidity : 44%
Wind: 7.9 km/h West
Pressure: 1012 mb
Hamilton Snatches Silverstone Sprint Pole
Lewis Hamilton delivered a vintage Silverstone moment for Ferrari, beating Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011s to grab Sprint pole in a tense one-lap shootout at the British grand prix.
Hamilton Turns Silverstone Into His Stage
There are some combinations in Formula 1 that simply refuse to get old. Hamilton and Silverstone is one of them.
After topping FP1 earlier in the day, Hamilton carried that form into Sprint Qualifying and kept Ferrari on top when it mattered. His final SQ3 lap was enough to edge Antonelli by the thinnest of margins, giving the home crowd exactly the kind of Friday drama they had come to see.
Hamilton’s advantage was only eleven thousandths of a second, but the statement was considerably larger. Ferrari had arrived at Silverstone sounding cautious, with both drivers expecting the circuit’s power demands to expose them against Mercedes and Red Bull. Instead, Hamilton put the upgraded Ferrari on Sprint pole and made the Scuderia look like a genuine threat.
Antonelli Misses Out By A Breath
Antonelli came painfully close to turning Mercedes’ expected Silverstone strength into pole. The championship leader had struggled in SQ1, but a small adjustment transformed the car for SQ2 and SQ3.
By the final segment, he was right there. The teenager produced a sharp lap, good enough to beat almost everyone, but not quite Hamilton. Losing pole by 0.011s will sting, yet second place keeps him perfectly placed for Saturday’s Sprint.
The start should be spicy. Hamilton will launch from pole in a fast-starting Ferrari, Antonelli will be alongside him, Verstappen sits directly behind, and Leclerc starts fourth. Nobody in that group is likely to hand out free real estate into Turn 1.
Verstappen And Leclerc Share Row Two
Max Verstappen put Red Bull third, giving the team a much stronger result than FP1 had suggested after it looked less convincing on the soft tyre earlier in the day.
Silverstone was always going to be an important test for Red Bull’s recent progress. Austria hinted at a step forward, but the Red Bull Ring can flatter a car in ways Silverstone rarely does. Verstappen’s Sprint Qualifying result suggests Red Bull are at least in the fight, even if Hamilton and Antonelli had the edge over one lap.
Leclerc backed up Ferrari’s pace with fourth. He could not match Hamilton, but he did enough to keep Ferrari heavily involved at the sharp end. Given the doubts around the team’s straight-line performance heading into the weekend, a first and fourth on the Sprint grid is a very tidy return.
Russell’s Strange Friday Continues
George Russell endured the most awkward session among the front-runners. The Mercedes driver finished fifth, four tenths behind Antonelli, and admitted afterwards that the lack of pace felt “very strange”.
That is the kind of gap that demands answers, particularly at a circuit where Russell has previously been excellent over one lap. Mercedes looked like the natural favourites before the weekend, but Hamilton’s Ferrari has scrambled that form book rather effectively.
Russell also sounded surprised by Ferrari’s pace, saying the Scuderia looked the best team at the moment. For a season that has already swung sharply between teams and circuits, Silverstone has added another layer of confusion.
McLaren Still Short Of The Lead Fight
McLaren threatened to join the party at various points, but SQ3 exposed the gap. Lando Norris salvaged sixth after finally getting on top of his lap when it counted, beating Oscar Piastri by just 0.032s.
That was a decent recovery from Norris, who had looked second-best to Piastri for much of the day, but sixth and seventh was not the result McLaren wanted at home.
The car still appears to lack the platform needed to fight Mercedes, Ferrari and Verstappen consistently. The team is waiting for further upgrades, with its improved Mercedes power unit potentially arriving at Spa and a bigger package expected closer to the summer break.
Racing Bulls Impress Again
Behind the established frontrunners, Racing Bulls delivered one of the better midfield stories of the session.
Isack Hadjar qualified eighth, with Liam Lawson ninth and completing the top ten. That was a strong collective showing on a Sprint weekend where making SQ3 matters even more than usual, with points only available down to eighth in the Sprint.
Hadjar had already looked lively earlier in the day, particularly on the harder compounds, and Racing Bulls again looked like one of the sharper midfield operations.
Bearman Suffers Home Frustration
The first segment brought disappointment for Oliver Bearman, who missed out on SQ2 by just 0.010s at his home race. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon both improved late on, with Albon ultimately knocking Bearman out.
Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also fell in SQ1, leaving Haas, Cadillac and Aston Martin with little to celebrate.
SQ2 then claimed Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Sainz and Albon. Norris only just escaped, making it through in tenth by 0.081s over Gasly before producing a much stronger final run in SQ3.
Ferrari Have Changed The Weekend
Sprint Qualifying has turned Silverstone from a Mercedes-leaning weekend into something far more interesting.
Hamilton has pace, confidence and the crowd behind him. Antonelli has the championship lead and a front-row start. Verstappen is close enough to be a nuisance, Leclerc is well placed to attack, and Russell suddenly has questions to answer.
The margins are tiny, the form book is wobbling, and Hamilton has put Ferrari on Sprint pole at Silverstone. For a Friday in front of his home crowd, that is about as explosive as it gets.
Sprint Quali Times 2026 British GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:29.273 | 1:28.747 | 1:28.376 | 14 |
| 2 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:29.746 | 1:28.846 | 1:28.387 | 15 |
| 3 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:29.689 | 1:29.242 | 1:28.697 | 12 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:29.380 | 1:28.922 | 1:28.703 | 14 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:29.675 | 1:29.246 | 1:28.733 | 15 |
| 6 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:30.142 | 1:29.401 | 1:28.740 | 15 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:29.583 | 1:29.120 | 1:28.772 | 12 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:29.470 | 1:29.280 | 1:28.835 | 14 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:29.850 | 1:29.067 | 1:28.927 | 12 |
| 10 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:30.453 | 1:29.330 | 1:29.367 | 12 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:30.444 | 1:29.482 | 9 | |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:30.407 | 1:29.679 | 12 | |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 1:30.107 | 1:29.707 | 12 | |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:30.894 | 1:29.983 | 9 | |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:31.073 | 1:30.197 | 12 | |
| 16 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:30.779 | 1:30.650 | 13 | |
| 17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:31.083 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:31.714 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 1:31.776 | 6 | ||
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:32.020 | 6 | ||
| 21 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:32.910 | 5 | ||
| 22 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:32.988 | 5 |
The quickest sector times during this qualifying session where:
- 28.094 sec. by Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes W17.
- 35.623 sec. by Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes W17.
- 24.512 sec. by Lando Norris, McLaren MCL40.
Last year the pole position time was a 1:24.892 min, claimed by Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB22.
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4 F1 Fan comments on “2026 British Sprint Quali Results: Silverstone Qualifying”
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Despite the practice form, I didn’t think Hamilton would achieve pole position & Russell’s pace relative to Antonelli was surprising.
VCARB unsurprisingly again best-of-the-rest with Cadillac outright faster than Aston Martin, although Haas being the third-slowest instead of Williams was surprising.
Intereating that all 4 Red bull ford powered cars only did 12 laps each with all the rest doing 14/15 for the top ten, maybe 12 laps and they thought they couldnt go any faster but quite noticeable lap number difference esp in quali, again Audi over performing with there engine, they should be pleased
ok 3 out of the 4
Hopefully the race pace of the Ferrari is better this weekend then last week in Austria.