Championship leader Kimi Antonelli narrowly misses out on pole position in Sprint Qualifying for the 2026 F1 British GP, while Mercedes teammate and Championship runner-up George Russell ends the session in P5.
Heading into the weekend as presumed favorites, it came as a bit of a surprise when Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton, claimed the top spot in the first and only practice session of the weekend, with Antonelli trailing behind by just over two tenths. In Sprint Qualifying, the young Italian closed the gap to Hamilton but still missed out on pole by 0.011 seconds.
Antonelli on missing out on pole in 2026 F1 British GP Sprint Qualifying
After the session, Antonelli stated that he had initially struggled in the first sprint qualifying session, but that an adjustment to the balance ahead of SQ2 helped improve his feel for the car and his pace. Feeling that he left room for improvement on his final run, the young Italian shifts his focus on tomorrows’ British GP sprint race and Qualifying for the main race.
“I mean it was so, so close, and it was a shame.
“I felt, to be fair Q1 I felt a bit bad, I didn’t feel great in the car, but then we made a slight balance adjust, and SQ2 felt night and day, and we suddenly were back in the pace.
“SQ3 was a little bit left on the table, but it was a decent lap, and, unfortunately, it was super close to Lewis. But, of course, congrats to him, and on our side we’ll focus on to tomorrow now.”
Antonelli welcomes the challenge provided by Ferrari
Despite narrowly missing out on pole in Qualifying for the 2026 F1 British GP sprint race, Antonelli looked fast and comfortable in his Mercedes, which he notes as a positive, as he is looking ahead to the challenge provided by Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton.
“Yeah for sure, I mean the car felt good, Ferrari have done an incredible step forward, so definitely it’s going to be very tough, plus Lewis is in a great form, but that’s good, we like the challenge, and we’ll try to make the best out of it.”
Even though Ferrari and, particularly, Lewis Hamilton looked strong in FP1 and Sprint Qualifying for the British GP, Antonelli will try his hardest to emerge victorious during tomorrow’s sprint.
“Of course, we’ll go for it, and we’ll try to do our best. Of course, it’s not going to be easy, but everything is on the table to do well, so we’ll make sure that we do well.”
Russell grapples with pace struggles after Sprint Qualifying
Whereas Antonelli was close to claiming the top spot in Sprint Qualifying, Mercedes teammate George Russell finished the session in P5 over three tenths adrift from the front row. The Briton felt that the session represented his season so far, as he frequently found himself “on the back foot”.
“It’s kind of a story of a year to be honest, always on the back foot, usually come Q3 can generally make a step, today not quite the case, it was very close to P3, but still very much off the pace of Lewis and Kimi, so you need to try and understand why that is, it’s a bit strange.”
Feeling at the Silverstone circuit is not as bad as expected
Ahead of the 2026 F1 British GP weekend, drivers expressed concerns about how this new generation of cars would take to the high-speed corners of the Silverstone circuit. According to Russell, it didn’t feel as bad as expected, even though he struggled to find the lap time in Sprint Qualifying.
“I think it’s feeling quite good out there, to be honest, it’s not feeling too bad. I think we were all expecting it to feel a bit worse, just in terms of driving these cars here.
“But it actually felt quite OK, and the high speed felt fast, but as I said, relative lap time just not really there, so you need to understand tomorrow is the more important thing.”
Russell puzzled by Ferrari’s pace
Questioned about the pace of the Ferrari, Russell expressed surprise, noting that the Italian outfit had previously trailed Mercedes in Power Unit and Energy management, leaving the Mercedes driver puzzled over the results of the 2026 F1 British GP weekend so far.
“Very surprised, very surprised, they’ve been on the back foot with the PU and energy management, and here they look the best at the moment, so that’s been a real surprise.
“We’ve always known they’ve had a great chassis, but yeah, I think some things aren’t quite making sense.
“If I were to have predicted, I’d have said Ferrari quick last week, and us to be quick this week, obviously Kimi did a great job, but still, Ferrari have had the upper hand all day.”
