With two competitive sessions already in the books it was time for qualifying for the 2026 F1 British GP. Lewis Hamilton was on pole for the Sprint, but on Saturday morning it was Kimi Antonelli who took the top step.
Q1: Lucky escape for Russell
As soon as the light at the end of pitlane went green, the usual suspects of Cadillac, Aston Martin and Williams were the first ones on track. Remarkably enough, both Ferraris joined the queue too.
First one to make a mistake was Carlos Sainz who outbraked himself into Village at the start of his lap. Sergio Pérez was the first one to put a time on the board. He was soon demoted to third by both Haas drivers.
Nico Hülkenberg did his first lap on the medium tyres and positioned himself as the filling of a Haas sandwich.
Charles Leclerc was next to go to the top, with teammate Hamilton slotting in just behind him.
Both McLarens and both Red Bulls could not manage the time of Leclerc or Hamilton, giving some room for Antonelli to slot into.
Teammate George Russell finds himself in the Luffield gravel trap as his car refuses to slow down. Luckily, he can get his car back on track and to the pits.
Hülkenberg and Arvid Lindblad demonstrate the track evolution are significant, as they go to fifth and fourth respectively with about seven minutes to go. Liam Lawson gets behind them in line with a 1:30.000.
Russell gets back out with a new nose and makes it to provisional fifth as everybody is on track, except the Ferraris.
Max Verstappen goes provisional second, just before teammate Isack Hadjar puts his Red Bull on the top spot.
Franco Colapinto goes off in Becketts, right as Pierre Gasly improves his laptime to get into the safe zone. The Argentine driver goes to the pits, meaning he is knocked-out.
Both Racing Bulls improve, with Lawson going to second and Lindblad to seventh ahead of both Mercedes drivers.
Gabriel Bortoleto delivers at crunch time, demoting Ocon. He is knocked-out together with Bottas, Colapinto, Pérez, Stroll and Alonso.
Q2: McLaren struggling
The start of Q2 was a bit delayed due to some gravel that needed to be swept away. While that happens, replays show Gasly is under investigation for impeding, whereas his compatriot Ocon is under investigation for a yellow flag infringement as a result of Colapinto’s spin.
Red Bull was the first team out on track, and Verstappen the first driver to put a time on the boards. He does however complain about his engine. Hadjar follows suit and puts his RB22 on provisional P1.
Leclerc goes to first a bit later, who is in turn demoted by Hamilton. Lindblad and Lawson slide in behind Verstappen, as Russell puts it in provisional second.
Both McLarens cannot impress yet, as Norris is eighth and Piastri tenth. And that’s without Antonelli who cut his lap short after locking up into Village. Next time around, he completes a hotlap and puts Piastri in the danger zone.
For his second run, Verstappen momentarily gets ahead of Hadjar, before the Frenchman retakes fifth place.
When it matters most, Piastri improvest to seventh, putting him firmly into the safe zone. Leclerc takes the top spot for the time being, until Antonellis dethrones him. =
In the back nothing significants changes, meaning Bortoleto, Gasly, Hülkenberg, Bearman, Sainz and Albon are eliminated.
Q3: Antonelli restores order
Lindblad decides to sit out the first runs of Q3, as he has only one fresh set of soft tyres left. Piastri is the first one to set a time, followed by teammate Norris both on track and in the provisional standings. Lawson decided his run wasn’t going to cut it before Verstappen went to the top.
Leclerc then puts his Ferrari half a second clear of Verstappen, before Hamilton improves the best time by just under two one-hundreths. Hadjar manages to get in between Leclerc and Verstappen, almost four tenths clear of his teammate.
The first set of runs is ended by both Mercedes drivers, where Antonelli takes provisional pole ahead of Russell.
The second set of runs is started by Antonelli, who disagrees with being the first of the Mercedes drivers. He improves his time, but has to wait for the others to cross the line.
Norris takes sixth place for now. Lindblad puts his Racing Bulls in ninth. Piastri improves to seventh as Lawson can only muster tenth.
Russell is half a second down on his teammate, which gives the opportunity for both Leclerc and Hamilton to get between both Mercedes drivers.
Hadjar wins the Red Bull battle as he improves his time to stay fifth, whereas Verstappen only manages seventh.
This means Kimi Antonelli grabs his fifth pole of the season, from Leclerc and Hamilton. Russell is in fourth, ahead of Hadjar, Norris, Verstappen and Piastri. The Racing Bulls of Lindblad and Lawson complete the top 10.
Full results of the 2026 F1 British GP qualifying can be found here.
