From successive poles to a Q1 exit for Russell?
Russell back out. Perez, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll, Russell and Bortoleto in the drop zone. “That was very weird, I’ve never locked up there in my whole career,” he says.
Russell’s car still being prepared. It’s a question of how much damage to the bottom of the car in part as to whether he will get a chance to make Q2.
Meanwhile, Antonelli has gone third fastest. Ferrari still fastest.
He all but avoided an impact, and was able to get going. They quickly change the nose cone and off he will go again.
Russell has a crash
Russell off! Can he get back to the pits? Is his qualifying over?
“You can’t see it till you turn in, but luckily it’s in the same place every lap,” Brundle says of one feature, winning the weekend’s statement of the obvious award.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both post 1:29s, whereas Bearman had a 1:31.
Early times from Bearman ahead of Hulkenberg, Ocon, Perez and Lawson.
Hamilton heading out. The nine-time winner seeking a second pole of the weekend.
And we are go for Q1.
Silverstone looks magnificent in the July sunshine. Remember when Bernie Ecclestone put in April 2000, leading to a mudbath?
F1, never knowingly not taking itself seriously
Here we go with the portentous portrait countdown.
Last-minute changes to the cars. What they use in qualifying they must use in the race. Hamilton generally happy but some minor tweaks because the drop-off we saw in the sprint is likely to be repeated.
Here are the adjusted drivers’ standings after the sprint race, with Liam Lawson taking the eighth and 1pt, after the stewards issued only a warning for his move on Isack Hadjar.
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 179pts
2 George Russell Mercedes 136
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 132
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 80
5 Lando Norris McLaren 85
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 83
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 76
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 42
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 41
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 31
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 18
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine 16
13 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 14
14 Carlos Sainz Williams 6
15 Alexander Albon Williams 5
16 Esteban Ocon Haas 3
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 2
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1
Updated
A year ago, Norris won at Silverstone and, though there were setbacks to come, ultimately became world champion. His Landostand, new last year, is back and there has been some joshing between him and Russell:
Lando Norris told George Russell to forget about taking any of his Landostand seats and joked that he has a “better fanbase” than his British rival.
Russell has revealed his desire to match the McLaren man and have a dedicated stand at Silverstone in future years. Norris inaugurated his stand in 2025 when he claimed his maiden British Grand Prix win and this year 16,000 fans are packing it out on the circuit’s Stowe corner. Russell joked ahead of this weekend that Norris had a good spot for his stand and would quite fancy taking some of it for himself.
“Good luck,” Norris retorted after finishing third in Saturday’s sprint. “He can do whatever he wants. I have more passionate fans and a better fanbase I think. Mine was more wanted from a public point of view, which is a great thing.
“Even in my grandstand there is a good mix of all fans, it is not just fans who are here to support me. It is my grandstand but at the same time it has fans, sadly, of other teams and other drivers, which I have nothing against.
“He can do what he wants, but he is certainly not taking any of my seats.” PA Media
Norris was a bit snappier during the sprint race over the radio at one point, when he urged his team to “get it right for once”, but seemed happy enough with third. The unspoken edge he has over Russell is simple: he has won the world championship.
Qualifying preamble
Right, so what did we learn from that? First, that Kimi Antonelli is a very worthy championship leader, as if we needed reminding. Second, that Lewis Hamilton very much has his mojo back. Third, that George Russell is running second-best for Mercedes, but with a long way to go and with his self-belief partially restored.
What didn’t we learn? How the cars will run on softs. Every car in the top 18 was running on mediums, to preserve the faster-but-less-durable rubber for the challenges to come. Ferrari has had problems with degradation that did not apply for a no-stop, no-soft sprint.
Despite Lando Norris claiming third for McLaren in the sprint, I reckon it’s just about a four-way battle for pole, between Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Max Verstappen – who took pole last year – and Charles Leclerc. The last two seem improbable but as Russell showed in Austria last weekend it is possible to produce “a lap from nowhere”.
Q1 gets under way at 4pm BST, I’ll be back with updates from 3.30.
Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli won the sprint race before the British Grand Prix after a feisty scrap with Lewis Hamilton who had led for the opening half of the short-form race at Silverstone.
Lando Norris claimed third for McLaren with Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell in fourth.
In what was a frenetic and action-packed dash at the old airfield, Hamilton had led from pole as the crowd roared him round the track only to ultimately succumb to the superior pace of the Mercedes engine against which he was powerless to resist when Antonelli came at him but still put in a sterling effort to secure second place.
It is the Italian’s first F1 sprint win and another demonstration of his burgeoning talent in every aspect of his craft this season, only his second in the sport in which he has taken five wins already. He had been narrowly beaten to pole by Hamilton but even over the short-form race showed great verve and determination to secure victory.
Right, I will wrap this up now and be back later for qualifying. Giles Richards’ report from Silverstone will be along shortly.
And now a nice touch: the karting champions present the awards.
He continues: “The momentum is there … but we need to keep raising that bar.”
And now Antonelli. “It was very fun. When I got into overtake I knew my chance was coming … I used everything I had.”
Here’s Hamilton. “Big thank you, the crowd is amazing … Tough race to keep the Mercedes behind. Big headwind coming down the straight … Once he got the overtake mode … I knew he was coming.”
David Coulthard speaking to Norris, who says: “That was a very good race … I’m pleasantly surprised. Good race, good points.”
The points scorers are: Antonelli 8pts, Hamilton 7pts, Norris 6pts, Russell 5pts, Leclerc 4pts, Verstappen 3pts, Piastri 2pts, Lawson/Hadjar 1pt.
Updated
And Liam Lawson is being investigated.
Everything a bit restrained in the reactions after a sprint race. It’s only 8pts max, and we’re not at the stage of the season where that can be decisive.
It’s all over bar the stewards – Lawson looked late in closing off a fuming Hadjar and it has been noted.
Antonelli wins from Hamilton
It’s 1. Antonelli, 2. Hamilton, 3. Norris, 4. Russell, 5. Leclerc.
Lap 17/17: Russell has closed on Norris but probably too late.
Lap 16/17: We are probably in a procession now, all the point-scoring places having a decent lead aside from Hadjar in ninth close to Lawson in eighth.
Lap 15/17: Correction: Lawson is on mediums, not softs. So that’s the top 18 on the grid. Everyone saving their softs. How they perform will make tomorrow’s main race rather different.
Lap 14/17: Peréz has been lapped by the leading pair.
Lap 13/17: Russell is still less than a second clear of Leclerc so has other things on his mind but won’t like Antonelli accruing those extra points.
Lap 11/17: The fact that we are now focused on that battle shows that Antonelli is pulling clear of Hamilton, with the veteran having a solid four secs on Norris in third.
Lap 11/17: When Verstappen was fourth, we had four different marques in the top four places, but now he is sixth after Leclerc takes him.
Lap 10/17: Russell takes Verstappen again and this time fourth place seems to stick, allowing Leclerc to close up, and it’s so tight between them.
Lap 9/17: Russell and Verstappen swap and swap back. Hamilton running a second behind Antonelli already.
Lap 8/17: Hamilton defends successfully down the Wellington straight but down Hangar Antonelli has the extra boost left and overtakes.
Lap 7/17: Antonelli has been advised to look at different strategies for using his battery, to give him the best chance of getting past. It’s half a second between them.
Lap 6/17: There was a brief yellow flag for some debris because of a touch by Perez on Alonso. Perez is more than a minute down.
Lap 5/17: Hamilton just about holding Antonelli at a safe distance.
Lap 4/17: Lots of interchange between third and seventh, with differing battery levels round the circuit.
Lap 3/17: Russell has lost out to Norris and Max Verstappen and is back down to fifth, now sixth after Piastri goes past him too.
Lap 2/17: Hamilton has opened up a 1sec lead, and Norris is 2sec behind Antonelli.
Norris ahead of Antonelli! Brundle wonders if the Italian has a battery problem but he gets back the place and here comes George Russell, taking Piastri and Norris.
Lights out! And Hamilton just stays ahead of Antonelli. Verstappen loses places immediately.
Martin Brundle is back with David Croft, with Sky having the A team for this race.
The top eight are on medium tyres, with Liam Lawson in ninth the only driver in the top 18 on softs.
Off we go on the formation lap.
Alex Albon is starting from the pitlane. He races under the flag of Thailand, his mother’s homeland, but is London-born. With Ollie Bearman too, more than a quarter of the grid hails from these shores.
Five minutes to go, cue the montage. Britain is incredibly lucky to have this sporting and technological heritage.
Lewis Hamilton is wearing a yellow helmet he used to use when he was in karts.
It is a good season for British drivers, albeit with an Italian out front. In Barcelona the top three were British – Hamilton, Russell and Norris – and Arvid Lindblad is looking forward to his first home race. He just made it into the top 10 for the sprint race; here’s how they line up:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1minute, 28.376sec
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.387
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:28.387
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.703
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.733
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.740
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.772
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 1:28.835
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.927
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:29.367
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.482
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.679
13 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:29.707
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:29.983
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:30.197
16 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.650
17 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.083
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:31.714
19 Sergio Pérez Cadillac 1:31.776
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:32.020
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:32.910
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:32.988
Updated
And here is how the constructors stand:
1 Mercedes 302pts
2 Ferrari 204
3 McLaren 159
4 Red Bull 115
5 Alpine 57
6 Racing Bulls 44
7 Haas 21
8 Williams 11
9 Audi 2
10 Aston Martin 1
11 Cadillac 0
A reminder of the sprint race points system: 1st gets 8pts, 2nd 7pts, 3rd 6pts, down to 1pt for 8th. And these are the totals the drivers are seeking to add to:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 171pts
2 George Russell Mercedes 131
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 125
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 80
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 79
6 Lando Norris McLaren 79
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 73
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 42
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 41
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 30
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 18
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine 16
13 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 14
14 Carlos Sainz Williams 6
15 Alexander Albon Williams 5
16 Esteban Ocon Haas 3
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 2
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1
Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas (both Cadillac) remain on nuls points, along with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Nico Hülkenberg (Audi).
The drivers warming up now in front of a very strong crowd. The expectation is that there will be 570,000 people through the gates across the weekend.
Preamble
So where, exactly, is Formula One, other than on the Northamptonshire-Buckinghamshire border at a converted second world war airfield? Really, who knows.
At the top of the standings, George Russell’s challenge seemed to be forlorn after Monaco, when the racing gods conspired against him once more and he finished pointless while his Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, won again. Since then Russell has come second and first while the Italian has had a DNF and third, and now the gap in the standings is down from 68pts to a rather more manageable 40pts.
In the buildup to last weekend in Austria we were expecting Ferrari to carry on the form they had shown with Lewis Hamilton’s win at Barcelona, only for Charles Leclerc drop from second to eighth, and Hamilton from third to fifth, once racing happened. The suggestion was that the altitude was the disruptive factor, but no one knew for sure how the upgrades would work elsewhere.
We then spent a week hearing from drivers worried that Silverstone’s long straights were going to lead to slower speeds as the layout of fast corners meant electrical energy would not be harvested through braking elsewhere on the lap, and would be exhausted on the extended runs. Hamilton said: “I think this is going to be an unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment. All us drivers have been talking in the drivers’ chat [about] just how poor the power is going to be through this track. We run out of battery power. There’s only a few corners to charge the engine.”
Come Friday’s qualifying for today’s sprint race, Hamilton took pole and promptly rowed back on his fears, saying: “Even if you heard me in the press conference, I was like: ‘The track is not going to be the same.’ That’s what we all thought, but the track is still phenomenal, the track still feels great. The engine drop-off is not anywhere near what we anticipated.”
No driver has been more outspoken than Max Verstappen about the 2026 regulations, but even he had something approaching a smile last weekend after coming second at Red Bull’s home race. Still, in the week he said of Silverstone: “I love the track but I did a few laps on the simulator, I just started laughing. It felt like a different track to be honest. You barely have battery around the lap.” Yet he will start third and, if not exactly sunny, he has at least been mollified, even as rumours about his future swirl.
Join me from 11.30 for the buildup to noon’s sprint race start, as we let events themselves try to make some sense of it all. In the meantime, here’s Giles Richards’s sprint qualifying report.
