British GP: Kimi Antonelli Wins Sprint, Claims Maiden Pole In Silverstone

 

Kimi Antonelli followed his stead from the Sprint, edging Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to clinch his first pole in Silverstone at the British Grand Prix. 

Earlier. Antonelli, 19, claimed the Sprint race to become the youngest winner of the F1 Sprint and his first at Silverstone. Hamilton was beaten to the Sprint victory by Antonelli at the final earlier on Saturday. However, in the early stages of the qualifying session, the Mercedes driver did not have a great start. He clinched the pole in 1:28.111 seconds. 

Instead, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar delivered impressive pace to lead Q1 in provisional pole, and trailing him in second was Liam Lawson, who competed favourably. Though that performance was short-lived, they squeezed through, avoiding elimination to reach Q3. 

Neither Red Bull nor McLaren had the pace strong enough to threaten Mercedes. Ferrari, however, did as Hamilton and Charles led the pace in the first run before Antonelli improved on his time to edge the Ferrari duo. In his final run, he extended the time further by two-tenths of a second to stay comfortably in pole.

Making a debut in the qualifying session was Arvod Lindblad. The Racing Bull's driver squeezed through Q2 in P8 but finished the final one below his previous position. Hadjack outperformed his teammate, Max Verstappen in Q3, and Lawson finished well behind the front row. 

British GP Qualifying Session Top 10

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)....1:28.111s

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Isack Hadjat (Red Bull) 

6. Lando Norris (McLaren)

7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

8. Irvid Lindblad (Racing Bull)

10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bull)