Kimi Antonelli: It will be difficult to fight against Ferrari.

      Kimi Antonelli showed the second fastest time in qualifying for the sprint in Silverstone, trailing pole sitter Lewis Hamilton by just 0.011 seconds. The leader of the personal standings is determined to fight for victory, although he acknowledges Ferrari's advantage.

      His Mercedes teammate George Russell had a less successful session – he fell behind by almost four tenths and could not pinpoint the reason for his lag.

      Kimi Antonelli (2nd): “The gaps are minimal, so it’s a shame I was just a bit short of pole. To be honest, I had a pretty poor first part of qualifying. I didn’t feel great behind the wheel, so before the second session, we adjusted the balance a bit. After that, the car's behavior suddenly improved, and the pace returned.

      In the final, I could have gone even better, but overall, the lap was good. It’s a pity it turned out this way, as I was just a bit short of Lewis's result. But I congratulate him, and we will focus on tomorrow.

      Our car handled well, but Ferrari made an incredible leap forward, so it will be tough to compete with them. Additionally, Lewis is in great shape. We love such challenges, and I will try to achieve the maximum.

      Of course, I intend to fight for victory in the sprint. We will do everything we can for that. It won’t be easy, but anything is possible, so we will try to perform well.”

      George Russell (5th): “Honestly, this story has been repeating throughout the season. Usually, I approach the final qualifying session as the underdog, but then I step up. However, that didn’t happen this time.

      The battle for third place was very tight, but my pace was significantly slower than Lewis's and Kimi's. We need to figure it out to understand the reason. But it’s strange.

      I’m quite satisfied with the car's behavior – I can’t say it’s hard to handle. I think we all expected that the new generation cars wouldn’t perform as well on this track, but actually, everything is fine, and at high speeds, the car really feels fast. But, as I said, my lap time leaves much to be desired, and it’s important to sort this out by Saturday.

      I was very surprised by Ferrari's pace. They were lagging in terms of power unit and energy management, but suddenly became the best at the moment. So yes, it’s really a surprise. We always knew they had a great chassis, but some aspects are not entirely clear.

      If I had to make a prediction, I would say Ferrari should have been fast last week, and we should be this weekend. Yes, Kimi did great today, but Ferrari has been ahead all day.”