British Grand Prix: Pole for Antonelli

      Sunny. Dry. Air +25°C, track +43…42°C

      The main downside of the stages with Saturday's sprint is that by the start of the main events, the power dynamics are largely determined, but in Silverstone, the intrigue remained – the results were too unexpected.

      Before the weekend began, everyone talked about Mercedes' advantage and Red Bull's progress – in the last race in Spielberg, Max Verstappen nearly won after the team seriously updated the car. But a few days passed, and in Silverstone, everything looked different.

      On Friday, in the only practice session, Lewis Hamilton led, and he also won the sprint qualifying. In the sprint, the Brit led for a long time but couldn't withstand the attacks from Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes. Kimi won the sprint, Hamilton finished second, and Norris third.

      After the sprint, when the cars came out of the closed park conditions, the teams adjusted their setups, and the battle began anew.

      Pirelli brought the "medium" trio of compounds – C2, C3, and C4 as Hard, Medium, and Soft.

      In the first session, Hülkenberg and Bortoleto went out for their first attempt on Medium, while the others immediately put on Soft.

      Yellow flags appeared on the eighth minute. In the seventh corner, Russell went off into the gravel and hit the barrier, damaging the front wing. George returned to the pits, handing the car over to the mechanics. The suspension was unharmed, and after a short repair, Russell went out again.

      At the end of the session, Colapinto went off after spinning in the 15th corner. Ocon did not slow down under yellow flags – the stewards are waiting for him after the session.

      In the first attempt, Leclerc set the best time, and in the second, Hadjar drove faster – 1:29.276. The first four turned out to be interesting: Hadjar - Lawson - Leclerc - Hülkenberg.

      Ocon, Bottas, Colapinto, Pérez, Stroll, and Alonso were eliminated from further contention.

      The marshals had to sweep the track to remove gravel after Colapinto's exit. The start of the second session was delayed by a few minutes.

      In the second session, everyone went out on Soft. In the first attempt, Hamilton set the best time, completing a lap in 1:28.864. Antonelli complained that the power unit was not responding to the throttle pedal, but continued moving.

      In the second attempt, Leclerc initially drove faster, then Antonelli – 1:28.493.

      Bortoleto, Gasly, Hülkenberg, Berman, Sainz, and Albon did not make it to the final.

      In the final, the drivers chose fresh sets of Soft for the first attempt – all except Lawson, who had no fresh tires left. Antonelli topped the protocol with 1:28.385. Lawson did not complete the lap, returning to the pits, and Lindblad missed the first attempt.

      In the second attempt, Antonelli improved – 1:28.111, Leclerc moved up to second, Hamilton to third.

      Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the qualifying in Silverstone, securing his fifth pole of the season.

      In the race, Antonelli and Leclerc will start from the front row, Hamilton and Russell from the second, and Hadjar (having outpaced Verstappen for the second time this season) and Norris from the third.

      Qualifying Results

      | Driver | Team | 1st Session | 2nd Session | 3rd Session |

      |--------|------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

      | | Time | Laps | Time | Laps | Time | Laps |

      | 1. K.Antonelli | Mercedes | 8 | 1:29.719 | 6 | 1 | 1:28.493 | 7 | 1 | 1:28.111 | 6 |

      | 2. C.Leclerc | Ferrari | 3 | 1:29.534 | 6 | 2 | 1:28.626 | 6 | 2 | 1:28.286 | 6 |

      | 3. L.Hamilton | Ferrari | 6 | 1:29.644 | 5 | 3 | 1:28.864 | 6 | 3 | 1:28.458 | 6 |

      | 4. G.Russell | Mercedes | 10 | 1:29.985 | 5 | 4 | 1:28.920 | 6 | 4 | 1:28.481 | 6 |

      | 5. A.Hadjar | Red Bull | 1 | 1:29.276 | 6 | 5 | 1:29.069 | 6 | 5 | 1:28.746 | 6 |

      | 6. L.Norris | McLaren | 11 | 1:30.186 | 5 | 9 | 1:29.383 | 6 | 6 | 1:28.877 | 6 |

      | 7. M.Verstappen | Red Bull | 5 | 1:29.549 | 6 | 6 | 1:29.113 | 6 | 7 | 1:28.893 | 6 |

      | 8. O.Piastri | McLaren | 9 | 1:29.971 | 6 | 7 | 1:29.218 | 6 | 8 | 1:29.032 | 6 |

      | 9. A.Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 7 | 1:29.661 | 8 | 8 | 1:29.324 | 6 | 9 | 1:29.305 | 3 |

      | 10. L.Lawson | Racing Bulls | 2 | 1:29.300 | 9 | 10 | 1:29.429 | 6 | 10 | 1:29.716 | 5 |

      | 11. G.Bortoleto | Audi | 12 | 1:30.269 | 4 | 11 | 1:29.461 | 6 |

      | 12. P.Gasly | Alpine | 13 | 1:30.345 | 6 | 12 | 1:30.063 | 6 |

      | 13. N.Hülkenberg | Audi | 4 | 1:29.539 | 9 | 13 | 1:30.076 | 6 |

      | 14. O.Berman | Haas | 15. | 1:30.570 | 9 | 14 | 1:30.501 | 6 |

      | 15. C.Sainz | Williams | 14 | 1:30.562 | 9 | 15 | 1:30.623 | 6 |

      | 16. A.Albon | Williams | 16 | 1:30.638 | 8 | 16 | 1:31.341 | 6 |

      | 17. E.Ocon | Haas | 17 | 1:30.680 | 9 |

      | 18. V.Bottas | Cadillac | 18 | 1:31.227 | 8 |

      | 19. F.Colapinto | Alpine | 19 | 1:31.321 | 5 |

      | 20. S.Pérez | Cadillac | 20 | 1:31.451 | 9 |

      | 21. L.Stroll | Aston Martin | 21 | 1:32.863 | 9 |

      | 22. F.Alonso | Aston Martin | 22 | 1:33.025 | 9 |