British Grand Prix Qualifying: Untouchable Kimi Antonelli on pole ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
F1 NewsSaturday, 04 July 2026 at 18:00
Kimi Antonelli, the 2026 Formula 1 Championship leader, took pole for the 2026 British Grand Prix beating both Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who were second and third respectively.
Antonelli carried the confidence after winning the Sprint Race earlier in the day took his fifth F1 career pole position despite being the first driver out on track in the final runs of Q3, something he wasn't happy about, but did not stop him from improving his initial provisional pole time to finish the job.
Charles Leclerc, after a tough spell, finally managed to beat teammate Lewis Hamilton and was second fastest, 0.175s off the pace.
Hamilton could not repeat the magic that saw him take pole for the Sprint on Friday and had to settle for third, 0.347s off the pace.
Then came George Russell, fourth fastest and still unable to capture any of the form that saw him win in Austria from pole just one week ago. He was 0.370s slower than his teammate.
The Briton also survived a scary moment in Q1 when he ended up in the gravel trap and was lucky to manage to get back on track and take part in the rest of qualifying.
Isack Hadjar was quite impressive on a day when Red Bull Racing weren't and managed to qualify in fifth, albeit 0.635s off pole. However, more importantly, the Frenchman managed to beat his teammate Max Verstappen who had a tough session not happy with his RB22 power unit, the same on that is the best on the grid.
The Dutchman was seventh on the grid while Lando Norris split the Red Bulls in sixth as McLaren also had a tough session. Norris was almost eighth tenths off the pace while Oscar Piastri was almost one second off the benchmark in eighth.
Arvid Lindblad was ninth for Racing Bulls with his teammate, Liam Lawson completing the top ten.
What the top three said
"A bit stressed because I never like going first for the last run!" Antonelli said after Qualifying. "The last lap was very tidy.
"I have to be honest, it came altogether. It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty and unpredictable.
"But we built out way through qualifying. To bring the pole home is very satisfying.
"We didn't change the car at all - just differential, brake migration, driving. We worked around it and managed to find good settings that helped me to progress through qualifying," he explained.
Leclerc was satisfied with his result and said: "I’m pleased. It’s been a few tough races where the feeling was not quite right, where I was struggling to put everything together.
"On the Sundays we’ve had things that have stopped us scoring points, so to be back with a good feeling, there’s been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling inside the car.
"But today is probably the first time where I had it back, so that is a good thing, but at the same time, I know how much I’ve struggled to be consistent recently, so it’s only the beginning but it’s a good step in the right direction.
"At the moment, I’m obviously trying to look at a bit of everything, because I was losing quite a bit of time. I just didn’t have much pace recently, so you’ve got to look at every single thing you do, whether it’s driving style, or everything really.
"We’ve worked, I think, really well, and I’m happy with that P2. I wish I was on pole but Kimi did an incredible lap and he deserves it," Leclerc concluded.
"I'm happy to be up here," Hamilton said despite being third. "Both of these guys [Antonelli and Leclerc] did a great job.
"Charles has been making good improvements and we just didn't have the pace of the Mercedes, which has been a thing for a while. But we are slowly closing the gap and to have both of us up here is great for the team.
"It's definitely great to have both of us here," the Briton said when asked about the plan for the race. "Whether or not we can fully keep up with Kimi, we will see but hopefully we can play with the strategy and work as a a team to try to topple them.
"We will do our best for sure," the seven-time F1 Champion concluded.
Q1: Russell in the barriers!
In partly cloudy conditions qualifying started for the British Grand Prix with track temperatures at 43 degrees Celsius as air temperature was 25 degrees as wind was also expected to be a factor.
As per the rules, the teams are allowed to change their car setups after the Sprint Race which Antonelli won, so how will that affect the performance order in Qualifying.
🟢 Q1 GREEN LIGHT 🟢
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2026
Qualifying is GO!!! #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/MeALYVFm05
Both Cadillacs and both Haas led the way out on track as the green light at the end of the pitlane signaled the start of the action.
Bortoleto was warned that it was very gusty on the start finish line.
The big teams took their time going out aside from Ferrari and Norris in the McLaren as the midfield teams' drivers started their timed laps.
Leclerc was the first of the top drivers to start a flying lap and went fastest while Hamilton followed and went second fastest as Norris and Verstappen then started their runs.
Norris went third fastest as Verstappen came along and was fourth with Hadjar in fifth. Piastri went sixth. Antonelli went third as Yellow flags came out with Russell causing them.
The Briton locked up in Turn 7 and ended up in the gravel ending up in the barrier.
"That is very weird," Russell radioed. "I never locked up there in my whole career."
Here's a look at what happened to Russell 👀#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/7x2uI5CW1o
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2026
He managed to reverse back on track but had to go into the pits for repairs as his front wing was broken. He returned to the track with six minutes remaining and posted the fifth fastest time.
The drivers ran again, some top one did not, and in the end of Q1, it was Hadjar who led into Q2 with a lap time of 1:29.276, 0.024s ahead of Lawson in second as Charles Leclerc was third.
The rest of the top 16 were: Nico Hulkenberg - Verstappen - Hamilton - Lindblad - Antonelli - Piastri - Russell - Norris - Gabriel Bortoleto - Pierre Gasly - Carlos Sainz - Oliver Bearman - Alex Albon.
The first driver to miss out on Q2 was Esteban Ocon who was in 17th, missing the cut by 0.042s and was ahead of Valtteri Bottas who was 18th fastest.
Then came Franco Colapinto in 19th as the Argentine spun in Becketts which meant he was eliminated.
Sergio Perez was 20th fastest as Lance Stroll was 21st and Fernando Alonso dead last.
Q2: No major surprises
The start of Q2 was delayed as the track was cleaned from gravel at multiple places.
When the session started, Verstappen and Hadjar were the first two drivers out on track.
Verstappen, as soon as he started his lap, radioed: "Yeah, this engine is not responding normal."
He goes fastest but Hadjar followed and went even faster as Leclerc then came through and went to the top with Hamilton dropping him to second.
Antonelli radioed that he had no response from the pedal. Replay showed he ran wide and aborted his lap.
Russell went second fastest while Norris was only eighth with Piastri in 11th. Both McLarens were in used Softs.
When Antonelli went again, he posted the third fastest time.
Antonelli had to abort his first flying lap after running wide but has slotted into P3 on his second attempt
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2026
Q2: TOP 5 (with five minutes to go)
Hamilton
Russell
Antonelli
Leclerc
Hadjar#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/OmJ7Tctjvz
Order after the first runs: Hamilton - Russell - Antonelli - Leclerc - Hadjar - Verstappen - Lindblad - Lawson - Norris - Bortoleto.
In the drop zone with six minutes remaining: Piastri - Gasly - Bearman - Sainz - Albon - Hulkenberg.
Verstappen and Hadjar were the first drivers out for the second runs and the former was till not happy with his car saying it was a disaster and "unbelievable".
With the second runs of Q2 done and dusted, Antonelli was fastest with a 1:28.493, 0.133s ahead of Leclerc in second and 0.371s faster than Hamilton in third.
The rest of the top ten: Russell - Hadjar - Verstappen - Piastri - Lindblad - Norris - Lawson.
Out of Qualifying: Bortoleto - Gasly - Hulkenberg - Bearman - Sainz - Albon.
Q3: Antonelli fastest as Hamilton fumbles
Piastri hit the track first in Q3 with Norris and Lawson following as the rest did not waste any time getting out for some banker laps. Lindblad though, stayed behind.
Piastri started his timed lap first with Lawson and Norris in his wake. The Australian went fastest with Norris second fastest as Lawson did not complete his lap, probably using it as a bit of experimenting with setup.
Verstappen went fastest but then Leclerc went even faster as Hamilton took the top spot while Hadjar was ahead of Verstappen in fourth.
Replay showed Hamilton having a moment of oversteer in Turn 3.
The Antonelli went to the top with Russell less than a tenth behind him. Provisional pole for Kimi.
Kimi is on provisional pole
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2026
Q3: TOP 10
Antonelli
Russell
Hamilton
Leclerc
Hadjar
Verstappen
Piastri
Norris
Lawson
Lindblad
One more run to go!#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/pNEGrIUxZZ
With less the four minutes remaining, the final runs were on and all ten cars made their way out on track.
Antonelli, who wasn't happy to be first on track, went for it with a clear track in front of him. Norris and Lindblad followed.
Antonelli improved by over two tenths as Norris improved to sixth with Leclerc improving as well. Piastri was seventh on his second run.
Russell could not improve as Verstappen went seventh with Leclerc coming ahead of Russell in second with Hamilton only good for third.
Antonelli turns provisional pole into pole with a lap time of 1:28.111, 0.175s ahead of Leclerc in second while Hamilton was third.
The rest of the top ten were: Russell - Hadjar - Norris - Verstappen - Piastri - Lindblad - Lawson.
British Grand Prix Provisional Qualifying Classification
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