Kimi Antonelli says "It was so, so close, it was a shame" after missing out on Silverstone Sprint Pole

While Mercedes were tipped as favorites in Silverstone this weekend, Ferrari and Hamilton emerged as the surprise pacesetters, starting with practice and carrying that over into Sprint Qualifying.

Antonelli seemed better than George Russell, but Mercedes in general did not feel hooked up all the time, but in the end, the Italian managed to get closest to Hamilton but not close enough.

“It was so, so close, and it was a shame," Antonelli said after Sprint Qualifying. “To be fair, in SQ1 I felt a bit bad; I didn’t feel great in the car, but then we made a slight balance adjustment, and SQ2 felt night and day, and we suddenly were back on the pace.

"SQ3, there was a little bit left on the table, but it was a decent lap, and unfortunately super close to Lewis. But congrats to him, and on our side we’ll focus on tomorrow now."

Asked about his prospects in the Sprint Race on Saturday, the Mercedes youngster said: “The car felt good.

"Ferrari have done an incredible step forward, so definitely it’s going to be very tough. Plus, Lewis is in great form, but that’s good; we like the challenge, and we’ll try to make the best out of it.

“Of course," he responded when asked if he could fight for the win. "We’ll go for it and we’ll try to do our best. It’s not going to be easy, but everything is on the table to do well."

As for Russell, he struggled for pace all day long as all his optimism and confidence following his win in Austria evaporated.

“It’s kind of the story of the year, to be honest," he said after qualifying fifth. "Always on the back foot. Usually, come Q3, I can generally make a step. Today, that was not quite the close. It was very close to P3, but still very much off the pace of Lewis and Kimi, so I need to try and understand why that is. It’s a bit strange."

As for how the 2026 cars are performing, Russell maintained his stance, saying: “It’s feeling quite good out there, to be honest. It’s not feeling too bad.

"We were all expecting it to feel a bit worse, just in terms of driving these cars here, but it actually felt quite ok, and the high-speed felt fast.

“I’m very surprised," he said when asked about Ferrari's pace. "They’ve been on the back foot with the PU and energy management, and here they look the best at the moment, so that’s been a real surprise.

“We’ve always known they have a great chassis, but I think some things aren’t quite making sense.

“If I were to have predicted, I would have said Ferrari was quick last week and we would be quick this week. Obviously, Kimi did a great job, but Ferrari have had the upper hand all day," Russell concluded. (Source: Sky Sports F1)