Key events
Zak Brown believes the McLarens will be OK: “We’re not ninth and 11th – famous last words.” He reckons they will be faster by Hungary.
Hats off to Lawson who went second fastest, but plenty of drivers declared after their first quick times. Norris wound up in 11th … The Landostand will be restless.
Q1 eliminations
Ocon, Bottas, Colapinto, Perez, Stroll and Alonso go out.
Red Bull going nicely, Hadjar fastest and Verstappen splitting the Ferraris.
He had to use new tyres to be sure of avoiding the bottom six, and that could cost him later. Maybe he could gamble in Q2 in the way Verstappen did last week?
And Russell goes fifth. Excellent recovery.
From successive poles to a Q1 exit for Russell?
Russell back out. Perez, Bottas, Alonso, Stroll, Russell and Bortoleto in the drop zone. “That was very weird, I’ve never locked up there in my whole career,” he says.
Russell’s car still being prepared. It’s a question of how much damage to the bottom of the car in part as to whether he will get a chance to make Q2.
Meanwhile, Antonelli has gone third fastest. Ferrari still fastest.
He all but avoided an impact, and was able to get going. They quickly change the nose cone and off he will go again.
Russell has a crash
Russell off! Can he get back to the pits? Is his qualifying over?
“You can’t see it till you turn in, but luckily it’s in the same place every lap,” Brundle says of one feature, winning the weekend’s statement of the obvious award.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both post 1:29s, whereas Bearman had a 1:31.
Early times from Bearman ahead of Hulkenberg, Ocon, Perez and Lawson.
Hamilton heading out. The nine-time winner seeking a second pole of the weekend.
And we are go for Q1.
Silverstone looks magnificent in the July sunshine. Remember when Bernie Ecclestone put in April 2000, leading to a mudbath?
F1, never knowingly not taking itself seriously
Here we go with the portentous portrait countdown.
Last-minute changes to the cars. What they use in qualifying they must use in the race. Hamilton generally happy but some minor tweaks because the drop-off we saw in the sprint is likely to be repeated.
Here are the adjusted drivers’ standings after the sprint race, with Liam Lawson taking the eighth and 1pt, after the stewards issued only a warning for his move on Isack Hadjar.
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 179pts
2 George Russell Mercedes 136
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 132
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 80
5 Lando Norris McLaren 85
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 83
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 76
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull 42
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 41
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 31
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 18
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine 16
13 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 14
14 Carlos Sainz Williams 6
15 Alexander Albon Williams 5
16 Esteban Ocon Haas 3
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 2
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1
A year ago, Norris won at Silverstone and, though there were setbacks to come, ultimately became world champion. His Landostand, new last year, is back and there has been some joshing between him and Russell:
Lando Norris told George Russell to forget about taking any of his Landostand seats and joked that he has a “better fanbase” than his British rival.
Russell has revealed his desire to match the McLaren man and have a dedicated stand at Silverstone in future years. Norris inaugurated his stand in 2025 when he claimed his maiden British Grand Prix win and this year 16,000 fans are packing it out on the circuit’s Stowe corner. Russell joked ahead of this weekend that Norris had a good spot for his stand and would quite fancy taking some of it for himself.
“Good luck,” Norris retorted after finishing third in Saturday’s sprint. “He can do whatever he wants. I have more passionate fans and a better fanbase I think. Mine was more wanted from a public point of view, which is a great thing.
“Even in my grandstand there is a good mix of all fans, it is not just fans who are here to support me. It is my grandstand but at the same time it has fans, sadly, of other teams and other drivers, which I have nothing against.
“He can do what he wants, but he is certainly not taking any of my seats.” PA Media
Norris was a bit snappier during the sprint race over the radio at one point, when he urged his team to “get it right for once”, but seemed happy enough with third. The unspoken edge he has over Russell is simple: he has won the world championship.
Qualifying preamble
Right, so what did we learn from that? First, that Kimi Antonelli is a very worthy championship leader, as if we needed reminding. Second, that Lewis Hamilton very much has his mojo back. Third, that George Russell is running second-best for Mercedes, but with a long way to go and with his self-belief partially restored.
What didn’t we learn? How the cars will run on softs. Every car in the top 18 was running on mediums, to preserve the faster-but-less-durable rubber for the challenges to come. Ferrari has had problems with degradation that did not apply for a no-stop, no-soft sprint.
Despite Lando Norris claiming third for McLaren in the sprint, I reckon it’s just about a four-way battle for pole, between Antonelli, Russell, Hamilton, Max Verstappen – who took pole last year – and Charles Leclerc. The last two seem improbable but as Russell showed in Austria last weekend it is possible to produce “a lap from nowhere”.
Q1 gets under way at 4pm BST, I’ll be back with updates from 3.30.
Giles Richards
Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli won the sprint race before the British Grand Prix after a feisty scrap with Lewis Hamilton who had led for the opening half of the short-form race at Silverstone.
Lando Norris claimed third for McLaren with Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell in fourth.
In what was a frenetic and action-packed dash at the old airfield, Hamilton had led from pole as the crowd roared him round the track only to ultimately succumb to the superior pace of the Mercedes engine against which he was powerless to resist when Antonelli came at him but still put in a sterling effort to secure second place.
It is the Italian’s first F1 sprint win and another demonstration of his burgeoning talent in every aspect of his craft this season, only his second in the sport in which he has taken five wins already. He had been narrowly beaten to pole by Hamilton but even over the short-form race showed great verve and determination to secure victory.
Right, I will wrap this up now and be back later for qualifying. Giles Richards’ report from Silverstone will be along shortly.
And now a nice touch: the karting champions present the awards.
He continues: “The momentum is there … but we need to keep raising that bar.”
And now Antonelli. “It was very fun. When I got into overtake I knew my chance was coming … I used everything I had.”
Here’s Hamilton. “Big thank you, the crowd is amazing … Tough race to keep the Mercedes behind. Big headwind coming down the straight … Once he got the overtake mode … I knew he was coming.”
David Coulthard speaking to Norris, who says: “That was a very good race … I’m pleasantly surprised. Good race, good points.”
The points scorers are: Antonelli 8pts, Hamilton 7pts, Norris 6pts, Russell 5pts, Leclerc 4pts, Verstappen 3pts, Piastri 2pts, Lawson/Hadjar 1pt.
And Liam Lawson is being investigated.
Everything a bit restrained in the reactions after a sprint race. It’s only 8pts max, and we’re not at the stage of the season where that can be decisive.
It’s all over bar the stewards – Lawson looked late in closing off a fuming Hadjar and it has been noted.
