Hamilton Claims Silverstone Sprint Pole Ferrari Never Expected

• Lewis Hamilton took Sprint Qualifying pole at the British Grand Prix by 0.011 seconds from Kimi Antonelli, calling the result “an amazing surprise” after spending Thursday warning that Ferrari would struggle at Silverstone
• Hamilton had flagged the circuit’s long straights as a weakness for Ferrari, only to top both practice and Sprint Qualifying on Friday in a session where he and Antonelli appeared in a separate class from the rest of the field
• The seven-time world champion starts Saturday’s 17-lap Sprint from pole, third in the championship 46 points behind Antonelli, with Mercedes driver and points runner-up George Russell stuck in fifth after a difficult session

Thursday at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton was open about what he expected from Ferrari’s weekend. The long straights, the power requirements, the contrast with what Mercedes and Red Bull brought to the circuit. None of it pointed to pole position. By Friday evening, the seven-time world champion had qualified fastest in practice and edged championship leader Kimi Antonelli by eleven thousandths of a second to take Sprint Qualifying pole.

Hamilton’s lap of 1m 28.376s beat Antonelli’s best effort in a session where the two appeared in a different category from the rest of the field. Behind them, Max Verstappen took third for Red Bull, Charles Leclerc fourth, George Russell fifth, Lando Norris sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh. Third through seventh were separated by just 0.075 seconds. Hamilton described the outcome as something he had not seen coming.

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We Really Did Not Expect This

Ferrari arrived at Silverstone carrying fresh uncertainty. In Austria, the team had introduced an upgraded engine to address concerns about power output relative to Mercedes and Red Bull, but the unit struggled in the hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring. Hamilton finished fifth. Leclerc came home eighth after qualifying on the front row.

Silverstone’s layout compounded those concerns. The circuit is long and fast, with multiple sections that reward straight-line power in a way that played to the perceived strengths of the cars Hamilton had spent the season chasing. His pre-weekend assessment matched that reading entirely.

None of it prepared him for what Friday delivered. “We’re ahead of a Mercedes and the Red Bull, they have so much power these guys,” Hamilton said after taking pole. “They’ve been doing amazing all year, the boys in blue [Mercedes] this weekend, these champs, but my team won’t let up, they’ll keep pushing, and that’s what I’m so proud of.”

“It won’t always be like this, but we didn’t expect coming to Silverstone that we’d be competing for the front row, we really, really didn’t, so, this is an amazing surprise. I’m ecstatic.”

The Front Row Hamilton Has Been Waiting For

Sprint weekends offer only one practice session, which gave Hamilton limited data to work with heading into Saturday’s race. The shortened format places a premium on getting the setup right from the first run, and Hamilton was positive about what the car produced in the single hour available.

“I think our pace was good,” Hamilton said. “We did a short sort of longish run in practice. There wasn’t a lot of time. But the car felt good there, so I think we should have a good race tomorrow.”

The result carried an additional layer of significance. Hamilton admitted he could not recall the last time he had started from the front row at Silverstone, a circuit where he has won nine times and holds the outright British Grand Prix victory record. The first Ferrari win of his career came at Barcelona last month, and a Sprint pole at his home race added another marker to what has been an improving run of form.

“I mean, starting from the front row, I don’t remember the last time I started from the front row here,” Hamilton said. Holding that position into the race, he acknowledged, was a different challenge. Antonelli would line up alongside him, Verstappen one row back, both in cars carrying more outright power than the Ferrari.

“Not so easy when you’ve got these guys that can follow you and be close with the extra power potentially, but I’ll do my best to keep them behind,” he said.

Antonelli Moves on Quickly

Antonelli came into the session with a 40-point lead over Mercedes teammate Russell and spent much of SQ3 on provisional pole before Hamilton’s final lap moved him to second. The 19-year-old took the result with composure and turned attention to Saturday before the post-session interviews were finished.

“It was so, so close, and it was a shame,” Antonelli said. “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.”

The Italian acknowledged Ferrari’s step forward with clear respect. “Ferrari have done an incredible step forward, so definitely it’s going to be very tough,” he said. “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 [I can fight for the win tomorrow], 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.”

Verstappen Accepts the Deficit

Verstappen took third, 0.321 seconds behind Hamilton and 0.075 ahead of Piastri in seventh. He described his result as borderline. The same lap time could have placed him anywhere from third to seventh in the compressed pack behind the leading pair, and he knew it.

“It was very close, I could easily have been P3 or P6 or P7, but we were on the good side,” Verstappen said. “We were a bit closer but we’re still not where we want to be. Cornering, maybe a tiny bit, but also deployment stuff, so a few things to figure out to try to find more lap time. We’ll try to do that of course after the Sprint.”

He watched Hamilton and Antonelli trade laps at the front and drew a direct conclusion. “They [Hamilton and Antonelli] look a bit quick. And if they look quick, normally their team-mates should also be quick in race pace when everything calms down a little bit. So, for me, I think it will be more of a battle with the guys behind me.”

Where This Leaves Ferrari at Silverstone

Hamilton is third in the championship, 46 points behind Antonelli and six behind Russell. Silverstone is the circuit where he has claimed more victories than any other driver in British Grand Prix history, and Friday’s session gave Ferrari a foundation to build on for Sunday’s main event.

Qualifying for the British Grand Prix follows the Sprint at 4pm local time on Saturday. Sunday’s race starts at 3pm. The Ferrari pace that came as a surprise on Friday now reshapes what the team can aim for across the rest of the weekend, a contrast to what Hamilton had laid out on Thursday morning.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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