Lewis Hamilton set the pace for Ferrari during the Sprint Qualifying session at the 2026 British Grand Prix held at Silverstone. Hamilton secured pole position for the Sprint race by topping both the first practice session and all segments of the Sprint Qualifying, narrowly edging out Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds. His teammate Charles Leclerc qualified in fourth, demonstrating solid speed but not quite matching Hamilton’s pace.
The session highlighted a close contest between Ferrari and Mercedes, with Antonelli’s second place and George Russell’s fifth showing strong performance from the Silver Arrows. Russell, however, found it challenging to keep up with the pace set by Antonelli and Hamilton. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen qualified third, acknowledging some difficulties with cornering but noting positive progress. His teammate Isack Hadjar took eighth place.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured sixth and seventh positions respectively, although Norris faced some setbacks due to car damage that impacted his performance. Racing Bulls continued their consistent midfield form with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad qualifying ninth and tenth. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto just missed out on the top 10, with Gasly mentioning improvements but still recognizing the gap to the leading teams.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg qualified 12th and 13th respectively, showing competitive pace but falling short of the top 10. Williams introduced a new front wing, with Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon qualifying 15th and 16th; the upgrade brought minor performance gains but was not enough to challenge the midfield leaders. Haas struggled during the session, with Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon finishing 17th and 18th and failing to advance past the first segment of Sprint Qualifying.
Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas took 19th and 20th places, indicating some progress in their early Formula 1® campaign. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were positioned at the back of the field, with the team awaiting planned upgrades expected to arrive at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
From a tyre perspective, Pirelli reported that degradation and performance were in line with expectations. Soft tyres remain competitive for the Sprint race strategies, underlining the importance of tyre management throughout the weekend. Teams emphasized that the Sprint Qualifying session serves as a valuable opportunity to gather data and prepare for both the main race and the traditional qualifying sessions.
This snapshot from Silverstone reflects the competitive dynamics among the leading teams and drivers at this stage of the weekend, with Hamilton’s strong pace for Ferrari standing out alongside Mercedes’ close challenge. The session also highlighted ongoing development efforts and challenges faced by several teams as they seek to optimise performance ahead of the main Grand Prix event.
