The Italian driver for the Mercedes team, Kimi Antonelli, secured pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix during the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps. He managed to overtake four-time Red Bull champion Max Verstappen in the final seconds of qualifying.
The 19-year-old Italian driver set a magnificent best lap time of one minute and 44.361 seconds, surpassing the Dutchman by 0.317 seconds. Lando Norris from McLaren finished third. However, Norris received a 10-place penalty for Sunday's race after installing a new engine.
This pole position marks Antonelli's sixth this season and extends Mercedes' streak to ten consecutive poles. His success was marked by the largest gap of the season. During a radio communication with the team, Antonelli exclaimed: 'Let's go man,' and added a birthday greeting to his father Marco.
George Russell secured fourth place for Mercedes, ahead of Charles Leclerc from Ferrari and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who had previously been involved in an accident that day. Oscar Piastri from the second McLaren car took seventh place. Racing Bull newcomer Arvid Lindblad placed eighth before Gabriel Bortoleto from Audi and Isaac Hajjar, who drove the second Red Bull car, which also faced sanctions and will start from the back of the grid.
Max Verstappen admitted that his pace required to be in the top two was aided by assistance from teammate Hajjar, who provided him with slipstreaming on his laps. The Dutchman noted: 'I wouldn't be here without it. It was a certain help for me. If not for that, I would have been around P6. Today, knowing he would start from the back, Isaac did an excellent job giving me slipstream.'
In the first segment of qualifying (Q1), Bottas was the first to take to the track for Cadillac in dry conditions while the other drivers were lining up. Among them was Hamilton, who collided with barriers on his Ferrari late in the final free practice. Verstappen, among the leaders, first attempted a fast lap with a time of 1:45.930, which was an impressive start and preceded an immediate response from Antonelli. Then Lindblad and Hajjar took second place before Norris set a record with a time of 1:45.865.
The three fastest drivers missed the second run, when Hamilton improved his position to fourth place in his Ferrari after 'recovery.' Two Aston Martin cars, as well as the Cadillac and Alex Albon's car from Williams', were excluded from qualifying. The second segment of qualifying began with Franco Colapinto, but after starting at maximum speed, Antonelli once again demonstrated excellent pace. The session concluded with Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls, both Alpine cars, Nico Hülkenberg from Audi, who encountered a hydraulic leak, Carlos Sainz from Williams', and Oliver Bearman from Haas being excluded.
Kimi Antonelli, the Italian driver for Mercedes, won the sprint race of the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone. This achievement not only strengthened his lead in the World Championship but also secured him pole position for Sunday's race.
Antonelli took the lead on the eighth of the 17 scheduled laps, overtaking Hamilton and consolidating his championship advantage. After crossing the finish line in first place, he expressed enthusiasm with the team. Later, the world leader commented that the initial laps were extremely competitive against Lewis, stating that both were pushing hard and that the moment was favorable to the team.
Hamilton, who started from pole for the sprint seeking a victory in front of the British crowd, finished second after resisting Antonelli's pressure until the eighth lap. The seven-time champion declared that he gave his all and mentioned the need to improve to narrow the gap, recalling his previous victory in Barcelona-Catalonia, the first since his transition to Ferrari.
Lando Norris, driving for McLaren, completed the sprint podium. The race was marked by several position changes and a fierce battle for third place involving Norris, George Russell (Mercedes), and Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
George Russell, Antonelli's main competitor in the title fight this round, finished the sprint in fourth place, having started fifth. He continued to report unusual pace issues despite arriving at Silverstone motivated by the victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, finished fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri, from McLaren, finished seventh.
With this triumph, which is Antonelli's first since the Monaco Grand Prix, he raised his score to 43 points, increasing the gap to Russell in the Formula 1 World Championship lead. On Saturday, the Italian concluded a perfect day by securing pole position for Sunday's main race, beating Leclerc by a margin of 0.175 seconds on the final lap. Hamilton finished third in qualifying, and Russell dropped back to fourth position after making contact with the wall early in the session. Thus, Antonelli will start the British Grand Prix at the front, immediately followed by the two Ferrari cars of Leclerc and Hamilton, while Russell will start only from fourth position.
