Kimi Antonelli followed up his win in the Sprint earlier today with pole position ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Q1
A bizarre incident took place in the middle of Q1, as George Russell found himself heading into the wall as his car just dragged him wide at Luffield, damaging his front wing in the process. Fortunately for him, he was able to bring the car back to the pits.
The Alpine car was looked a handful throughout the first part of qualifying, which left both drivers at risk of elimination. While Gasly had managed to climb to safety in 13th by the end of the session, Colapinto spun through Maggotts and Becketts, meaning he was out in 19th place.
ELIMINATED
17. Esteban Ocon – Haas +0.042
18. Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac +0.589
19. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.683
20. Sergio Perez – Cadillac +0.813
21. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +2.225
22. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +2.250
Q2
There appeared to be a number of weird technical issues occuring all over the grid during Q2, the first of which was Verstappen complaining that he wasn’y getting the correct response from his engine. It did not appear to impact his time too much, but he was consistently behind teammate Hadjar throughout the session.
Later in the session, Antonelli would say that he wasn’t getting a response in his pedals, having gone deep into turn 3. He would have to abandon that first attempt, but it seems that any issues for his car were sorted out and he remained in a competitive position. That wasn’t the only issue Mercedes faced though, as Russell had requested a seat change mid session, evidently not comfortable with how he was seated.
Oscar Piastri complained about a lack of grip, which would explain why he was provisionally in the drop zone as Q2 came closer to its end. He was able to improve and get himself through to Q3, but he still didn’t seem to have the pace he’d like in his car.
ELIMINATED
11. Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi +0.032
12. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.634
13. Nico Hulkenberg – Audi +0.647
14. Ollie Bearman – Haas +1.072
15. Alex Albon – Williams +1.194
16. Carlos Sainz – Williams +1.314
Q3
Mercedes had clearly established themselves early on as the favourites for pole position, with Antonelli and Russell only narrowly separated, while both Ferraris were 2 tenths behind, Hadjar was 3 tenths off, while Verstappen and the McLaren drivers were all over 7 tenths behind Antonelli on provisional pole.
Antonelli was the first to cross the line during everybody’s final laps, and he set an almighty benchmark to beat after going more than 2 tenths quicker.
There was no competition from the McLarens or the Racing Bulls, but Russell surprisingly disappointed after going slower than on his first run. The Ferraris were able to demonstrate that they were going to be competitive in this session, and while Leclerc and Hamilton were the two closest drivers to Antonelli, neither were able to displace him from pole position.
Qualifying Results
1. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes 1:28.111
2. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari+0.175
3. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.347
4. George Russell – Mercedes +370
5. Isack Hadjar – Red Bull +0.635
6. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.766
7. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.782
8. Oscar Piastri – McLaren +0.921
9. Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls +1.194
10. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +1.605
