Hamilton wins Sprint pole by 11 thousandths

The English driver Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) achieved pole position this Friday in qualifying for the Sprint of the British Grand Prix, ninth round of the Formula 1 World Championship at the Silverstone circuit, ahead of the Italian Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), while Carlos Sainz (Williams) will start fifteenth and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), penultimate.

Hamilton made a last and only attempt in the high-level Q3 to clock a 1:28.376 and win the ‘minipole’ just 11 thousandths faster than Antonelli (1:28.387), after a qualification that left a tight grid for the Sprint race, since third to seventh were separated by less than four tenths.

Although the British and the Italian seem to be far ahead of the rest in terms of technical understanding of the legendary English track, in which good energy management was essential, fundamentally in the third sector, which the ‘Scuderia’ cars dominated with great authority.

Behind, Verstappen did a sublime lap with his Red Bull, but it only served him to be third (1:28.697), although he did surpass the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), fourth; and the Englishman George Russell (Mercedes), fifth. The ‘top 10’ was completed by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, sixth and seventh, respectively; Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), eighth; and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, ninth and tenth.

Sainz was saved from the first elimination in the last lap of Q1, by 10 thousandths that left Englishman Olie Bearman (Haas) sixteenth. In these first 12 minutes of Sprint qualifying it was the two Haas, the two Cadillacs and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso, second to last, and Lance Stroll, last, who did not advance to Q2.

In Q2, the technique of the seven-time world champion was also superior, and earned him a single attempt at the beginning, ahead of Antonelli by 99 thousandths. Here, the Williams were the slowest, with Sainz in fifteenth place, ahead of his teammate, the Thai Alex Albon, the best the Madrid native could aspire to.

And the one who was saved by the bell was Lando Norris (McLaren), who advanced to Q3 in tenth place with a narrow cushion of 80 thousandths. And Russell didn’t seem to show much pace either, needing a second attempt to avoid falling earlier than expected, only two tenths better than Pierre Gasly (Alpine), who was eleventh; the Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg, twelfth and thirteenth; and Franco Colapinto (Alpine), fourteenth.

Afterwards, Hamilton achieved his third pole for a Sprint race in Formula 1, showing that he knows a circuit in which he has won nine times inside out. Antonelli, 11 thousandths behind, to confirm that this GP is about a battle between Ferrari and Mercedes.