Hamilton claims British Grand Prix Sprint pole on home soil

It was a masterclass on home turf. Lewis Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, snatched pole position for Saturday’s Sprint at the British Grand Prix with a blistering 1m 28.376s lap. To pull off a pole by just 0.011s over Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli shows just how tight the margins are at the sharp end of the grid. It was an absolute nail-biter.

Hamilton was the man to beat all Friday, leading Free Practice before dominating the earlier segments of Sprint Qualifying. Max Verstappen put his Red Bull third, followed by the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. George Russell, meanwhile, appeared to struggle in his Mercedes, finishing P5 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Looking back at the session, it was a brutal knockout for some. The Haas of Ollie Bearman missed the cut in SQ1 by a mere 0.010s, while the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were left well off the pace. "I love this place, I love this crowd," Hamilton said after the session. "I was quick through all the session, but still it was only 10 milliseconds or something like that, so it’s very close to these guys."