Lewis Hamilton continued his Formula 1 renaissance by denying Kimi Antonelli pole for the British Grand Prix sprint race by just 0.011 seconds.

With the switch to soft tyres for SQ3, it was always going to be a one-lap shootout for pole as the tyres cried enough after that.

With just over three minutes to go the drivers headed out and Hamilton was the favourite given his performance through practice and early in qualifying, and he made no mistake and duly ousted Antonelli at the top.

Hamilton called it an "amazing surprise" as he, like many F1 onlookers, thought Silverstone would be even more unfavourable for Ferrari than the Red Bull Ring - where it really struggled in the race a week ago.

Whereas some drivers are quite reserved after a sprint pole, Hamilton beamed at the result and partially climbed a fence at pit exit to wave to the fans.

It was a day where the gaps between a lot of team-mates told you how difficult a session is to nail here, with Hamilton’s stablemate Charles Leclerc 0.327s off the pace in fourth and two other teams represented in the top three alongside Hamilton, with Antonelli and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

George Russell struggled at times during the session and was fifth, ahead of the McLarens, which were separated by 0.032s.

Lando Norris had struggled after damage to his brake duct in SQ1, but changes including a front-wing swap helped him improve when it counted to beat Oscar Piastri, who had spun in practice, in a difficult day for McLaren.

Isack Hadjar had bested Verstappen in SQ1 but could only manage eighth when it counted, ahead of the Racing Bull pair of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, a team which continues to show its Q3 credentials.

Gasly so close again

Just as he missed out by a hair in Austria, Pierre Gasly came 0.081s away from dumping Norris out of SQ2. At least Gasly appears to be appeased by the balance of his car in qualifying versus practice.

The Audi pairing, led by Gabriel Bortoleto, were two tenths shy of Gasly, while Franco Colapinto couldn’t match his team-mate’s pace and was half a second behind.

Carlos Sainz was 0.453s clear of Alex Albon to prop up the order in SQ2.

Williams respite, Haas upset

Speaking of the Williams pair, it’s been a dire spell for the team and while it might not want to madly celebrate just scraping through to Q2, it was a better day than it has enjoyed in recent races.

Ollie Bearman’s Haas looked to have relegated Albon out of the session, only for Sainz and Albon to both improve at the very last to jump up to 14th and 16th.

If Haas is upset at narrowly missing out with Bearman, it won’t be happy with Esteban Ocon being 0.631s slower than Bearman either, although this wasn’t the only big gap between team-mates in SQ1 especially.

Sergio Perez was less than a tenth off beating Ocon in the upgraded Cadillac, ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Results

1 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m28.376s
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.011s
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.321s
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.327s
5 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.357s
6 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.364s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.396s
8 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.459s
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.551s
10 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.991s
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m29.482s
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +0.197s
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +0.225s
14 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +0.501s
15 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.715s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.168s
17 Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m31.083s
18 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.631s
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +0.693s
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +0.937s
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1.827s
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.905s