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Lewis Hamilton said his British Grand Prix sprint pole came as a “wonderful surprise” but now believes his Ferrari is quick enough to claim victory at Silverstone in Saturday’s short race.
The seven-time world champion was extremely pessimistic about his chances in his home race on Thursday, but answered his doubts by topping practice before pipping championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes by just 0.011 seconds.
Hamilton claimed his first grand prix win for Ferrari in Barcelona last month, but it followed a disappointing weekend in Austria, where the Italian team’s upgraded engine – introduced after concerns over a lack of power from Mercedes and Red Bull – struggled in the hot conditions.
Hamilton said: “We are ahead of a Mercedes and Red Bull, they have so much power these guys.”
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Lewis Hamilton reflects on claiming pole for British Grand Prix sprint race.
“They’ve done amazing all year, the boys in blue this weekend (Mercedes), these champs, but my team won’t give up, they’ll keep pushing, and I’m very proud of that.
“It’s not always going to be like this, but we didn’t expect coming into Silverstone that we’d be competing for the front row, we really, really didn’t, so it’s been an amazing surprise. I’m delighted.”
After a frustrating drag in a session where he and Antonelli appeared to be in a league of their own, Hamilton expressed confidence he could keep the Italian behind him and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third during the 17-lap race.
With only one practice session during the sprint weekend, drivers have limited opportunities to simulate long race runs, but Hamilton was pleased with his experience.
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Sky Sports F1’s Ant Davidson shows how Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton managed to overtake Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for sprint pole at the British GP.
“I think our pace was good,” he added. “We did a short selection of long runs in practice. There wasn’t a lot of time.
“But the car looked good out there, so I think we should have a good race tomorrow.
“I mean, starting from the front row, I don’t remember the last time I started from the front row here.
“It’s not so easy when you’ve got these guys that can follow you and get close with potential extra energy, but I’ll do my best to keep them behind.”
Antonelli: Lewis is in form, but we like challenges!
Antonelli, who leads the drivers’ championship by 40 points from his team-mate George Russell, was on provisional pole before being pulled out by Hamilton.
“It was so close, and it was a shame,” Antonelli said.
“SQ1 I felt a bit bad, I didn’t feel good in the car, but then we made a little balance adjustment and SQ2 felt night and day, and we were suddenly back on the pace.
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Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell reflect on their performance in the sprint qualifying session at the British Grand Prix.
“SQ3 was a bit left on the table, but it was a decent lap and unfortunately too close to Lewis.
“But congratulations to him, and for us, we will now focus on tomorrow.”
Hamilton is third in the standings, 46 points behind Antonelli, and the Italian welcomes the challenge of the driver replacing him at Mercedes at the start of 2025.
He added: “Ferrari have made an incredible step forward, so of course it’s going to be very difficult. Also, Lewis is in great form, but that’s good, we like the challenge and we’ll try to make the best of it.
“Of course (I can fight for the win tomorrow), we will go for it and we will try to give our best. It will not be easy, but everything is on the table to do well.”
Verstappen: Hamilton and Antonelli look a bit faster
Verstappen came out on top in a very close battle for third, which saw four drivers – Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastre – finish within a tenth of a second of him.
The Dutchman was 0.321 seconds behind Hamilton’s leading effort, but just 0.075 ahead of seventh-placed McLaren’s Piastre.
Because of that, he was able to view the session positively but was also not too optimistic about his chances of challenging the top two on Saturday.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has responded to rumors linking him with McLaren.
Verstappen said: “It was very close, I could have easily been P3 or P6 or P7, but we were on the good side.
“We were a little closer but still not where we want to be. Cornering, maybe a little, but also the deployment thing, so a few things to work out to try to find more lap times. We’ll definitely try to do that after the sprint.
“They (Hamilton and Antonelli) look a little faster. And if they look faster, usually their teammates should be faster at race pace when things calm down a bit.
“So, for me, I think it’s going to be a battle with the guys behind me.”
Sky Sports F1’s British GP schedule
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Take a look back at some of the year’s most dramatic moments at the British Grand Prix
Saturday 4 July
9.30am: F3 Sprint*
11am: British GP Sprint Build-up*
12pm: British GP Sprint*
1.40pm: F2 Sprint*
2.50pm: British GP Qualifying Build-up*
4pm: British GP Qualifying*
6pm: F1 Academy Race 1
6.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, July 5
8.20am: F3 Feature Race*
9.55am: F1 Academy Race 2*
11.10am: F2 Feature Race*
12.55pm: Grand Prix Sunday: British GP build-up*
3pm: British Grand Prix*
5pm: Checkered flag: British GP reaction
6pm: Ted’s Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1 is at Silverstone for a sprint weekend at the British Grand Prix – live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One – with Sunday’s race at 3pm. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
