Max third after Silverstone sprint qualifying

Published on 03 July 2026 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen qualified in third place for Saturday’s British Grand Prix sprint. Lewis Hamilton clinched pole position for Ferrari with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli completing the thop three.

“P3-P7 was very close, so we could’ve ended lower, but we are on the right side of that group”, explained Max. “We’re not yet where we want to be. That’s mainly to do with the corners and how we use our energy. We’ll look into that to find more lap time.”

Max added: “The car felt a bit better than in free practice. There is still some work to do, but that’s also to do with the limitations on them straights. We try to find the right balance. During the sprint I mainly expect the fight with the cars behind me.”

In the first and second part of sprint qualifying, all drivers have to use the medium Pirelli tyres. Ferrari are the pace setters in SQ1 on the yellow side-walled tyres with Hamilton leading the way ahead of teammate Leclerc. The usual front runners, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes all comfortably progress. Haas (Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon), Cadillac (Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas) and Aston Martin (Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll) struggle throughout the session and are the first six drivers to be eliminated after the first part of qualifying

In SQ2, Hamilton is quickest yet again, with Antonelli splitting the two Ferraris in this instance. Like the first segment, Max clocks the sixth fastest time. Pierre Gasly (Alpine), both Audis (Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg), Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and the Williams (Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon) all strand in SQ2.

In the final part of sprint qualifying, it is a straight one-lap shootout with the ten remaining drivers, all on the mandatory soft Pirelli compound. Hamilton continues his impressive form so far and clocks the quickest lap of the session to secure sprint pole. Antonelli is a mere 0.011s adrift. The Italian will line up alongside the home favourite. Max is best of the rest in third, over three tenths slower than Hamilton and Antonelli. Leclerc and Russell complete the top five.

Results sprint qualifying Great Britain: