Antonelli takes Silverstone pole as Russell and Verstappen struggle for speed

Qualifying results

Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) took pole position with a lap of 1:26.124, beating Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by 0.089 seconds. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) was third, 0.174 seconds off the pace, after a session he described as hampered by inconsistent braking and a deployment issue that cost him three tenths on the back straight. George Russell (Mercedes) could manage only fourth, while Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) surprised by outqualifying teammate Max Verstappen, who ended up seventh.

No segundo run, na verdade, foi bastante decente, mas perdi a implantação. Houve um problema com a implantação e perdi três décimos na reta de trás, embora isso tenha ficado resolvido mais para o final.

Sprint race

Earlier on Saturday, Antonelli won the sprint race from Hamilton and Lando Norris (McLaren). Russell started fifth and finished fourth. The sprint result extended Antonelli's championship lead over Russell to 43 points after nine rounds.

Russell's speed deficit

Russell was perplexed by a straight-line speed disadvantage relative to other Mercedes-powered cars. Telemetry showed he lost three tenths on the straights during sprint qualifying. In the main session, his speed trap reading was 299.8 km/h, compared with 302.6 km/h for Antonelli and 317.9 km/h for Hamilton.

Durante todo o fim-de-semana temos perdido muito tempo nas rectas. Ontem, na SQ3, perdi quase três décimos só nas rectas. Novamente hoje, se olharmos para os speed traps, estou 3 km/h mais lento no segundo sector e 6 km/h no último sector, comparando com o meu colega de equipa e com os McLaren.

Verstappen's frustrations

Max Verstappen qualified seventh, 0.748 seconds off pole, and was beaten by teammate Hadjar. He cited a lack of straight-line speed and poor car balance, and said the hybrid system was draining battery excessively. After the session, he told Sky Sports F1 that "não faz sentido correr assim" (it makes no sense to race like this) and suggested he might not take part if the problem persisted.

Experimentei muitas coisas diferentes durante a qualificação, mas o resultado foi sempre o mesmo. Existe claramente um problema e isso preocupa-me para amanhã, porque não faz sentido correr assim.

Gasly penalty

Pierre Gasly (Alpine) was handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) during Q1. Gasly had qualified 12th but will now start 15th. The stewards acknowledged a radio failure prevented the team from warning him, but ruled that the driver still bore responsibility.

Aston Martin upgrade

Adrian Newey confirmed that Aston Martin will introduce a major upgrade package at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with further developments at Zandvoort. He said the team had deliberately avoided small, incremental updates earlier in the season to focus on a substantial step.

Tomámos a decisão depois de Melbourne de não introduzir pequenas mudanças que, na prática, não nos dariam qualquer hipótese de pontuar. Assim, retiramos alguma pressão de cima de nós, reorganizámo-nos internamente, implementámos novos processos e dedicámo-nos ao desenvolvimento de um verdadeiro pacote de melhorias, que esperamos estrear na Hungria.