Antonelli takes his fifth pole of the year, Verstappen qualifies outside of the top five in Britain for the first time in over a decade and Mercedes equal Ferrari’s record of Silverstone poles. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2026 British Grand Prix!
ANTONELLI ON POLE AT THE 2026 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the 2026 British Grand Prix, taking his fifth pole position of the season – his first since the Monaco Grand Prix. He became the 56th driver to take as many as five pole positions in Formula 1.
Mercedes recorded their 12th pole position at Silverstone, equalling Ferrari for the most poles at the venue. This was the team’s second pole position at Silverstone in the last three years.
IN THE TOP TEN
Charles Leclerc qualified on the front row for the second race in a row, equalling his best qualifying result of the year so far.
This was Leclerc’s first front row qualification at Silverstone. His previous best qualifying result here was third, at the 2019 and 2022 British Grands Prix.
Lewis Hamilton qualified third for the 2026 British Grand Prix, qualifying in the top three for the fourth successive race weekend.
Lando Norris reached Q3 for the 40th consecutive race weekend.
Norris qualified sixth for the second race weekend in a row. The Monaco Grand Prix is the only time in the last 28 race weekends that Norris has qualified outside of the top seven.
This was the first time since 2022 that Norris qualified outside of the top three at the British Grand Prix.
George Russell qualified fourth at the British Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
Isack Hadjar set the fifth fastest time in Q3, out-qualifying his team-mate for the third time this year.
Max Verstappen qualified seventh for the 2026 British Grand Prix – his first qualification outside of the top six since the Japanese Grand Prix.
This was only the second time in the last six years that both Red Bull drivers have qualified in the top ten for the British Grand Prix.
This was the first time Verstappen qualified outside of the top five at Silverstone since he qualified 13th for the 2015 British Grand Prix in his maiden season. It was also the first time since 2015 that Verstappen was out-qualified by his team-mate at the British Grand Prix.
Qualifying eighth, Oscar Piastri recorded his worst qualifying result of the season to date. It ended a streak of three successive seventh place qualifications.
This was the first time Piastri qualified outside of the top five at Silverstone.
Arvid Lindblad equalled the best qualifying result of his career to date, qualifying ninth for the third time this season. He also qualified ninth in Australia and Canada.
This was the first time Lindblad reached Q3 at successive races during his F1 career.
Lindblad joined Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli in the group of current drivers who’ve reached Q3 on every appearance to date at Silverstone.
Qualifying tenth for the 2026 British Grand Prix, Liam Lawson reached Q3 for the fourth successive Grand Prix weekend. It is the longest streak of Q3 appearances in his career to date.
This was the first time that a driver for the Red Bull junior team reached Q3 at Silverstone since the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020, as well as the first time that the team recorded a double Q3 appearance at the track since 2014.
ELIMINATED IN Q2
Both Williams drivers reached Q2 for the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix.
2026 is the second year in a row that both Williams drivers have been eliminated in Q2 at Silverstone.
Carlos Sainz recorded his second-worst Silverstone qualifying result with 15th place. The only time he has qualified lower here was in 2018, when he set the 16th fastest lap time.
Both Audi drivers exited in Q2 at the 2026 British Grand Prix. This was the first time since 2022 that neither of the former Sauber team’s drivers were eliminated in Q1 at Silverstone – and only the second time it has happened in the last eight races at Silverstone.
OUT IN Q1
Esteban Ocon equalled his worst qualifying result of the season to date, qualifying 17th for the fourth time this year.
Ocon recorded the 50th Q1 exit of his Formula 1 career. Ocon is only the second current driver to record as many as 50 Q1 exits. Lance Stroll has recorded a record 96 Q1 eliminations in his career to date.
This was Ocon’s second Q1 exit at the British Grand Prix, after 2024.
Franco Colapinto qualified 19th for the 2026 British Grand Prix, recording his worst qualifying result of the year so far.
Colapinto recorded Alpine’s first Q1 exit of the season.
Both Aston Martin and Cadillac continued their 100% double Q1 exit rate in 2026, each seeing both cars exit in the first stage of qualifying for the ninth successive race weekend.
With 18th place, Valtteri Bottas recorded his best qualifying result of the 2026 season.
Fernando Alonso set the slowest lap time of the 22 drivers in Q1 for the second time this year, having last done so at the Barcelona Grand Prix.
Alonso ended a four-year streak of Q3 appearances at the British Grand Prix. This was his first Q1 exit at Silverstone since 2015.
This marked Alonso’s worst-ever qualifying result at Silverstone. His previous worst was 21st in his maiden season at the 2001 British Grand Prix.
This was the first time since 2022 that neither Aston Martin driver reached Q3 at the British Grand Prix.