Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli continued his impressive form by claiming pole position for the British Grand Prix on Saturday, just hours after winning the sprint race. The young Italian outpaced Ferrari’s drivers and dealt another setback to Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Russell, Antonelli’s closest rival in the title race, could only manage fourth on the grid at a blustery Silverstone. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured second place, with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualifying third.

Leclerc finished 0.175 seconds behind the 19-year-old, who celebrated his fifth pole position of the season. The result also maintained Mercedes’ perfect qualifying record, with the team taking pole at all nine Grands Prix so far this year.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar qualified fifth, ahead of McLaren’s reigning world champion and defending British Grand Prix winner Lando Norris in sixth.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen will start from seventh, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in eighth. Racing Bulls teammates Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson rounded out the top 10 on the grid.

“It was a very tidy lap, a lap where I put everything together,” said Antonelli after setting his fastest time of 1:28.111, achieved when he was the first driver out on the final qualifying run.

He admitted conditions were difficult, adding: “It was very tricky with the wind because it was very gusty and unpredictable.”

Earlier in the day, Antonelli had also won the sprint race ahead of Lewis Hamilton, extending his championship lead to 43 points over British driver George Russell.

The Italian, who had won five consecutive races before Hamilton ended his streak in Spain last month, has continued his remarkable rise and appears to have the edge over Russell at his home event.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Antonelli said: “It’s not going to be easy because I have two Ferraris behind me and they will definitely work together. Their pace is good, but ours was strong in the sprint. Hopefully we can keep that for tomorrow and have a good race.”