Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton pipped Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli to a stunning pole position for the sprint race at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton, a record nine-time winner of his home race, took top spot from the championship leader by just 0.011 seconds.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third fastest, but 0.321secs off the pace.

Mercedes' George Russell, 40 points adrift of Antonelli in the championship, was a disappointing fifth behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Read the full report here

Is this shaping up to be Lewis Hamilton's weekend at his home race at Silverstone? He's topped every session so far at the British Grand Prix and will be aiming for a sprint victory in Saturday's 17-lap dash to go with his Barcelona triumph las month.

But he's sharing the front row with title leader Kimi Antonelli whose Mercedes team has dominated the majority of grands prix weekends this season. And don't count out Red Bull's Max Verstappen from third on the grid either.

Thanks for joining us today. folks. We'll bring you sprint race build-up from 11:30 BST tomorrow.

Lights out is at 12:00.

See you then!

A couple of days ago, our F1 correspondent Andrew Benson sat down with world champion Lando Norris to discuss his season so far, racing and winning at Silverstone and potentially spending his whole F1 career at McLaren.

You can have a read of it here but you can also have a listen via the Chequered Flag podcast special above.

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli will be sharing the front row with the master of Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton. "It was so close, it was a shame," the Italian said.

"In SQ1 I felt a bit bad but we made a slight balance adjustment for SQ2 and it felt night and day, and we were back in the pace.

"SQ3, there was a little bit left on the table on the last lap, and super-close to Lewis, but of course, congrats to him and we'll focus on tomorrow now."

For George Russell, who sarts fifth: "Kind of the story of the year to be honest - always on the backfoot.

"Usually I make a step forward in Q3 but not quite the case today, it was close. Q3, I was still very much off the pace of Kimi, so need to try and understand why that is."

Image source, Getty Images

There are a few points up for grabs for a sprint victory, so how does Lewis Hamilton fancy his chances against the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull in race pace on Saturday?

"I think our pace was good. It was a short-ish long run in FP1; there was not a lot of time," the Ferrari driver says. "But the car felt good there, so yeah, I think we should have a good race tomorrow.

"And from the front - I don't rememeber the last time I started from the front row! It's not so easy when you've got these guys who can follow and be close with the extra power potentially. I'll do my best to keep them behind."

Image source, Getty Images

The sun is shining, there is a British driver on pole position for Saturday's sprint race and the fans are in good spirits at Silverstone.

"I can't express to you how big a dream it is, still to this day, building up to this day. When you think about every corner and kind of the flow you can get into at this track, and if you've got the set-up right and the right team," says Hamilton after sprint qualifying.

"The car has felt really great today - thanks to everyone back at the factory. We're continuing to push, bringing tiny little bits here. Every single weekend we're showing up and everyone has pushed to the max.

"I'm really grateful to get that pole. I was quick through all the sessions, but I was very close to these guys and the team really deserves it, so big thank you to everyone here.

"We're ahead of the Mercedes and the Red Bulls - these guys have so much power, they've been doing amazing all year. The boys in blue [Mercedes] this weekend but my team just won't let up, that's what I'm so proud of.

"It won't always be like this. We didn't expect at Silverstone that we would be competing for the front row. We really didn't, so this is an amazing surprise."

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

18. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

21. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 1:28.376

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.011

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.321

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.327

5. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.357

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.364

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.396

8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.459

9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.551

10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.991

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari did not expect to be fighting for pole position at Silverstone and calls this "an amazing surprise".

Charles Leclerc puts the second Ferrari in fourth place, George Russell has to settle for fifth spot and Lando Norris lines up sixth for tomorrow's shorter dash.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri in seventh and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in eighth will begin the sprint in the final two points places.

Lando Norris beats Oscar Piastri's time and goes top but Kimi Antonelli beats both the McLarens to go into provisional pole.

But here comes Lewis Hamilton. Can he knock the young pretender off his perch? Oh yes he can! Hamilton takes pole away by 0.011 seconds!

Max Verstappen is third, George Russell can only manage fifth.

It's a purple opening sector for Oscar Piastri and he's up on world champion team-mate Lando Norris. Kimi Antonelli has also completed a decent first part of the lap, as Australian Piastri crosses the line and banks a 1:28.772.

The queue is starting to form now so here we go for the pole shootout. The McLaren of Oscar Piastri is at the front of the pack, followed by the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad and team-mate Lando Norris.

The crowd are waiting for cars to head out on track - the time has already dipped under six minutes. But everyone wants the best qualifying conditions at Silverstone, so we'll just have to twiddle our thumbs for a bit longer.

Eight minutes to grab pole position in SQ3. And get those soft tyres bolted on.

Who is your pick for pole position? Is it Lewis Hamilton?

Another session at the head of the table for Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion finish SQ2 0.099 seconds quicker than young pup Kimi Antonelli, with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc third, 0.175secs behind.

The mechanics over at McLaren are busy working on Lando Norris' car. "Everyone is hustling," Zak Brown tells Sky Sports.

Image source, PA Media

Rebecca Clancy
F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra at Silverstone

By the skin of his teeth. That was not the session Norris wanted - that Lando stand is not going to be very happy.

11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

Lando Norris is just on the bubble in 10th. Can Pierre Gasly boot him out at SQ2? Nope! Norris survives to fight another session.