Antonelli blown away by Ferrari's pace: 'They have done an incredible step forward'

The championship leader looked set to secure Sprint pole until the home favourite produced a stunning final lap to snatch top spot by just 0.011s. Even so, it was an excellent result for Antonelli, especially considering teammate George Russell could manage only fifth, finishing almost half a second adrift.

Speaking after qualifying, Antonelli admitted he was disappointed to miss out on Sprint pole by such a small margin, revealing that he struggled to find the right feeling with the car in SQ1 before a minor balance change transformed it for SQ2. The Mercedes driver also felt there was still a little lap time left on the table in the final shootout, but accepted that Hamilton had ultimately done enough to come out on top.

Looking ahead to Saturday's Sprint, Antonelli praised Ferrari's step forward in performance and acknowledged that Hamilton is currently in excellent form. Even so, the Italian insisted he relishes the challenge and is fully focused on making the most of the race.

“The car felt good. Ferrari have done an incredible step forward, so definitely it’s going to be very tough. Plus, Lewis is in great form, but that’s good, we like the challenge and we’ll try to make the best out of it.”

Finally, when asked if he can win tomorrow, Antonelli replied: “Of course. We’ll go for it and we’ll try to do our best. It’s not going to be easy, but everything is on the table to do well.”

Verstappen will start Saturday's Sprint from third on the grid after falling just short of matching the pace of Hamilton and Antonelli in Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone. Although pleased to come away with a place in the top three, the Dutchman admitted the margins in SQ3 were incredibly tight and that the result could just as easily have seen him several positions lower on the grid.

The Red Bull driver also acknowledged that the team is still searching for performance, pointing to both cornering speed and energy deployment as the main areas holding the car back. Looking ahead to the Sprint, Verstappen expects Hamilton and Antonelli to remain the benchmark if they can translate their one-lap pace into race conditions. With that in mind, the four-time world champion believes his race is more likely to revolve around defending from the cars behind than mounting an attack on the two drivers ahead.