F1 British GP live commentary and updates – qualifying

With that, it is time to wrap up this live coverage of British GP qualifying. Tomorrow the main event gets under way at 3pm BST and you will not want to miss it.

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

A statement lap from Antonelli who, despite his animated nature over team radio at times, appears totally unfazed about taking the fight to F1's biggest names. Pretty incredible stuff from a 19-year-old - so can he complete the job with victory tomorrow?

British GP top 10 after qualifying

Grid

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Time	Tyres	km/h
1	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'28.111		240.691
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.175 1'28.286		240.214
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	+0.347 1'28.458		239.747
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	+0.370 1'28.481		239.685
5	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.635 1'28.746		238.969
6	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.766 1'28.877		238.617
7	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	+0.782 1'28.893		238.574
8	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	+0.921 1'29.032		238.201
9	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	+1.194 1'29.305		237.473
10	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	+1.605 1'29.716		236.385
View full results

Antonelli vs Ferrari. Every Italian's dream - or nightmare?

Big hugs all round for Antonelli and his Mercedes mechanics - that's the Italian's first pole since Monaco. A good one to get in front of your biggest rivals' home fans.

So, four Brits in Q3 but none of them make it to the front row, which has muted the home crowd a little after that qualifying session.

But it is all to play for on Sunday.

It does! Leclerc goes second, he cannot get pole but he does beat Russell to push him off the front row.

Then Hamilton takes third to shove Russell to fourth!

Russell cannot do it as he fails to improve on his previous best. Does that open the door to the Ferraris?

Antonelli has complained about being first on the road between the two Mercedes drivers, something the team hasn't reversed while out on track, as he kicks off his final lap.

Lindblad has been noted for an unsafe release from his Racing Bulls garage, as he comes very close to clattering into one of the McLaren drivers in the fast lane. Thankfully they avoid each other, so on we go.

A proper Noah's Ark formation to Q3 so far...

Hadjar is once again quicker than Verstappen - in fifth and sixth respectively - but this time he is four-tenths of a second faster. That's basically a lifetime.

Hamilton's sprint pole lap time was quicker than Antonelli's provisional pole lap time that he has just set - so there is more to come from all these drivers in the fight for pole.

Replays show Hamilton having to correct a slide into Village which will have cost him some time.

The track has cooled since the start of the session - now down to 38.2C - which will aid the drivers to find a few more tenths and hundredths of a second. 

Everyone bar Lindblad is out for an early first run in Q3. These will be the banker laps before the all-or-nothing final runs at the end of the session.

I'm not going to repeat a gag (unlike a certain colleague of mine) as Albon has lost his fastest lap time in Q2 but it does not change his position given he finished bottom of that session.

The Red Bulls are running out of sync, going out early for their final runs, which sees Hadjar go fifth and Verstappen go sixth. Once again the French driver is ahead of his team-mate...

"What a disaster, unbelievable," Verstappen mutters over the radio. Perhaps that's a clue to the lack of pace for the four-time world champion.

Russell has requested a different seat be installed into his Mercedes before his second Q2 run, which isn't a common ask from a driver mid-session. He should be safely into Q3 even if he does not go again in this session, but it has been a far from smooth session for the British driver who has taken pole at the last two rounds.

Tea break

Everyone pits for a quick adjustment ahead of a final run in Q2. In the drop zone are: P11 Piastri, P12 Gasly, P13 Bearman, P14 Sainz, P15 Albon, P16 Hulkenberg.

Hulkenberg loses his best lap in Q2 so that drops him into the bottom six in this session. Meanwhile Russell has split the Ferraris to show he's shaken off that earlier Q1 off.

The FIA's notification system is busy, as it states Ocon will be investigated after qualifying for a possible yellow flag infringement after Colapinto's off. While Perez has had his best lap in Q1 of 1m31.451s reinstated having lost it originally for exceeding track limits. It moves him from 20th to... 20th.

Alonso has had his best lap time in Q1 deleted for exceeding track limits at Vale, which ordinarily would be big news but given he qualified last it moves him to... last.

Q2 will get under way at 4:33pm local time.

Meanwhile Gasly will be investigated after the session for impeding in Q1. Got to make the stewards earn their non-paid role.

The start of Q2 is delayed by a track clean up job after offs for Russell and Colapinto in that session. Time for a cuppa.

Norris backed out of a decent-looking lap at the end of that session which is why he is down in 11th, but overall there were no other major surprises as Russell recovered from his early off to finish the session in 10th.