Lewis Hamilton not confident of beating Kimi Antonelli in F1 British GP

July 5, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Lewis Hamilton is pessimistic of beating Mercedes rival Kimi Antonelli to win the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, claiming “he’ll be gone” if he gets a good start.

The Ferrari driver will start Sunday’s race at Silverstone from third on the grid, behind team-mate Charles Leclerc and championship leader Antonelli, who took his fifth pole of 2026.

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It came on the same day that Antonelli overtook sprint pole sitter Hamilton to win the shortened contest, which saw the return of yo-yo racing due to the high-energy nature of the British track.

But Hamilton doubts the Ferraris will have the pace to keep up with the Mercedes on Sunday, particularly as Antonelli’s pole lap was 0.265s quicker than the seven-time world champion’s time for the sprint.

“We couldn’t this morning, so I don’t think that really changes,” said Hamilton on Saturday, when asked if he can claim a record-extending 10th British GP victory.

“And he’s just gone way quicker than I went yesterday. So, nothing’s changed between this morning and nothing will change between today and tomorrow.

“We’ll do our best to hold on to them, but ultimately, if he gets a clean run, he’ll be gone.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Although Hamilton reckons he maximised his qualifying, the home crowd favourite still wasn’t particularly pleased with claiming third - making it back-to-back weeks he’s been beaten by Leclerc.

It marks a refreshing turnaround for the Monegasque, who endured a particularly difficult time across Canada, Monaco and Barcelona as he struggled for pace and crashed at his home race before going off in Q3 at Catalunya.

“I’m pleased,” said Leclerc after Silverstone qualifying. “It’s been a few tough races where the feeling was not quite right, where I was struggling to put everything together.

“On the Sundays, we’ve had things that sometimes we couldn’t score points. So to be back with a good feeling, there’s been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling inside the car.

“But today is probably the first time where I had it back, so that is a good thing. At the same time, I know how much I’ve struggled to be consistent recently. So it’s only the beginning, but it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Leclerc credited his improvement in form down to changes he’s made behind the scenes, but reiterated that it’s still only the start and still has a lot of work to improve his championship standing.

“I had two approaches recently,” added Leclerc, who is fifth and 49 points behind Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

“There was either the one where I just changed my driving style completely and just try and reproduce what Lewis is doing, because clearly it’s working. Or keep pushing in my direction and trying to find a way around where the car just fits my driving a little bit better.

“I went towards the second route, which was to stick with what I know worked in the past and try to find a way around with the car and with every tool that I have available inside the car.

“So that’s really what I did and it definitely worked out. But I still want to stress that it’s only one qualifying session. My focus now is to stay there and keep improving. As I said, it’s only a first step. That doesn’t mean from now on it’s going to change my season.”

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