Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

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Lando Norris acknowledged in his BBC Sport interview before the weekend that it was a bit frustrating to be reigning world champion but not in a position to defend his title, and nothing has changed at Silverstone. If anything, McLaren were struggling as much as at any race this season.

Norris, who won this race on his way to the title last year and starts sixth, was 0.766 seconds off Kimi Antonelli's pole position lap time.

"We are just slow in the straight, slow in every corner, the car is not very efficient, we lack downforce and we have too much drag," Norris said.

"We are in a bit of a pickle. It's also a track that highlights both of them. This is a track where you need to be efficient."

Oscar Piastri, who qualified P8, added: "Mercedes is clearly a step ahead right now, but we believe teams like Ferrari are not completely unbeatable, so we will keep chipping away, manage our tyres and see what we can achieve."

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter at Silverstone on BBC Radio 5 Live

The grid is starting to fill up, the cars aren't on it yet. They are doing their reconnaissance laps but the fans have found their places in the grandstands, they've found their seats. the media are all down here and then it is a who's who in terms of celebrities coming to the grand prix as well. I've seen Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Mo Farah.

I think we have a cracking grand prix ahead of us as well, with Kimi Antonelli, the young Italian driver on pole, being chased down by the Ferraris, which of course includes Sir Lewis Hamilton. I am standing on the Hamilton Straight, so a lot of support for the British drivers this afternoon.

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Mexico are preparing to face England at the famous Azteca Stadium tonight (or early Monday morning for us here in the UK) in the last 16 of the World Cup, so native Sergio Perez has done what any good fan would do and has put his shirt on to walk into the British Grand Prix paddock. Bold move, Checo.

It was a tricky Saturday for Perez and Cadillac at Silverstone, as he made contact with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in the sprint and was handed a 10-second time penalty. He was then out-qualified by team-mate Valtteri Bottas in qualifying and will start P20.

Perez said the team has taken some good learnings from yesterday's competitive action and thinks they could be in with a shout of mixing it with the midfield runners. "There will be a lot happening and we just need to be there at the right time as there can be opportunities," he added.

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Pierre Gasly qualified P12 for the British Grand Prix but the Frenchman will be dropping three places on Sunday after receiving a grid penalty for impeding the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

The stewards decided Gasly had "unnecessarily impeded" Stroll after the Canadian had to avoid the slow-moving Alpine driver when he was on a flying lap.

Gasly will now start P15 on the grid, promoting Audi's Nico Hulkenberg to P12, Briton Ollie Bearman to P13 and the Williams of Carlos Sainz to P14.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Silverstone

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George Russell had a difficult start to qualifying when he crashed on his first lap after locking up on the entry to the long Luffield right-hander.

Although the incident broke his front wing, he was able to return to the pits for repairs and get back out to qualify for the second session.

But he lagged behind Kimi Antonelli throughout, and although there was less than 0.1 seconds separating the Mercedes drivers after their first runs, the gap opened when Russell did not improve and Antonelli lopped 0.274secs off his.

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Could Silverstone be a bit of a turning point for Charles Leclerc in what's been a difficult season so far for the Monegasque driver?

Leclerc has only made it to the podium celebrations twice this season - third places in Australia and Japan - and in the past three races, including his home grand prix in Monaco, his points tally stands at a lowly four, collected last week in Austria, when he did actually started second on the grid but crossed the line in eighth place.

But after out-qualifying Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc said he felt comfortable in the car again and had some consistency back, saying on the team radio: "There wasn't much more I could do but I think we are on the right path."

Aine O'Donnell
BBC Newsbeat

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Lewis Hamilton has already lost one race to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli this weekend, but Ferrari fans Anisa and Fatima are staying positive

“A miracle would have to happen for Kimi [Antonelli] not to be first,” Fatima admits. But, “Lewis deserves a podium, especially after last year,” she says.

The nine-time Silverstone winner will be hoping to extend his record of home wins in his 20th race at the track

“We were spoilt for so many years with Lewis winning pretty much everything,” Anisa says. “To come back into this season after last year is fantastic."

The Ferrari driver failed to finish on the podium in his debut season for the team, though 2026 has looked more promising with a recent victory in Spain.

Anisa’s noticed the switch, saying “[Hamilton’s] racing, he’s competitive, he’s happy.” “We’re really hoping he gets a smile on his face at the end,” Fatima adds.

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Image source, Getty Images

The F1 Gods have worked in mysterious ways before, so all is not lost for Lewis Hamilton in his pursuit of a record-extending 10th British Grand Prix victory.

Hamilton, who took pole for the sprint, said he wasn't satisfied with his third place starting position for his 20th home race at Silverstone, conceding the pace of his old Silver Arrows team is hard to topple.

He's already been caught and passed by today's polesitter Kimi Antonelli once this weekend during the sprint race.

"I'm not trying to be negative but the Mercedes is flat-out quicker," Hamilton said. "If we are not able to get him on the first lap, he will just disappear into the distance."

It's not all doom and gloom, though, as Hamilton said Ferrari are "slowly closing the gap" to Mercedes, and to have both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc in the top three "is good for the team".

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The drivers' parade/Lego race took place earlier on and it's fair to say the rulebook was thrown out of the window, as each indivdual car took a different route to the finish line. Even FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was involved - and he ended up beached in the gravel with a load of other drivers.

Who was victorious? It was a late fight between Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon - with all three going off onto the grass - but it was two-time world champion Alonso who eventually triumphed.

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Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad filmed his adventures in the car, which is limited to 25km/h and made of 28,000 bricks, and was soaking up the cheers from the home fans.

Lindblad is taking part in his debut British Grand Prix and on Saturday, he out-qualified Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson to start ninth on the grid.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli didn't just beat one Ferrari to secure the best seat in the house at Silverstone, he took out two prancing horses on his way to pole position.

The 19-year-old was faster than Charles Leclerc by 0.175 seconds in the top 10 shootout, with sprint polesitter Lewis Hamilton having to settle for a spot on the second row alongside the other Mercedes of George Russell.

After winning from pole in Austria last weekend, Russell was more than three tenths slower than his younger team-mate Antonelli, who will lead the field off the line for the fifth time this season.

Even being first out on track for the final run in Q3 didn't throw Antonelli off his stride, although he did say he was "a bit stressed" before adding his last lap was very tidy.

"We will need to make a good start and work hard to keep the Ferraris at bay," said Antonelli.

"They’ve shown great pace here at Silverstone and we will need to be at our best if we want to beat them."

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We have a vote for you to get involved with at the top of the live page and the question is simple: Who will win the British Grand Prix?

The top four of polesitter Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are options but you can also choose "someone else".

Get voting above and also send us your full thoughts on how you think today's race will pan out - and who the "someone else" winner will be - by selecting the 'get involved' button on the page.

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Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

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Hello, folks. There are five British drivers flying the home flag at the British Grand Prix this afternoon but it's a young Italian driver who the field will be chasing down in the pursuit of the winner's trophy today.

Teenager Kimi Antonelli has one victory at Silverstone already this weekend after he won the shorter sprint race, and now with a fifth pole position of the campaign secured, the Mercedes driver will be favourite to take his sixth main win of the season.

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But what challenge will the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc pose alongside him on the front row? Nine-time Silverstone winner Lewis Hamilton just behind in third will also be desperate to take advantage of any tussling between the two, and there's also George Russell to think about in the second Mercedes in fourth.

There is another carrot dangling in front of Antonelli on Sunday, to add to all the other records he's claimed this year. If he takes the chequered flag on Sunday, he'll become the youngest ever winner of this historic race - and also the first Italian to triumph since two-time world champion Alberto Ascari for Ferrari in 1953.

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