Antonelli surprised by Ferrari's pace after Hamilton snatches Silverstone Sprint pole
Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he was caught off guard by Ferrari's dramatic step forward after narrowly missing out on Sprint pole position to Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver looked in contention throughout the final phase of Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone, but Hamilton produced a superb final lap to secure Sprint pole by the slimmest of margins, leaving Antonelli to settle for second place.
Despite the disappointment of missing out on the top spot, Antonelli acknowledged Ferrari's remarkable improvement and expects a fierce battle for the remainder of the weekend.
"Ferrari have done an incredible step forward, so definitely is going to be very tough. Plus Lewis is in great form," Antonelli said after the session.
The Italian, who still holds a 46-point advantage over Hamilton in the championship standings, insisted Mercedes welcomes the challenge rather than fearing it.
"But that's good, we like the challenge and we try to make the best out of it. Of course, we'll go for it and try to do our best. It's not going to be easy but everything is on the table to do well so we'll make sure that we do well."
Antonelli's qualifying session had not started smoothly. The Mercedes rookie found himself only seventh fastest in SQ1 after struggling with the balance of his W17, forcing the team to make adjustments before the later segments.
Those changes transformed the car's behaviour, allowing him to immediately fight at the front.
"To be fair, SQ1 I felt a bit bad, I didn't feel great in the car but then we made a slight balance adjustment and SQ2 felt night and day," he explained.
"We were suddenly back on the pace and SQ3 was a little bit left on the table but was a decent lap and unfortunately was super close to Lewis but of course congrats to him."
While Hamilton celebrated a memorable Sprint pole in front of his home crowd, Antonelli remained encouraged by Mercedes' recovery and believes there is still everything to play for over the rest of the weekend: "On our side, we'll focus on tomorrow."
