Antonelli reveals how Mercedes changed his car between sprint race and qualifying

Having won the Silverstone F1 Sprint, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli went on to set the benchmark in Grand Prix qualifying to secure pole position for Sunday's British Grand Prix.

After starting second in Saturday's Sprint, Antonelli immediately challenged Lewis Hamilton into the opening corners before settling into second place. Showing patience, the Italian waited for the right opportunity before overtaking the Ferrari driver for the lead, pulling away to claim his maiden Formula 1 Sprint victory in commanding fashion.

That momentum carried into Grand Prix qualifying, where Antonelli produced a superb final lap to secure pole position by nearly two tenths of a second over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton completing the top three.

Reflecting on his pole-winning effort, Antonelli was pleased to have finally pieced together the perfect lap.

"It was a very tidy lap. It was a lap where I put everything together. Maybe Sector 1, I struggled a little bit throughout the session. I was a bit inconsistent there, but Sector 2 and 3 I felt very good. So yeah, it was a very good lap."

Mercedes opted to send Antonelli out first for the decisive Q3 runs, an approach the 19-year-old admitted made him slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm not a fan of going first for the last run, but I was a little bit stressed in the out lap. But then just tried to focus on what I had to do and yeah, luckily it worked out."

Although the Mercedes W17 had already looked competitive in Sprint Qualifying on Friday, Antonelli explained that the team had not made major setup changes overnight. Instead, the improvement came from extracting more from both himself and the car.

"I think it was a very... I mean, we didn't change the car, so the car felt good. Also yesterday it felt good. But yesterday it was also more a matter of trying to maximise the grip and everything.

"Today it was a bit trickier, but I think on that regard I put a lot more together compared to yesterday," the Italian continued.

Qualifying was not completely trouble-free, however. Antonelli revealed that Mercedes had been battling front-wheel locking, particularly into Turn 3, where both he and teammate George Russell experienced problems.

"Well, with our car, we struggle a little bit with front locking, so especially in a condition like today that you have the tailwind into Turn 3, front locking was very easy to achieve."

His first Q2 attempt was further compromised by a brake issue that caught him by surprise: "So, in my Q2 run one, I locked the front but also had a little issue with the brake pedal, which it didn't respond initially to when I applied the brake."

The delayed braking left him carrying too much speed into the corner: "So that also delayed the whole braking phase, so I also had too much speed in."

Fortunately for Mercedes, setup changes restored his confidence for the remainder of qualifying: "But to be fair, we did some setting adjustments and then it helped me to regain the confidence on braking."

Despite arriving at Sunday's race as the favourite following both his Sprint victory and pole position, Antonelli knows Ferrari's drivers will provide a stern challenge over the 52 laps.

"I mean, get a good start, like we did today, and then yeah… I mean, I have these two behind me, and they've been quick today, especially at the start of the race."

His focus, however, remains on executing his own race: "So just going to try to get a good start and get into a good rhythm and then hopefully we will be able to achieve a great result. But other than that, just going to try to focus on the race that I have to do and just try to maximise."