Hamilton, the record nine-time victor at Silverstone, topped all of Friday’s sessions to secure pole position for the Sprint, the first time he had headed either of Formula 1’s qualifying formats since April 2025.
He lost out on Sprint victory on Saturday morning to Kimi Antonelli after being overtaken by the quicker Mercedes before then going on to qualify third behind the Italian and a resurgent Leclerc in main qualifying.
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Hamilton finished in the same place in the 52-lap Grand Prix on Sunday after a challenging race in which he was penalised by five seconds for a false start, struggled with his car’s balance and was jumped by George Russell for second when Ferrari pitted their cars under the late Safety Car.
And while pleased for both his team-mate and Ferrari, who have won two of the last three grands prix to increase the pressure on Mercedes, Hamilton was left frustrated by his own performance.
Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “Congrats to Charles. He did a great job.
“All the magic that I had on Friday just disappeared through the weekend.
“I was just lacking front end. We massively under-egged it with the front wing and that’s my fault and the engineering fault.”
Hamilton said in his immediate interview after the race that “I just didn’t have it today”.
He elaborated on his struggles with the SF-26 during the later top-three press conference.
“From my side, pretty bad from the get-go,” said the Briton. “I jumped the start, which I have done very few times in the 380-odd races that I’ve done.
“And then just balance-wise, I noticed Charles went up on his balance, I think compared to qualifying, added more wing, and I felt the car was really oversteer with the diff settings that we had had.
“And so, I took out wing and then I had the biggest understeer at the beginning of the race. So, he just pulled away from me.
“I just couldn’t even turn the car until halfway kind of through that first stint, I managed to start turning the car a little bit better with some diff changes, but by then the gap was already huge. And then the five-second [penalty] at the stop, and then there’s just one thing after the other.”
Hamilton had initially been expecting his day to get worse due to a post-race investigation for a yellow flags infringement but stewards ultimately handed him a reprimand rather than a sporting penalty, meaning he kept hold of third place – a record-extending 16th podium finish at his home race in 20 appearances.
“Good to see direction I have pushed for is paying off’
Although left disappointed with his personal race performance, Hamilton still took 15 points out of Antonelli’s championship lead after the Mercedes driver failed to score points for the second time in three races.
Antonelli had appeared poised to catch and overtake Leclerc for victory on significantly-fresher tyres into the closing stint but his charge was ended by a wheel shield failure and he eventually ended up outside the points due to a track limits penalty.
Third-placed Hamilton is 32 points behind Antonelli in the standings.
The seven-time world champion has now finished on the podium four times in the five races since he made the decision ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix to stop using the team’s simulator to prepare for events.
Hamilton says the initial set-up direction he and his engineers chose for Silverstone ultimately paid off for the team – and it was one which the race-winning Leclerc ultimately followed too.
Asked about the team’s form heading to the Belgian Grand Prix on July 17-19, Hamilton said: “Up until now, we really have been making such great progress. And what gives me confidence is coming into this weekend, the simulator said that we should start in a much different place with the set-up, and my engineers and I decided to stay within the direction that we would normally go.
“Charles started the way it was, that the sim would say to go, and then [it] ended up my philosophy and the direction that I was taking was ultimately the right one, and he migrated that way.
“It’s good to see that direction that I have pushed for is paying off and that we’ve just got to continue to make changes and continue to push.
“We’ve got to continue to bring upgrades. Spa is going to be long straights, but ultimately, I’ve got to do a better job than I did this weekend.”
Formula 1’s summer run continues with the Belgian Grand Prix at legendary Spa-Francorchamps on July 17-19, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
