Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone delivered plenty of surprises, not least for Mercedes itself. The Brackley team arrived at the British Grand Prix expecting to be the benchmark around one of the most energy-demanding circuits on the calendar, but instead found itself trailing Ferrari. Although Andrea Kimi Antonelli missed Sprint pole by just 11 thousandths of a second, Mercedes left Friday with far more questions than regrets.
The Italian rookie remained firmly in contention for pole until the braking zone for the final chicane, where Lewis Hamilton ultimately made the decisive difference. The Ferrari driver delayed his braking point, carried more speed into the corner and remained remarkably efficient through the entry phase, producing the lap that secured Sprint pole.
On corner exit, Lewis Hamilton lost a small amount of time, as rear tyre management once again proved to be the main limitation for everyone using the soft compound in the closing stages of the lap. Despite dealing with a touch of oversteer, Andrea Kimi Antonelli recovered some of the lost ground on the run to the finish line, but not enough to erase what had been lost under braking.
That was where Sprint pole slipped away. Yet, inside Mercedes, the bigger concern was not the final margin, but why Ferrari had been so competitive in the areas where the W17 was expected to dominate.
Ferrari’s energy strategy caught Mercedes by surprise
The key word at Silverstone was efficiency—not only aerodynamic efficiency but also energy efficiency.
Following comparative testing carried out after the Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari arrived in Britain with a slightly revised package, choosing to abandon some of the updates introduced previously. The decision suggested the team wanted to explore a different direction on a circuit where overall efficiency is critical.
The biggest surprise, however, was Ferrari’s management of hybrid energy.
While several teams experimented with different deployment strategies throughout Friday, Ferrari’s engineers appeared to arrive at Silverstone with a very clear plan from the very beginning. They quickly identified an effective operating window for both the power unit and the overall balance of the SF-26.
Rather than eliminating the engine performance deficit entirely, Ferrari’s objective was to minimise it. Before the weekend, there had been genuine concern that the gap to Mercedes could become significant.
During the opening part of the lap, Ferrari still lost several tenths to Mercedes on the longest acceleration zones. However, everything changed approaching Copse.
Copse became the turning point of the lap
Already during Free Practice, it had become clear that the Ferrari reached Copse carrying considerably higher top speeds than its rivals. While other teams were forced to cut electrical deployment earlier to preserve battery energy, Ferrari continued using electric power for longer.
As a result, the SF-26 arrived at the entrance to Copse roughly 10 km/h faster than its competitors.
This is where Ferrari’s chassis made an even bigger difference than many initially realised. Although Copse has been a full-throttle corner for several seasons, the characteristics of the new-generation 2026 Formula 1 cars meant that was no longer guaranteed.
Thanks to its excellent aerodynamic load and balanced chassis, Ferrari was able to negotiate the corner approximately 7 km/h faster than the Mercedes.
The telemetry also showed Andrea Kimi Antonelli regaining speed immediately after Copse, suggesting the Mercedes consumed significantly more electrical energy to recover the lost momentum. By contrast, Lewis Hamilton’s stronger exit meant Ferrari required less energy along the run towards Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel.
Although the Ferrari eventually reached the point where electrical deployment was exhausted, the SF-26 remained remarkably close to the Mercedes through that entire section. Including the run towards Copse, Ferrari gained more than one and a half tenths over the W17.
Mercedes searching for answers overnight
Mercedes’ performance was not entirely convincing in other areas either.
Through Becketts and Chapel, the W17 carried more speed at the apexes, but only because the drivers lifted much earlier before the corners. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, stayed on the throttle for longer before sacrificing speed through the middle of the sequence, following Ferrari’s strategy of recovering energy before accelerating later—a technique the team had already practised during Free Practice.
The Mercedes also appeared less settled from a balance perspective. While the Ferrari inspired confidence almost immediately and once again highlighted its strength through fast corners, the W17 looked overly front-limited and struggled with the strong crosswinds that affected Friday’s running.
It was no coincidence that Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted after Sprint Qualifying that the car’s balance still was not where he wanted it to be during SQ1 and SQ2.
Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin echoed those concerns.
“It was frustrating for us. In the last few races we’ve managed to start with a fairly solid baseline setup, but today it felt like we were always one step behind. Throughout the sessions we made changes to give the car more stability, but the feeling remained that the front end was still too strong, which doesn’t help when you’re dealing with so much crosswind,” he explained.
Shovlin also confirmed that Mercedes would analyse its hybrid strategy before the remainder of the weekend.
“There’s also a speed difference that we need to understand because it cost us quite a bit of time on the straights. We can’t make changes before tomorrow’s Sprint, but we’re already working to solve these issues and find a better setup compromise ahead of Grand Prix qualifying.”
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