Leclerc’s second place was the first time he had beaten Hamilton in qualifying since the Miami Grand Prix in early May, and brings to an end a run of races in which he has been struggling for confidence in the car.
“I am pleased,” Leclerc said. “It has been a few tough races when the feeling was not quite right, struggling to put everything together. There has been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling. This was the first time I had it back, I have struggled to be consistent but it is a good start.”
Hamilton, who was passed by Antonelli on the Mercedes driver’s run to victory in the sprint, said: “Of course I’m not satisfied. I’m third. Both these guys did a great job today.
“Charles has been doing good improvements and we just didn’t have the pace of the Mercedes but we are slowly closing the gap and to have both of us here is good for the team.”
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.
Bur he lagged behind Antonelli throughout, and although there was less than 0.1secs separating the Mercedes drivers after their first runs, the gap opened when Russell did not improve and Antonelli lopped 0.274secs off his.
