18/52 We shall have to wait to see if Verstappen resumes his battle with Russell. He drops down to seventh after that early pit.

17/52 Verstappen is closing on Russell, and goes past so easily at Copse. Russell tries to come back, and then Verstappen withdraws from the battle by going into the pit lane.

16/52 Red Bull are readying for a pit stop, and Williams seem likely to retire Alex Albon after he serves out his 10-second penalty.

15/52 The top five – Leclerc, Antonelli, Hamilton, Russell and Verstappen – seem baked in, if very capable of switching places. Hadjar and Norris are the two behind the top five.

14/52 Leclerc gained 0.2 of a second on Antonelli. It’s going well for the man from Monaco. Antonelli may consider he has his title rivals sat behind him in the race. So all good.

13/52 Leclerc is still full of pace, while Antonelli used up a lot of energy in going past Hamilton. Verstappen, despite all his complaints, is closing in on Russell.

12/52 Verstappen grumps again: “my downshifts are s***”. The gap between Antonelli and Leclerc is four seconds.

10/52 Leclerc’s lead already looking commanding. Verstappen is closing in on Russell, who has been complaining of a downshift problem. The two don’t get on, so let’s see if they can throw up a duel for the ages.

9/52 Albon, who has been lapped, and is 22nd, has a penalty for his prang with Bearman. Hamilton is having a mare, complaining of “front-left graining” on his tyres. Oh dear.

8/52 Confirmation of a five-second penalty for Hamilton. That’s set the cat among the pigeons. He did miss the start, dropping the clutch in anticipation. A bit unlucky for him as the car was not moving.

7/52 Ferrari are operating a one-stop strategy. Hamilton is now 2.3 seconds down on Leclerc, with Antonelli gathering speed behind him.

6/52 Norris also had a wheel spin at the start, and was overtaken by Verstappen and Piastri, who then had to go in and replace his wing. Hamilton has been tagged for a potential false start. Five-second penalty?

5/52 Leclerc is enjoying the open space in front of him. Is he getting used to the new Ferrari?

4/52 Leclerc leads Hamilton by just under a second. There’s some imminent investigations over the start, Bearman involved with Albon. Leclerc has set a fastest lap. Antonelli’s problem at the start was a wheel spin.

3/52 Verstappen and has overtaken Hadjar, and is driving well. Will his car hold up for him? That battle for fifth and sixth buys time for Russell.

2/52 Hadjar is chasing down Russell, who is having to fight a rearguard effort to protect fourth.

Here goes the formation lap, amid a heat haze. By the way, it was Fernando Alonso who won the Lego kart race. Mo Farah and Brian May are in the Ferrari camp. The attendance over the weekend has been 564,000, a world record. We are a nation of petrol heads. Alonso seems to stall on the formation lap but gets going again.

Right, round nine of the 2026 championship is upon us. The weather: sunny intervals and a gentle breeze. Ideal driving conditions?

Max Verstappen continues to grump. He is very off-hand with the interviewer. “Don’t ask me that question,” when asked if he would rather start in the grid or from the pit lane.

He said this on Saturday of his Red Bull: “It’s just not pulling the same as it was. On a track like this, of course, you need as much power as you can so it’s extra painful.

“Driver input can make a difference. I’ve tried a lot of things in qualifying, but it was just always the same. So, there is a clear problem with the engine that we can’t find and that worries me for tomorrow because there is actually no point to race like this.”

Martin Brundle’s grid walk is in session, walking past Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. Liam Lawson says there might be Lego on the track after the karting. “Hopefully we don’t get any punctures.” Justin Rose is here, supporting the McLaren team. Next, a hug with Lewis Capaldi. “I’m having a lovely time,” says the Scottish songster. He signs off with another man hug. Nice lad, Lewis. Jackie Stewart is spotted, stylish as ever. Ellie Kildunne, the rugby World Cup winner, is there too. She’s with the Alpine team.

Here’s Sir Chris Hoy and his good lady wife. “We raised £1m,” says Sir Chris, of a clay-pigon shooting event for his cancer charity. He’s here as a guest of Carlos Sainz.

Phil Foden is here. “I think we’ll be alright, I think we’ll get the job done,” he says of his England teammates in the Azteca. “Enjoying downtime.” Brunds gets a big hug from Hannah Waddingham, who wants “one of our boys to bring it home.”

Nigel Mansell, from the Isle of Man. “So happy to be here, the memories come flooding back. Lewis is doing a cracking job with Ferrari. Ir’s marvellous.”

Here’s Mo Farah with Adam Norris, father of Lando. “Silverstone’s special, you gotta be here,” says Mo. Now here’s Christian Horner. Back in F1 soon? “Here as a fan,” he says. “Just here to have a look. It’s good to have a bit of extra time. Never say never.”

Nick Hamilton is here, talking of brother Lewis: “Really proud of him, we’re doing good.”

Hugh Grant: “I’m a big Ferrari fan.” Brundo gets the series and the film of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman mixed up, and we join the national anthem.

Pierre Gasly has dropped three places after a grid penalty for impeding the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in qualifying.

Gasly will now start 15 on the grid, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg at 12, Ollie Bearman to 13 and Carlos Sainz’s Williams to P14.

Hugh Grant and Sir Chris Hoy also pictured, the latter having been at Wimbledon yesterday. Hugh, who is a local lad, has surely been to SW19, too, at some point.

Another member of the Thomas Tuchel outcasts squad, Phil Foden, has also been spotted, with his partner, Rebecca Cooke.

Lewis Hamilton, in his 20th British GP, seeking his 10th win, talks of the privilege of driving in front of the home crowd. He says: “It really is the best race of the whole year because the fans show up and the energy they bring. I’m still building, so still got a long way to go. I love Silverstone. I love the fans here. Thank you so much for always bringing this great energy and it means the world to me and to all of us.”

Today’s proceedings had a twist, with drivers out in Lego karts. All a bit of fun, though one driver wasn’t so keen. In a Viaplay interview, Max Verstappen said this: “I prefer to play with Lego at home, you know, with the kids. Not on a go-kart here, to be honest. I prefer to stand on a truck, just with everyone together. I think that’s more fun and I think it also looks more professional.

“At the end of the day we are Formula One drivers, I think we should not look like kids and clowns trying to ram into each other. I don’t think that is what Formula One needs, but it is what it is.”

Here’s Giles Richards’ qualifying report.

The competition was tight and intense so Antonelli was pushed hard, but on the final runs he found a level that could not be matched. The 19-year-old, who leads the world championship and won the sprint race on Saturday morning, had almost two-tenths on Charles Leclerc in second and three-tenths on Hamilton in third, no small margins. His Mercedes teammate, George Russell, in the same machinery, was fourth, nearly four-tenths back.

First celeb spot of the live blog: Jack Grealish. Can he play right-back?

The remaining starting grid positions:

• 11. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

• 12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

• 13. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

• 14. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

• 15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

• 16. Alex Albon (Williams)

• 17. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

• 18. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

• 19. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

• 20. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

• 21. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

• 22. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Here’s the drivers’ standings after that sprint race.

• 1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 179 points

• 2. George Russell (Mercedes) - 136 points

• 3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 132 points

• 4. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 85 points

• 5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 83 points

• 6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 82 points

• 7. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 76 points

• 8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) - 42 points

• 9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 41 points

• 10. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) - 31 points

• 11. Ollie Bearman (Haas) - 18 points