Race report

F1 British GP: Kimi Antonelli takes first sprint win with pass on Lewis Hamilton

Championship leader Antonelli makes half-distance overtake on sprint polesitter Hamilton to claim first blood at Silverstone

Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli beat Lewis Hamilton to win a frantic British Grand Prix sprint race at Silverstone for his first Saturday victory of the 2026 campaign.

The Mercedes driver crossed the line 2.7 seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion in a race where Antonelli and Hamilton had proven dominant over the rest of the field.

McLaren's Lando Norris completed the podium, but was seven seconds behind the Ferrari driver as two separate front-running groups quickly emerged during the 17-lap sprint contest.

This was evident right from the start as pole man Hamilton and Antonelli bolted clear at lights out and built a four-second buffer across the opening three laps, with a scrappy battle behind emerging over third place.

That was a five-way tussle between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who all continuously traded places in the return of yo-yo racing at the high-energy Silverstone.

Drivers were running with different levels of energy through the lap and this led to overtakes at various parts of Silverstone, whether it be Verstappen's move on Russell at Abbey, or Leclerc on Piastri at Brooklands.

The battle for third started to die down come the halfway mark and, ultimately, it was Norris who emerged victorious, but as he locked down his podium, the battle for the lead finally heated up.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

That came after Hamilton had built a steady one-second advantage over Antonelli, who closed in come lap eight and made his first attack on the home favourite down into Brooklands.

Hamilton held firm but not for too long, as the 19-year-old eventually moved by into the lead on Hangar Straight before soon boasting too much pace for the Ferrari to keep up.

It was around this point on lap 10 when the fight behind Norris intensified once more, as Verstappen dropped into sixth behind Russell and Leclerc before a steady final seven laps.

Russell therefore took fourth behind Norris, finished a second behind the McLaren, ahead of fifth-placed Leclerc and Verstappen in sixth, with Piastri taking two points for coming seventh.

The final points position went to the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, who moved into the top eight Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar fell out of the points-paying positions at the start. Lawson defended the point from his former team-mate late, on but in contentious circumstances as he squeezed his former team-mate under braking at Stowe.

This all leaves Antonelli with a 43-point championship advantage over second-placed Russell ahead of Sunday’s grand prix, with third-placed Hamilton now four behind his fellow Briton.

British GP sprint results

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Chassis	Engine
1	A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes	12	17	26'12.129		229.018		8	Mercedes	Mercedes
2	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	17	+2.745 26'14.874	2.745	228.619		7	Ferrari	Ferrari
3	L. Norris McLaren	1	17	+9.783 26'21.912	7.038	227.602		6	McLaren	Mercedes
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63	17	+10.639 26'22.768	0.856	227.479		5	Mercedes	Mercedes
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	17	+12.620 26'24.749	1.981	227.194		4	Ferrari	Ferrari
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	17	+16.550 26'28.679	3.930	226.632		3	Red Bull	Red Bull
7	O. Piastri McLaren	81	17	+17.551 26'29.680	1.001	226.490		2	McLaren	Mercedes
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	17	+30.233 26'42.362	12.682	224.697		1	RB	Red Bull
9	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	17	+30.953 26'43.082	0.720	224.596			Red Bull	Red Bull
10	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	17	+35.110 26'47.239	4.157	224.015			RB	Red Bull
11	P. Gasly Alpine	10	17	+40.273 26'52.402	5.163	223.298			Alpine	Mercedes
12	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	17	+41.026 26'53.155	0.753	223.194			Alpine	Mercedes
13	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	17	+41.680 26'53.809	0.654	223.103			Audi	Audi
14	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	17	+42.499 26'54.628	0.819	222.990			Audi	Audi
15	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	17	+45.784 26'57.913	3.285	222.537			Haas	Ferrari
16	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	17	+49.810 27'01.939	4.026	221.985			Haas	Ferrari
17	C. Sainz Williams	55	17	+50.379 27'02.508	0.569	221.907			Williams	Mercedes
18	A. Albon Williams	23	17	+50.757 27'02.886	0.378	221.855			Williams	Mercedes
19	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77	17	+1'15.117 27'27.246	24.360	218.575			Cadillac	Ferrari
20	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	17	+1'31.872 27'44.001	16.755	216.374			Aston Martin	Honda
21	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	16	+1 Lap 26'34.406	1 Lap	212.517	1		Aston Martin	Honda
22	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11	16	+1 Lap 26'45.695	11.289	211.023	1		Cadillac	Ferrari
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