Race report
Formula 1 British GP
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
Edited: Jul 4, 2026, 12:53 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
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 Retirement 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 View full results
Photos from British GP - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
British Grand Prix - Saturday
Formula 1
56
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article LIVE: F1 British GP commentary and updates - sprint race
Next article M&S transforms Silverstone pitlane into runway for first-ever fashion show ahead of F1 British GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Max Verstappen slams “unacceptable” bumps at Austin F1 track: “It's out of control”
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
Kimi Antonelli ready to "finish the job" as first F1 title chance beckons at US GP
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
5 h
How to watch NASCAR at Talladega II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Talladega II
5 h
Peterson Racing addresses online abuse after parting ways with Austin Green
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe