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 Bullâs 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 Sundayâs 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. Antonelli Mercedes 12 17
-
8 Mercedes Mercedes 2 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 17
+2.745
2.745
2.745 7 Ferrari Ferrari 3 L. Norris McLaren 1 17
+9.783
9.783
7.038 6 McLaren Mercedes 4 G. Russell Mercedes 63 17
+10.639
10.639
0.856 5 Mercedes Mercedes 5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 17
+12.620
12.620
1.981 4 Ferrari Ferrari 6 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3 17
+16.550
16.550
3.930 3 Red Bull Red Bull 7 O. Piastri McLaren 81 17
+17.551
17.551
1.001 2 McLaren Mercedes 8 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30 17
+30.233
30.233
12.682 1 RB Red Bull 9 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6 17
+30.953
30.953
0.720 Red Bull Red Bull 10 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41 17
+35.110
35.110
4.157 RB Red Bull 11 P. Gasly Alpine 10 17
+40.273
40.273
5.163 Alpine Mercedes 12 F. Colapinto Alpine 43 17
+41.026
41.026
0.753 Alpine Mercedes 13 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27 17
+41.680
41.680
0.654 Audi Audi 14 G. Bortoleto Audi 5 17
+42.499
42.499
0.819 Audi Audi 15 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 17
+45.784
45.784
3.285 Haas Ferrari 16 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 17
+49.810
49.810
4.026 Haas Ferrari 17 C. Sainz Williams 55 17
+50.379
50.379
0.569 Williams Mercedes 18 A. Albon Williams 23 17
+50.757
50.757
0.378 Williams Mercedes 19 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77 17
+1'15.117
1'15.117
24.360 Cadillac Ferrari 20 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 17
+1'31.872
1'31.872
16.755 Aston Martin Honda 21 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 16
1 lap
1 Aston Martin Honda 22 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11 16
1 lap
1 Cadillac Ferrari
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 Bullâs 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 Sundayâs 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. Antonelli Mercedes 12 17
-
8 Mercedes Mercedes 2 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 17
+2.745
2.745
2.745 7 Ferrari Ferrari 3 L. Norris McLaren 1 17
+9.783
9.783
7.038 6 McLaren Mercedes 4 G. Russell Mercedes 63 17
+10.639
10.639
0.856 5 Mercedes Mercedes 5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 17
+12.620
12.620
1.981 4 Ferrari Ferrari 6 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3 17
+16.550
16.550
3.930 3 Red Bull Red Bull 7 O. Piastri McLaren 81 17
+17.551
17.551
1.001 2 McLaren Mercedes 8 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30 17
+30.233
30.233
12.682 1 RB Red Bull 9 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6 17
+30.953
30.953
0.720 Red Bull Red Bull 10 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41 17
+35.110
35.110
4.157 RB Red Bull 11 P. Gasly Alpine 10 17
+40.273
40.273
5.163 Alpine Mercedes 12 F. Colapinto Alpine 43 17
+41.026
41.026
0.753 Alpine Mercedes 13 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27 17
+41.680
41.680
0.654 Audi Audi 14 G. Bortoleto Audi 5 17
+42.499
42.499
0.819 Audi Audi 15 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 17
+45.784
45.784
3.285 Haas Ferrari 16 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 17
+49.810
49.810
4.026 Haas Ferrari 17 C. Sainz Williams 55 17
+50.379
50.379
0.569 Williams Mercedes 18 A. Albon Williams 23 17
+50.757
50.757
0.378 Williams Mercedes 19 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77 17
+1'15.117
1'15.117
24.360 Cadillac Ferrari 20 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 17
+1'31.872
1'31.872
16.755 Aston Martin Honda 21 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 16
1 lap
1 Aston Martin Honda 22 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11 16
1 lap
1 Cadillac Ferrari
