Race report

F1 British GP: Antonelli overtakes Hamilton to win Silverstone sprint race

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	Pits	Points	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
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