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

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

Kimi Antonelli claimed victory in the sprint race at the British Grand Prix, overtaking pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to extend his world championship lead. The Mercedes driver crossed the line 2.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, with McLaren's Lando Norris completing the podium in third place. Antonelli's win marked his first Sprint victory of his F1 career, and he was thrilled with the result. The Italian teenager had been pushing hard to overtake Hamilton, and his efforts finally paid off on lap 10 when he swept past the Ferrari driver on Hangar Straight. From there, Antonelli pulled clear of the field, gradually building a gap to the chequered flag. Hamilton, who had been holding off Antonelli's advances for much of the race, was ultimately unable to keep up with the Mercedes driver's pace. Despite a valiant effort, he was forced to settle for second place, trailing Antonelli by a significant margin. "It was a tough race to keep the Mercedes behind," Hamilton said. "I did say that was potentially the case yesterday, and obviously with it being so windy today, he came flying past." The battle for third place was intense, with Norris emerging victorious from a thrilling five-car battle. The McLaren driver had been trading places with George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Oscar Piastri throughout the first half of the race, but ultimately came out on top. Russell finished fourth, ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, while Piastri took seventh place. Liam Lawson claimed the final point in eighth place, holding off Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in a closely contested battle. Antonelli's win extends his championship lead to 43 points over his Mercedes teammate George Russell, with Hamilton moving within four points of Russell in the drivers' standings. The result sets up an intriguing battle for the rest of the weekend, with qualifying and the main Grand Prix still to come. The British Grand Prix weekend continues with Qualifying later on Saturday, before Sunday's Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The schedule for the rest of the weekend is as follows: - Saturday, July 4: F2 Sprint, British GP Qualifying - Sunday, July 5: F3 Feature Race, F1 Academy Race 2, F2 Feature Race, British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix will be live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One, with streaming available on NOW.