Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton to win British GP sprint race

Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton to win British GP sprint race

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his first Saturday victory of the 2026 campaign on Saturday, July 4, 2026, overtaking Lewis Hamilton to win a high-energy sprint race at Silverstone.

The 19-year-old Italian crossed the finish line 2.7 seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion. The victory follows Antonelli's previous win at the Monaco Grand Prix last month and extends his lead in the Formula 1 championship standings to 43 points over second-placed teammate George Russell.

The 17-lap contest began with pole-sitter Hamilton and Antonelli bolting clear of the field, establishing a four-second buffer within the first three laps. While Hamilton initially built a steady one-second advantage, Antonelli began closing the gap by lap eight, launching an initial attack down into Brooklands.

Antonelli eventually seized the lead on the Hangar Straight after strategically saving his battery charge. He described the encounter as a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis, noting that he waited until he had a good run out of Turn 4 and then used everything he had out of Turn 13 to make the move.

Hamilton, who is driving for Ferrari after moving to the team last year, attributed the overtake to a strong headwind on the back straight and a lack of remaining energy.

"I was pushing as hard as I could to keep the gap to more than one second, but in my tow he was just closing, and once he got the overtake mode, I couldn't get rid of him,"

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari driver, via BBC

Despite the loss, Hamilton expressed surprise at how close Ferrari was to Mercedes at Silverstone. He noted a deficit on the straights of approximately 0.6-0.7 seconds, which he said increases with deployment during the race.

Behind the lead duo, a frantic five-way struggle for third place emerged between Lando Norris, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, and Charles Leclerc. This yo-yo racing saw drivers trading positions frequently due to varying energy levels throughout the lap. Norris, wearing a white-and-green throwback McLaren livery, climbed from sixth on the grid to third on the first lap and briefly held second place before Antonelli retook the position.

Russell, who started fifth, briefly reached third on the first lap by passing Verstappen around the outside of Turn 4. However, he lost two positions over the following two laps to Norris and Verstappen. Although Russell re-passed Verstappen on lap nine, he ultimately finished fourth, one second behind Norris. Russell, who won the Austrian Grand Prix last week, described the result as not ideal and mentioned a strange lack of pace during qualifying.

The battle for the remaining positions intensified around lap 10. Verstappen dropped to sixth behind Russell and Leclerc before finishing in that position, having held off Oscar Piastri, who took seventh. Charles Leclerc finished fifth for Ferrari.

The final points position was claimed by Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson. He moved into the top eight after Red Bull's Isack Hadjar fell out of the points at the start. Lawson defended his eighth place in a late move that was described as contentious, as he squeezed his former teammate under braking at Stowe.

The current championship standings see Antonelli leading by 43 points over Russell, with Hamilton in third, four points behind Russell.

Qualifying for Sunday's main grand prix was scheduled for 16:00 BST on Saturday, July 4, 2026.