Antonelli passes Hamilton at half-distance to claim sprint win at Silverstone

Kimi Antonelli swept past Lewis Hamilton on the Hangar Straight to win the British Grand Prix sprint race at Silverstone on Saturday, claiming his first sprint victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season and stretching his championship advantage to 43 points over George Russell.

The 19-year-old Mercedes driver crossed the line 2.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had started from pole and led the opening phase of the 17-lap contest. Lando Norris completed the podium for McLaren but finished seven seconds behind Hamilton, as the field quickly split into two distinct groups.

Hamilton and Antonelli bolted clear at lights out, building a four-second buffer over the chasing pack within the first three laps. Behind them, a five-way battle for third erupted between Max Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, with drivers running different energy levels through the lap and trading positions at multiple points around the circuit — Verstappen moving on Russell at Abbey, Leclerc on Piastri at Brooklands.

Norris eventually emerged from that scrap to lock down third, but by then the lead fight had come alive. Hamilton had built a steady one-second gap over Antonelli, only for the teenager to close in around lap eight and make his first attack at Brooklands. Hamilton held on, but Antonelli came again on the Hangar Straight on lap nine and moved through, quickly pulling away at a pace the Ferrari could not match.

Behind Norris, Russell finished fourth — a second adrift of the McLaren — with Leclerc fifth and Verstappen sixth after the Red Bull driver dropped back in the closing stages. Piastri took seventh and two points, while Liam Lawson claimed the final points position in eighth for Racing Bulls after Isack Hadjar fell out of the top eight at the start. Lawson’s defence of that position late in the race drew scrutiny after he squeezed his former team-mate under braking at Stowe.

The result leaves Antonelli 43 points clear of Russell in the drivers’ standings ahead of Sunday’s grand prix, with Hamilton now four points further back in third.