Kimi Antonelli beat Hamilton by 2.745s to win the British Grand Prix Sprint at Silverstone for the first time. Hamilton led from pole, but Antonelli passed him on Lap 8 and turned a 100km, 17-lap race into a clean result for Mercedes.
Hamilton Leads, Antonelli Closes
The Sprint began with Hamilton in front after Sprint Qualifying, where he took pole by 0.011s ahead of Antonelli. That tiny gap was erased quickly once the race settled, and Antonelli moved ahead on Lap 8 to take P1.
He did not just edge clear. Antonelli finished 2.745s ahead at the flag, with Hamilton second and Lando Norris third for McLaren. George Russell followed in fourth, then Charles Leclerc in fifth and Max Verstappen in sixth.
Silverstone Sprint Order
The rest of the top 10 was set by Oscar Piastri in seventh, Liam Lawson in eighth, Isack Hadjar in ninth and Arvid Lindblad in 10th. Pierre Gasly finished 11th, Franco Colapinto 12th, Nico Hulkenberg 13th, Gabriel Bortoleto 14th, Ollie Bearman 15th and Esteban Ocon 16th.
That order matters because the Sprint came after only one hour of practice on Friday, which left little room for teams to compare long-run pace before Saturday’s race. Hamilton still had the cleaner start from pole, but Antonelli’s move on Lap 8 showed that the front row speed from Sprint Qualifying did not hold once the race opened up.
Friday Margins At Silverstone
The front of the grid had already been tight before the Sprint. Hamilton topped Sprint Qualifying by 0.011s over Antonelli, with Max Verstappen third, three tenths back. Lewis Hamilton tops Silverstone Sprint race time in 1:28.376 captured the pace that put him on pole, but the race itself belonged to Antonelli after he took control on the move into P1.
There was more movement further back before Saturday too. Williams changed the suspension set-up on Alex Albon’s car under parc ferme conditions without the approval of the Technical Delegate, and Albon started from the pit lane. Carlos Sainz finished ahead of him in the Sprint order, while Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll all started on soft tyres.
For Hamilton, the result leaves a home weekend opened by pole and closed by a second-place finish. For Antonelli, it was his first Sprint win, and it came by beating Hamilton on the day the field finally had a race to settle the order set in Sprint Qualifying. Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton for F1 Sprint win at Silverstone tracked the same decisive pass, while Lewis Hamilton edges Kimi Antonelli for British Grand Prix Sprint pole showed how narrow Friday had already been.
