Kimi Antonelli won Silverstone F1 for the first time on Saturday, passing Lewis Hamilton on Lap 8 and pulling clear to beat him by 2.745s in the Sprint. The Mercedes driver turned a front-row start into his first Sprint victory while Hamilton, who had taken pole earlier in Sprint Qualifying, settled for second.
Antonelli Passes Hamilton
The move came after Hamilton led away from pole, but Antonelli found a way through on Lap 8 and never gave the place back. By the finish, he had built a margin of 2.745s over Hamilton, with Lando Norris taking third for McLaren.
That top-three order mattered because it came in the fourth Sprint of the season and on a weekend where only one hour of practice had left teams with little time to settle their cars. Antonelli started second, just 0.011s behind Hamilton in Sprint Qualifying, so the gap at the flag turned a tiny qualifying split into a clear race result.
Silverstone Sprint Order
George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, followed by Charles Leclerc in fifth and Max Verstappen in sixth. Oscar Piastri took seventh, Liam Lawson eighth, Isack Hadjar ninth and Arvid Lindblad tenth in his first home weekend as an F1 driver.
Behind them, Pierre Gasly was 11th, Franco Colapinto 12th, Nico Hulkenberg 13th and Gabriel Bortoleto 14th. Ollie Bearman finished 15th, Esteban Ocon 16th, Carlos Sainz 17th, Alex Albon 18th, Valtteri Bottas 19th, Fernando Alonso 20th, Lance Stroll 21st and Sergio Perez 22nd.
Alex Albon And Investigations
Alex Albon started the 100km dash from the pit lane after Williams changed the suspension set-up on his car under parc ferme conditions without the approval of the Technical Delegate. Most of the field used the medium compound tyre for the 17-lap Sprint, while Bottas, Alonso and Stroll started on the soft tyre.
Sergio Perez received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alonso. Liam Lawson is to be investigated for moving under braking, and Nico Hulkenberg faces a stewards’ investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
