Formulation 1 championship chief Kimi Antonelli beat Lewis Hamilton to win a frantic British Grand Prix dash race at Silverstone for his first Saturday victory of the 2026 marketing campaign.
The Mercedes driver crossed the road 2.7 seconds forward of the seven-time world champion in a race the place Antonelli and Hamilton had confirmed dominant over the remainder of the sector.
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McLaren’s Lando Norris accomplished the rostrum, however was seven seconds behind the Ferrari driver as two separate front-running teams shortly emerged through the 17-lap dash contest.
This was evident proper from the beginning as pole man Hamilton and Antonelli bolted clear at lights out and constructed a four-second buffer throughout the opening three laps, with a scrappy battle behind rising over third place.
That was a five-way tussle between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who all constantly traded locations within the return of yo-yo racing on the high-energy Silverstone.
Drivers have been operating with completely different ranges of vitality via the lap and this led to overtakes at numerous components of Silverstone, whether or not it’s Verstappen’s transfer on Russell at Abbey, or Leclerc on Piastri at Brooklands.
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The battle for third began to die down come the midway mark and, in the end, it was Norris who emerged victorious, however as he locked down his podium, the battle for the lead lastly heated up.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
That got here after Hamilton had constructed a gentle one-second benefit over Antonelli, who closed in come lap eight and made his first assault on the house favorite down into Brooklands.
Hamilton held agency however not for too lengthy, because the 19-year-old finally moved by into the lead on Hangar Straight earlier than quickly boasting an excessive amount of tempo for the Ferrari to maintain up.
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It was round this level on lap 10 when the battle behind Norris intensified as soon as extra, as Verstappen dropped into sixth behind Russell and Leclerc earlier than a gentle ultimate seven laps.
Russell due to this fact took fourth behind Norris, completed a second behind the McLaren, forward of fifth-placed Leclerc and Verstappen in sixth, with Piastri taking two factors for coming seventh.
The ultimate factors place went to the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, who moved into the highest eight Pink Bull’s Isack Hadjar fell out of the points-paying positions in the beginning. Lawson defended the purpose from his former team-mate late, on however in contentious circumstances as he squeezed his former team-mate beneath braking at Stowe.
This all leaves Antonelli with a 43-point championship benefit over second-placed Russell forward of Sunday’s grand prix, with third-placed Hamilton now 4 behind his fellow Briton.
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