Antonelli beats Hamilton to Silverstone sprint victory
· Yahoo Sports
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli ruined Lewis Hamilton's initial hopes of success on home tarmac by winning the sprint race at the British Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday.
Seven-times world champion Hamilton got away well from pole in his Ferrari and just avoided a charging Antonelli to take the first corner in the lead.
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But the Mercedes teenager overtook Hamilton with ease halfway through the 17 laps around Silverstone and picked up eight championship points from the mini race. Six sprint events are taking place during the F1 season to make grand prix weekends more fun.
Normal qualifying follows later ahead of Sunday's full race.
Hamilton, who has triumphed in his home grand prix proper nine times but not since 2024 with Mercedes, will have mixed feelings for the main event.
The 41-year-old also went quickest in the only practice session for on Friday and topped sprint qualifying.
But Italian Antonelli showed guile beyond his years to get past the veteran and lay down his own marker for Sunday - whatever happens in qualifying.
McLaren world champion Lando Norris finished third behind fellow Briton Hamilton in the sprint. Mercedes driver George Russell was fourth, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fifth and four-times world champion Max Verstappen sixth in the Red Bull during a mainly uneventful race.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who could make way for Verstappen next year if some media reports are to be believed, could only place seventh.
Antonelli, 2.7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, leads the standings after five full race wins, ahead of team-mate Russell, who won last time out in Austria and at the season opener in Australia.
Hamilton is the only other full race winner this season having prevailed in Barcelona for his maiden Ferrari victory.