Sir Lewis Hamilton looked set for a home Sprint victory at Silverstone Circuit, but a decisive late move from Kimi Antonelli saw the seven-time world champion settle for second place in the British Grand Prix Sprint.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton admitted the pace of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team proved difficult to contain.
“Tough race to keep the Mercedes behind.”
“I did say that was potentially the case yesterday and obviously with it being so windy today, a big, big headwind down the backstraight, he came flying past.”
“I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything. But well done to Kimi and we’ve got work to do to try and close that gap so we can keep up.”
Reflecting on the race-winning move, Hamilton added: “As soon as that [one-second barrier] was lost, I knew that was coming.”
Hamilton, driving for Scuderia Ferrari, made a strong launch from pole and held off Antonelli into Turn 1 to lead the opening stages of the 17-lap Sprint. Behind them, Lando Norris secured third for McLaren to complete the podium.
The Briton controlled the pace in the early laps while Antonelli remained within range, waiting for his opportunity. Further back, Max Verstappen endured a poor getaway and dropped three positions, while George Russell briefly climbed to third before slipping back.
Antonelli began to increase the pressure by lap four and was firmly on Hamilton’s gearbox by lap six. The breakthrough came on lap eight when the Italian used his additional overtake boost to sweep past down the straight and take the lead.
Hamilton tried to respond immediately, reducing the gap by lap 11, but Antonelli reacted and edged back outside the crucial one-second margin, denying Hamilton access to his overtake mode and effectively controlling the remainder of the Sprint.
Despite setting a stronger pace in the final laps, Hamilton simply ran out of time to mount another attack, with Antonelli stretching the gap to more than two seconds by the chequered flag.
Norris completed the podium in third for McLaren, while Russell finished fourth for Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was fifth in the second Ferrari, Verstappen recovered to sixth for Red Bull Racing, while the remaining points positions went to Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri and Racing Bulls Liam Lawson.
