Antonelli Extends Title Lead with 2026 British Sprint Victory

Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his title lead with victory in the 2026 British Sprint at Silverstone. 

Antonelli recovered from a competitive opening-lap scrap with McLaren’s Lando Norris to pass Lewis Hamilton on lap 8 on the Hangar Straight to take victory.

Norris settled for third ahead of George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson.

In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli extended his title lead over Russell to 43 points whilst Hamilton sat 47 points behind the Italian in third.

At lights out, Hamilton made a clean start to fend off Antonelli in the second phase of the getaway and the latter found himself passed by a fast-starting Norris for second at Copse, but he repassed the Brit at Stowe and swiftly hunted Hamilton down.

Russell briefly passed Verstappen then Norris by the end of the opening lap but Norris repassed him into Copse for third on lap two, then lost position to Verstappen at Abbey at the start of lap 3.

Up front, Antonelli patiently sat on the cusp of just within one second of Hamilton and managed his energy until he used his overtake boost to pass the Brit on Hangar Straight on lap 8 for the lead and victory.

Verstappen meanwhile struggled to force his way past Norris and drifted into Russell’s clutches, which saw the Mercedes driver demote him to fifth into Stowe on lap 8, before Leclerc demoted him a further position.

The top seven soon settled down into their positions in the closing phase of the sprint whilst Lawson fought off Hadjar for the final point in eighth.