Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton in sprint race at F1’s British Grand Prix
SILVERSTONE: Kimi Antonelli returned to winning ways on Saturday by denying Lewis Hamilton a crowd-pleasing home victory in the sprint race ahead of the British Grand Prix. Hamilton started on pole and held off Antonelli until lap eight of 17, when the Italian swept past with the help of electrical power. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” Antonelli told the team over the radio after taking the win. Lando Norris took third in McLaren’s white-and-green throwback livery after winning a thrilling back-and-forth battle with George Russell and Max Verstappen early on. Antonelli’s first win since last month’s Monaco Grand Prix stretched his Formula 1 standings lead to 43 points over teammate Russell, who was fourth after starting fifth. Russell had been complaining of a “strange” lack of pace in qualifying the day before, a setback after his win at the Austrian Grand Prix last week had boosted the British driver’s title chances. Qualifying is later Saturday for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.