Kimi Antonelli wins Lewis Hamilton British Sprint duel to boost title chances

Kimi Antonelli claimed a first Sprint win of the season at the British GP, overtaking Lewis Hamilton on-track to claim victory. 

The championship leader slotted in behind pole-sitter Hamilton off the line and in the opening laps as the two broke away from a huge squabble for third place, involving the fast-starting Lando Norris, George Russell, and the slow-starting Max Verstappen. 

Hamilton and Antonelli broke away over the first seven laps, with Antonelli closing in to attack the Ferrari, first doing just before the Wellington Straight, but called off the attack. 

Next time around, on Lap 8 of 17, Antonelli roared past Hamilton on the Hanger Straight to ease into the lead he would not lose to claim the maximum eight championship points and extend his lead over Russell, who finished in P4.

Hamilton kept Antonelli honest after being passed and was within 2.7s at the flag, having fallen back in the closing laps, with Norris, who made a lightning start from sixth to leap to third, emerging ahead in the early battles with Russell and Verstappen to take third place. 

Russell was fourth in the second Mercedes, effectively swapping places with Charles Leclerc, who took fifth, having started fourth, with Verstappen falling back as the race went on to take sixth. 

Oscar Piastri was a lonely seventh for McLaren, with Liam Lawson breaking the stranglehold of the top four teams to defeat Red Bull's Isack Hadjar for the final point on offer in eighth place, although the Frenchman was unhappy with one of Lawson's defensive moves.

Hadjar was ninth with Arvid Lindblad in 10th. 

Sergio Perez picked up a 10-second time penalty from the stewards for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso, but it made no difference to the Cadillac's result, as he also pitted for a new front wing after the contact, relegating him to last.