Lewis Hamilton has led the way through the 2026 F1 British GP weekend so far, however, in the Sprint Race, the Ferrari driver had to concede to Kimi Antonelli.
On paper, the Silverstone Circuit doesn’t play into the strengths of the 2026 Ferrari, but Lewis Hamilton has dominated the weekend after putting his SF-26 in the top spot in every session. During the sprint, Hamilton was off to a good start and led the way through the opening stages of the Sprint Race. However, on Lap 8 he lost the lead to Championship leader Kimi Antonelli. From then on, Hamilton settled in behind the Mercedes driver to finish the Sprint Race in P2 ahead of fellow Brit Lando Norris.
After the Sprint Race, Hamilton thanked the fans for creating an “amazing” atmosphere.
“Big thank you for everyone that’s here. The crowd is amazing here, and also, this is like the most energy I’ve seen in the pit lane before.”
Hamilton expected it was going to be tough to keep Mercedes behind
Speaking about the Sprint Race, the Ferrari driver noted that he expected it to be a challenge to keep the Mercedes at bay, and he was proven right when Antonello breezed past to claim the victory. While Hamilton gave everything, he conceded that he and the team had work to do to close the gap to Mercedes.
“Tough race to keep the Mercedes behind. I did say that was potentially the case yesterday, and obviously, with it being so windy today, big, big headwind down the back straight.
“I mean, he’s flying past, I mean, I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything, but well done to Kimi [Antonelli], and yeah, we got work to do to try and close that gap so we can keep up.”
Hamilton had no answer to Mercedes’ pace in the 2026 F1 British GP Sprint Race
Knowing it would be a challenge to keep the Mercedes behind, Hamilton strategically used the boost, which ultimately left him vulnerable in Stowe and gave Antonelli the opportunity to close in. Once Antonelli had overtaking mode available, it was hard for the Ferrari driver to keep the Championship leader behind and keep the lead of the 2026 F1 British GP Sprint Race, explains Hamilton.
“They’re particularly quick up to turn six, and so I had to sometimes use a boost there. But one of the biggest places is as you come out and turn, when you come around Stowe Turn 15, you get on the power, and there’s no power, and that’s where he was catching me massively.
“Then, getting into the overtake mode, and once he got the overtake mode, then I couldn’t hold him back off of that because he has extra deployment through the lap, and I couldn’t break that one-second barrier then.
“So as soon as that was lost, I knew he was coming.”
