07/04/26 06:50:00
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07/04 06:49 CDT Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton in sprint race at F1's
British Grand Prix
Kimi Antonelli beats Lewis Hamilton in sprint race at F1's British Grand Prix
SILVERSTONE, England (AP) --- 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.
"It was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis, we were both pushing very hard,"
Antonelli added later. "Obviously the momentum is there and we are doing a
great job together with the team."
Hamilton was back fighting for a win again after a breakthrough victory last
month at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, his first since moving to Ferrari
last year.
"I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything," Hamilton
said. "We've got a bit of work to do to try and close that gap."
Lando Norris took third in McLaren's white-and-green throwback livery after
briefly running second at the start and then winning a thrilling back-and-forth
battle with George Russell and Max Verstappen for third.
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.
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari, Verstappen sixth for Red Bull, with
McLaren's Oscar Piastri seventh and Liam Lawson eighth for Racing Bulls after
edging out Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar.
Qualifying is later Saturday for Sunday's British Grand Prix.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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