Kimi Antonelli, a driver for the Mercedes team, secured the fastest time in the second free practice session before the Belgian Grand Prix. He overtook defending champion Lando Norris of McLaren.
The 19-year-old Italian driver set the best lap time of 1 minute 45.944 seconds. This allowed him to pass Norris by 0.190 seconds. Max Verstappen, driving for Red Bull, finished third.
The four-time champion trailed the leader by 0.472 seconds after the team started using the traditional rear wing instead of the 'Macarena' wing, which was criticized and which Verstappen called dangerous. He had previously been involved in accidents at the Austrian and British Grands Prix but managed to return to action and post the best time in the first session on Friday.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Isaac Hajar. Oscar Piastri from McLaren participated in the second Red Bull session, while Franco Colapinto took seventh place for Alpine.
George Russell placed eighth in the second Mercedes session, more than 1.2 seconds behind Antonelli. He was overtaken by Racing Bulls newcomer Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson, who dropped Charles Leclerc's position to eleventh in the second Ferrari session.
The practice session concluded after a lengthy stoppage due to a red flag when Pierre Gasly hit the barriers with his Alpine but remained unharmed. After light rain between sessions, Antonelli once again set the pace, posting 1:46.911, while Verstappen tried to close the gap to his time. A brief delay followed due to a red flag to clear gravel from the track.
After the session resumed, several drivers switched from soft tires to medium tires. Piastri rejoined the race after repairing his hydraulic system during qualifying simulation laps. Hajar quickly moved into first place on soft tires ahead of Verstappen, after which Antonelli regained the initiative, recording 1:45.944 and pulling away from his rivals by almost half a second.
Ferrari showed good results, as both drivers set the best times in the first and second parts of the lap. However, Hamilton finished third behind Verstappen and ahead of Hajar, trailing Antonelli by 0.747 seconds. Russell, who is 25 points behind his teammate in the title fight, attempted a lap on soft tires but was 1.285 seconds slower than the Italian flyer and finished sixth.
Like Russell, Piastri struggled to match his teammate, as Norris took second place with a time of 1:46.134, two tenths slower than the pace. The Australian driver, last year's winner, finished sixth, trailing by 0.982 seconds. With 15 minutes remaining, the session was suspended due to a red flag after Gasly lost control of his Alpine and hit the barriers at the Fangyi chicane. He was uninjured and exited the damaged car, which had lost its rear wing. The session was paused for 13 minutes, allowing the teams only two minutes of active action at the end of the session to complete the program and run several laps on the hilly grid.
Kimi Antonelli, the Italian driver for Mercedes, won the sprint race of the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone. This achievement not only strengthened his lead in the World Championship but also secured him pole position for Sunday's race.
Antonelli took the lead on the eighth of the 17 scheduled laps, overtaking Hamilton and consolidating his championship advantage. After crossing the finish line in first place, he expressed enthusiasm with the team. Later, the world leader commented that the initial laps were extremely competitive against Lewis, stating that both were pushing hard and that the moment was favorable to the team.
Hamilton, who started from pole for the sprint seeking a victory in front of the British crowd, finished second after resisting Antonelli's pressure until the eighth lap. The seven-time champion declared that he gave his all and mentioned the need to improve to narrow the gap, recalling his previous victory in Barcelona-Catalonia, the first since his transition to Ferrari.
Lando Norris, driving for McLaren, completed the sprint podium. The race was marked by several position changes and a fierce battle for third place involving Norris, George Russell (Mercedes), and Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
George Russell, Antonelli's main competitor in the title fight this round, finished the sprint in fourth place, having started fifth. He continued to report unusual pace issues despite arriving at Silverstone motivated by the victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, finished fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri, from McLaren, finished seventh.
With this triumph, which is Antonelli's first since the Monaco Grand Prix, he raised his score to 43 points, increasing the gap to Russell in the Formula 1 World Championship lead. On Saturday, the Italian concluded a perfect day by securing pole position for Sunday's main race, beating Leclerc by a margin of 0.175 seconds on the final lap. Hamilton finished third in qualifying, and Russell dropped back to fourth position after making contact with the wall early in the session. Thus, Antonelli will start the British Grand Prix at the front, immediately followed by the two Ferrari cars of Leclerc and Hamilton, while Russell will start only from fourth position.
