A record 565,000 are expected through the turnstiles at Silverstone this weekend, the majority of them hoping for a hat-trick of British winners at the birthplace of Formula 1.
That and the more fanciful ambition of a first all-British podium in Formula 1 since 1968 look likely to have a major spanner in the works in the form of the diminutive Kimi Antonelli.
And the same could be said of Lewis Hamilton’s quest to close the gap in the championship race and have aspirations for that outright record eighth world title in 2026 on the evidence of Saturday’s on-track action.
After enduring two challenging races, normal service was resumed for championship leader Antonelli and nor did it come with any particular exuberance of youth in winning the sprint race and then topping qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Instead, in the sprint, he was happy to bide his time rather than rush an audacious passing manoeuvre on polesitter Hamilton. First, he feigned an attempt at Brooklands before sealing the move at Stowe. Even his post-race message in victory, a muted, “Let’s go, let’s go,” seemed to add to his growing sense of maturity.
It was a performance in stark contrast to his 19 years, and his two closest challengers, teammate George Russell and the man he replaced at Mercedes, Hamilton, will have taken note.
Of that pair, Hamilton looks the brighter prospect to pose a championship challenge despite the ease with which he was picked off by Antonelli. Despite Russell returning to winning ways at the last race, for most of this season he has been repeatedly eclipsed by a driver he fully expected to be his understudy.
For all his blossoming into full adulthood, there was at least a flicker of the teenager under Antonelli’s race helmet when team boss Toto Wolff asked if he was happy to have to push for the fastest lap despite it not earning him a point as it would in Sunday’s full Grand Prix. In response, he chuckled warmly in agreement.
It is worth remembering that he had still not celebrated his first birthday when Hamilton made his British Grand Prix debut. In the subsequent years, the 41-year-old has won his home Grand Prix nine times. The tens of thousands packing out Silverstone would dearly love that to go into double digits, but that appears a hard ask.
Instead, Antonelli is increasingly beginning to play the part of the champion elect with his pace, race craft and general sense that this is where he belongs, as though it was his birthright.
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As if to back up that point, he was again a class apart in qualifying. Russell had set an early pole marker in Q3, but his teammate didn’t just beat it but took more than three-tenths of a second off that as if to highlight the current disparity between the pair. And to further compound Russell’s misery, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Hamilton both eclipsed his time to leave him fourth for Sunday’s Grand Prix start.
Back in the sprint race, Hamilton had just about kept Antonelli at bay off the start line, but hopes of keeping position all the way to the chequered flag were slowly eroded, lap after lap making it seem like he was hunted prey.
On lap eight, he hinted he was trying to pass Hamilton at Brooklands, but the older man used his power boost to initially defend before Antonelli scythed passed moments later at Stowe. As Antonelli put it, he then “tried to get into the rhythm and try to break the overtake he had”. Once he was a second clear, the duel was over.
Having stretched his advantage over Russell to 43 points in the championship standings, he said: “Obviously the momentum is there and we’re doing a great job with the team, but we can’t let out guard lower because Lewis and Ferrari are doing an incredible job, and Red Bull and McLaren are coming, and George is doing an amazing job. We need to keep raising the bar and keep delivering performances.”
One wonders where the ceiling is for Antonelli. On the evidence currently, the sky’s the limit and he is the championship favourite for good reason even with much of the season left to run.
It might not have been the all-British podium those in the packed stands had hoped for, but Hamilton led home a British 2-3-4 ahead of Lando Norris and Russell in the sprint.
In a frantic start to the race, there were all manner of changed places behind the top two before they all seemed to settle into a natural order to the finish.
Defending champion Norris aired his frustration at his left rear tyre faltering while also taking umbrage when his race engineer Will Joseph told him to conserve fuel late on. The reality was it didn’t affect his position and, on reflection, he was happy with P3 after some previous difficulties.
As for Hamilton, he again has his sights on trying to upset Antonelli but he is still very much the chaser in the championship battle. As he put it, “We’ve got work to do to close the gap so we can keep up.”
Antonelli and Hamilton share a close bond – unlike their team bosses who were loggerheads prior to the sprint. Wolff had declared his surprise at Ferrari’s ability to bring so many upgrades in this cost-cap era.
The usually affable Fred Vasseur responded with an angry rebuke, taking umbrage at what he deemed to be a cheating accusation.
“When Red Bull is developing or when Mercedes is developing, they are genius,” he said. “When we are developing, we are cheating. I don’t know if it was a joke! If you think that we overshoot the cost cap, for me it’s going into this direction [of cheating].”
Who wins the war of words between Ferrari and Mercedes remains to be seen. Currently on track, there’s only one winner.
Photograph by PA Images via Alamy