Martin Brundle saw something ‘painful’ watching Lewis Hamilton fight Kimi Antonelli at Silverstone

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Martin Brundle loved watching Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli fight to win the 2026 F1 British Grand Prix Sprint, but one part of their battle was “painful” to see.

Silverstone erupted last Friday after Hamilton scored a surprise pole position for the third F1 Sprint of the season. Ferrari had not expected to challenge Mercedes around the high-speed track in Northamptonshire, but Hamilton pulled a rabbit out of his hat to pip Antonelli to P1.

Hamilton secured Sprint pole at Silverstone with a 1:28.376 lap, enough to deny Antonelli by a mere 0.011 seconds. The Briton also did enough to prevent the Italian from taking the lead at the start of the Sprint, and even built a lead due to Lando Norris of McLaren starting well.

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Martin Brundle found Kimi Antonelli’s speed differential to Lewis Hamilton in the Silverstone Sprint ‘painful’

But Antonelli rallied and he took the fight to Hamilton once again on Lap 8 of 17, forcing the Ferrari driver to go defensive against the man who replaced him at Mercedes into The Loop and Brooklands. Hamilton’s defence was in vain, however, as Antonelli had kept more of his battery to use later in the lap and got past the seven-time champion on the Hanger Straight.

READ MORE: Leclerc wins the 2026 British GP under the safety car after Verstappen’s crash

Seeing Antonelli overtake Hamilton to win the Silverstone Sprint in such a comfortable way due to their respective battery levels frustrated Brundle, who notes the 19-year-old carried 25mph more than the 41-year-old out of Chapel to get the pass done before they hit Stowe.

Brundle told Sky Sports: “You’ve got to love the make-up of our current F1 grid, [with] the teenager who took over the seven-time champ’s Merc seat in wheel-to-wheel combat, 21 years between their ages.

“Eventually Antonelli, who seems so good in the second half of any stint on a set of Pirelli tyres, had Hamilton on the ropes out of The Loop Turn 4, down the Wellington Straight and into Brooklands Turn 6.

“Lewis used some battery to defend, [while] Kimi maturely bided his time and used overtake mode and all the tools available to pass for the lead down the Hangar Straight. The resulting breeze past was so powerful with a 25mph advantage it was a bit painful to witness.”

Hamilton was essentially a sitting duck when Antonelli made his move for the lead of the F1 Sprint at the British GP last Saturday. While the Briton and Ferrari favoured deploying more energy on the Wellington Straight and through Woodcote to Copse, Mercedes chose to use their battery store later in the lap and it allowed Antonelli to fly past without any challenge.

In the end, Antonelli even won the Silverstone Sprint by 2.745s over Hamilton, who failed to hang onto the teenager’s tail once he lost the lead on Saturday. However, as “painful” as the speed differential between the pair was for Brundle, Antonelli’s racecraft was also very wise.

Antonelli’s teammate George Russell endured a frustrating Sprint at Silverstone on Saturday and had to settle for P4 behind his British compatriot Norris by 0.856s. While McLaren were frustrated about having older-spec Mercedes engines at Silverstone, Russell could not find a clear path to pass Norris as they largely had the same deployment strategies in the F1 Sprint.