Lewis Hamilton was denied victory in the sprint at Silverstone when he was decisively passed by world championship leader Kimi Antonelli midway through the race.
While it was a disappointment for the seven-time world champion, he could do nothing more to resist the oncoming Mercedes man.
Hamilton and Antonelli were clearly the cream of the field and theirs was a private duel. Worryingly for home hopes ahead of the British Grand Prix itself on Sunday spectators, it is advantage Kimi.
This despite Hamilton, who is in good form for Ferrari this season, getting quickly away from pole and scorching into a decent lead in the early stages of the 17-lap contest. He controlled proceedings for now.
But gradually, the Italian was closing in on the Briton to within the crucial one-second barrier, and decreasing. He nearly passed Hamilton at Brooklands but the old stager deployed his boost to repel the attack.
Lewis Hamilton started on pole and lead for more than half of Saturday’s sprint race
But Kimi Antonelli – the world championship leader – passed the Brit to extend his lead at the top of the standings
The teenage driver celebrated his win with his father, Marco
But, on lap eight, the pressure on Hamilton grew overwhelming down the Hangar Straight and into Stowe. Antonelli emerged in front, where he stayed with Hamilton finishing second and world champion Lando Norris up from sixth to take third after a good start.
It means Antonelli’s championship lead over Hamilton stands at 47 points going into qualifying later today for the main event.
‘It was a tough race to keep the Mercedes behind,’ said Hamilton.
‘I said that was potentially the case yesterday and obviously with it being so windy, a big, big headwind down the back straight, he came flying past.
‘I was pushing as hard as I could. I gave it absolutely everything. But well done to Kimi and we’ve got work to do to try and close that gap so we can keep up.’
The 19-year-old Antonelli heads George Russell by 43 points after the Englishman, in the other Mercedes, could only manage fourth, albeit a place up from his starting position. But, still, his relative lack of speed compared to his young team-mate does not augur well for the remainder of his weekend.
The notable action was largely confined to the early stages, and it was a touch artificial. Yo-yoing exchanges predominated as the cars deployed their power at different points – the curse of this year’s absurd regulation change.
Russell’s highlight was passing the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Norris in successive corners at the end of the first lap. Norris returned the favour. Back to the engineering room for George and his brainboxes.
Hamilton kept Antonelli honest for the rest of the race with a spirited drive on the track where he has enjoyed unparalleled success through nine victories, though in the end the winning margin stood at a healthy 2.7sec. Norris was 9.7sec behind and Russell 10.6sec back.
Charles Leclerc finished fifth for Ferrari. Max Verstappen, who had started third, sixth for Red Bull.