Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli caught and overtook Lewis Hamilton to secure victory in a thrilling sprint race at the British Grand Prix.

While McLaren's Lando Norris, Mercedes' George Russell and Red Bull's Max Verstappen engaged in intense position battles during the early laps at Silverstone, Antonelli stayed patient before closing in on Hamilton at the front.

After Hamilton defended against an initial Antonelli challenge at the start, the 19-year-old Italian allowed the contest to settle before powering past the Ferrari on the Hangar Straight on lap eight by carefully managing his battery charge.

Hamilton held on determinedly but could not stop Antonelli from extending his championship lead further to 43 points over Russell.

"It was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis," Antonelli said. "We were both pushing very hard. When I got into overtake (mode), I knew my chance was coming.

"I got a good run out of (Turn) Four. He went a bit wide and I think he used boost to defend and I just waited and then used it out of (Turn) 13, everything I had, and made the move."

Behind the leaders, Norris produced a strong performance to charge from sixth on the grid to third after the opening lap, and briefly overtook Antonelli for second before the Italian reclaimed the spot.

Several chaotic laps followed as Norris, Russell and Verstappen exchanged places before Norris secured third and pulled clear of the fight behind.

"It was a very good race," the world champion said. "I'm very, very happy, good start, good first lap, not the pace to go with these guys but had a good battle with George. Pleasantly surprised.

"I was fighting the car everywhere to be honest. It wasn't a straightforward race and I knew George would be catching, like he was towards the end of the race. We're not on a similar level to these guys (Mercedes and Ferrari) on car performance. "

Russell briefly advanced to third from fifth on the grid after the first lap, passing Verstappen around the outside of Turn Four, dropping behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri on the Wellington Straight and then overtaking both McLarens before the lap ended.

Yet he lost two positions over the following two laps as first Norris and then Verstappen moved ahead.

He said: "Lap one was great, did two great overtakes in two corners. Then I got a bit left vulnerable on the next straight and got overtaken by the McLaren. So I need to sort of understand how I managed to pull the moves off but then I lost the positions again anyway.

"P3 is where I probably should have finished. Finished up P4, one point less. Not ideal."

Russell managed to pass Verstappen again on lap nine before the four-time champion dropped back into the path of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who overtook the Red Bull a lap later.

Verstappen fell back but held off McLaren's Oscar Piastri to finish sixth.

Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson resisted pressure from Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in the final laps to claim the last points place.

Qualifying for Sunday's main grand prix is at 16:00 BST on Saturday.