Charles Leclerc has won a drama-filled British Grand Prix after the race finished behind the safety car following championship leader Kimi Antonelli tumbling out the points with technical issues and Max Verstappen spinning out in the closing stages of the race.
At the start, Leclerc managed to snatch the lead from Antonelli before Mercedes went long trying the overcut when he stopped on lap thirty-five; he dropped seven seconds behind the Ferrari, who were looking rapid. Antonelli started closing in before a technical issue developed.
Antonelli appeared on course for another win as during the closing stages on fresher tyres he was closing in on Leclerc, before damage to his car forced him to repeatedly run wide and two pit stops later the issue was identified with a steering issue. Antonelli suffered some kind of suspension failure when he was closing in on the Ferrari for the lead, and seemed set for another win.
As Antonelli dropped down the field, amid a series of increasingly desperate radio messages, Verstappen crashed at Stowe while chasing Hamilton for second place. He continued but repeatedly ran wide, losing position before being awarded a five-second time penalty for track limits, which dropped him to sixteenth. But Hamilton is under investigation for a yellow flag infringement, in what was a messy afternoon for him as he also picked up a five-second penalty for a false start
There will be questions about how the race ended behind the safety car, following another drama-filled race at Silverstone, with George Russell finishing seven tenths ahead of the second Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc took his first win of the year and Ferrari’s two-hundredth fiftieth win, as well as Ferrari’s second Grand Prix win in three races, coupled with another Mercedes technical issue, which shows that there could be a chance of challenging for the championship.
Russell, meanwhile, has appeared to struggle all weekend for pace, but then benefited and gained a place when Ferrari made an error by pitting Lewis Hamilton under a late Safety Car caused by Verstappen crashing out with four laps remaining. The stop brought Hamilton out behind Russell and denied Ferrari a one-two.
Leclerc, who won the Grand Prix, said, “It feels incredible. Unfortunately, the end was maybe not the one I will have dreamt of but I mean to win after the last few weekends that have been particularly difficult. All the work we put in to try and get the feeling back in the car, it felt like I found something yesterday between the sprint race and qualifying but I had to confirm that today and today the feeling was back where it needs to be. I am so incredibly happy.”
Hamilton, who finished third, “Firstly a big, big congratulations to Charles; winning at this grand prix is such a special experience and this is a great result for our team. Congratulations to our team. I just didn’t have it today, I jumped the start, got a five second penalty but Charles had the pace on me today. I struggled with the balance of the car, I gave it everything and I am grateful to be up here.”
Russell’s second place means he reduces Antonelli’s title lead by twenty-five points, with two retirements in three races, which has seen his advantage shrink from the sixty-six points it had grown to after he claimed a fifth successive victory a month ago.
Lando Norris finished the race fourth, last year’s race winner missing out on the podium by just under four tenths. The current world champion looked to be the big winner from Verstappen and Antonelli’s woes, which brought him into fourth, but McLaren appeared to still be lacking the pace of the front runners, with him finishing just over three and three-quarters of a tenths ahead of Isack Hadjar.
It was another strong race for Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls. Liam Lawson was four tenths behind Hadjar and nearly two tenths ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who scored his first points at his home Grand Prix after a strong season. Gabriel Bortoletto was eighth as the Audi driver scored his best result of the season so far, eight tenths ahead of the Alpines, with Franco Colapinto finishing two tenths ahead of Pierre Gasly.
Oscar Piastri missed out on the points by half a second, having attempted to salvage points following an incident at the start where he tumbled down the order. The second McLaren finished nearly four tenths ahead of Carlos Sainz; Ollie Bearman was unable to make progress from where he started, as he finished nearly two seconds ahead of Esteban Ocon.
Sergio Perez was nearly two seconds ahead of Antonelli, whose time penalty dropped him down between the Cadillacs and a tenth and a half ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Both Aston Martin’s finished a lap down, with Fernando Alonso finishing a tenth and three-quarters ahead of teammate Lance Stroll
Verstappen was classified in twentieth, the other Brit, Alex Albon, retired following a collision early on before returning to gather data. Last year’s podium finisher Nico Hulkenberg, was the other retirement.
Silverstone once again delivered a great action-packed race and what could be one of the decisive steps towards deciding the championship. With two races remaining until the summer break and reliability creeping in at the halfway stage, this season is proving to be unexpectedly unpredictable
Related
- British GP – Qualifying Result
- BRITISH GP – Kimi Antonelli beats both Ferraris to pole by just under two tenths
- British GP – Sprint Result
- BRITISH GP – Kimi Antonelli fends off Lewis Hamilton by three seconds in a frantic sprint
- British GP – Sprint Qualifying Result
- BRITISH GP – Lewis Hamilton beats Kimi Antonelli by a hundredth to take sprint pole
- BRITISH GP – Lewis Hamilton ahead of Kimi Antonelli by two tenths in practice
- Welcome to the British Grand Prix – 02/07/2026
