Charles Leclerc drove a fantastic race for Ferrari to win the British Grand Prix despite the Silverstone race ending behind the safety car.
The Ferrari driver headed George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to take P1 while championship leader Kimi Antonelli lost second position with late reliability troubles.
Leclerc had snatched the lead away from polesitter Kimi Antonelli at the start, with third-placed starter Hamilton also following his Ferrari teammate through.
While Charles made his only pitstop, Kimi stayed out with a ten-lap tyre-life advantage offset on the Ferrari driver, only pitting on lap 35 of 52. But on lap 41 Antonelli reported “something is broken” on his Mercedes. It emerged Antonelli’s left wheel shield failed, causing handling issues that made him pit twice to fix the issue but saw Kimi drop outside the top ten, losing 18 crucial points in the drivers’ standings.
Antonelli’s misfortunate sealed the first win of the 2026 season for Leclerc, with a comfortable 20-second lead on teammate Lewis Hamilton.
From third on the grid, Hamilton took a five-second time penalty for a false start, but after sitting out his punishment during his pitstop the seven-time world champion easily came out on top of a three-way fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the Mercedes of George Russell.
Verstappen looked set to claim an unlikely podium despite struggling with his Red Bull’s handling, gearbox and power unit deployment, but the four-time champion dramatically spun off the road at Stowe with six laps to go, beaching himself in the gravel.
Verstappen’s off brought out the safety car, which looked like it was going to set up a manic one-lap shoot-out as the majority of the field pitted for soft tyres. It was like a repeat of the Abu Dhabi 2021 with a final lap shootout.
Russell stayed out on mediums, however, giving his track position on old mediums in second, ahead of Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
But while race control reported the safety car would come in at the end of the penultimate lap, the Mercedes safety car continued on, with Leclerc heading Russell and Hamilton locked into the podium positions.
Hamilton is still to face the FIA race stewards for a yellow-flag infringement. After a post-race investigation, the stewards decided there was no issue and Lewis keeps his podium finish.
Norris ended up in fourth, benefitting from Verstappen’s and Antonelli’s misfortune after the reigning world champion was struggling with his McLaren, in which he was unable to keep up with the competition on Silverstone’s demanding layout.
Isack Hadjar was fifth for Red Bull, ahead of midfield leaders Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad for the impressive Racing Bulls outfit.
Gabriel Bortoleto finally scored hard-earned points for Audi with eighth, with Alpine duo Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten for Alpine.
Antonelli crossed the finish line in P16, seeing his championship lead on teammate Russell reduced to 25 points.
So congratulations to Charles Leclerc in winning at Silverstone. It was anticlimactic end to the British Grand Prix with the leading Ferrari finishing behind the safety car. There was no Abu Dhabi 2021 final lap shootout. Race control denied the opportunity for a thrilling conclusion.
British Grand Prix, race results:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27:11.335
2 George Russell Mercedes +0.427s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.772s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +1.149s
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +1.598s
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +2.023s
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +2.214s
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +2.413s
9 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +3.229s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +3.445s
11 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +4.014s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +4.391s
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +5.245s
14 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +5.512s
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +7.403s
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +8.005s
17 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +8.162s
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF
Charles Leclerc has claimed victory in a dramatic British Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli dropping backwards due to a car issue in the latter stages while a crash for Max Verstappen triggered a late-race Safety Car.
Leclerc made a lightning start, the Monegasque and team mate Lewis Hamilton getting ahead of Antonelli off the line. While Antonelli eventually caught Hamilton for P2, Leclerc remained steady ahead, only losing the lead when he made his pit stop.
That handed P1 to Antonelli, who stretched out his stint before eventually pitting on Lap 36. The Italian promptly went on the chase of Leclerc – but this came undone when he experienced an issue with his car on Lap 41, which the team suggested was a left front wheel shield failure.
After two further pit stops, Antonelli managed to continue on but had dropped to P10, as well as receiving a five-second time penalty for track limits. Further drama then followed when Verstappen spun off into the gravel trap on Lap 48, resulting in the Safety Car being deployed.
With the race then ending under the Safety Car, Leclerc crossed the line to claim his ninth career win ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell – who, in staying out on track while others pitted during the Safety Car phase, managed to leapfrog Hamilton.
The final spot on the podium went to Hamilton – though it was confirmed that the seven-time World Champion will be investigated after the race for a yellow flag infringement – while fellow home favourite Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren.
Isack Hadjar took fifth for Red Bull, ahead of the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. Gabriel Bortoleto scored valuable points for Audi in P8, and the Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/leclerc-wins-dramatic-british-grand-prix-from-russell-and-hamilton-as-antonelli-suffers-issue.3bGl6laB38GIr1PfxJTNmY
Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has questioned the FIA’s handling of the 2026 British Grand Prix’s concluding laps, arguing that race control is not obligated to wait for lapped cars to catch the pack before restarting the race.
The race at the iconic Silverstone circuit ended under safety car conditions, denying the crowd a green-flag finish.
The safety car was deployed on lap 48 after Max Verstappen spun out and into the gravel at Stowe in front of the Landostand. While race leader Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was running in second at the time, both pitted under the safety car, Mercedes’ George Russell stayed out and took second position.
As the chequered flag drew closer, the lapped cars were instructed to unlap themselves, and it looked as though there might have been a final lap of racing when the ‘Safety Car In This Lap’ message appeared on lap 51. Despite the message, the safety car stayed out.
“I am hoping there is a separate reason for not pitting the safety car and not just a change of mind, or a mistake, not to bring it in. We were all denied a proper end to the grand prix,” Brundle explained during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast.
“The whole point of letting the backmarkers through is so they don’t interrupt the leaders and get involved in the race.
“When they are half a Silverstone lap away, they are not going to get in the way with one lap to go. You don’t have to wait for them all to plod around to the back. Maybe something else happened.”
He added: “Whatever the regulations say, it’s not right to wait, especially on a long circuit, for the lapped cars to get through. The whole reason that came in was to stop lapped runners getting in the way of a big grandstand finish and it sometimes brings players back in and they are part of the race again, so there’s a show element to that as well.
“The regulations say ‘if the race director considers it safe for them to do so’ and it was safe because it was a dry day and wasn’t pouring with rain and there was no debris, ‘the message lapped cars may now overtake will be sent to all competitors’.
“It then goes on to say in the many pages of regulations ‘having overtaken the F1 cars on the lead lap, the safety car will extinguish its lights’.
“It doesn’t say they have to be back of the queue. There’s nothing to say you have to wait until they have arrived to the back, it just says ‘you have to proceed at a reasonable speed’.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/martin-brundle-challenges-fia-after-british-gp-safety-car-finish-denied-a-proper-end/10836633/
The FIA has explained a “software error” caused the controversial end to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, with the safety car initially called in for a final-lap shootout before the decision was reversed.
After Max Verstappen crashed with six laps to go, the safety car was deployed, which triggered a frantic finish to the Silverstone race.
Once Verstappen’s Red Bull was recovered from the Stowe gravel trap by the marshals, FIA race control followed its standard procedures by allowing the lapped cars to overtake the train to unlap themselves.
Those cars were cleared on the penultimate lap, but F1 rules state that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure. That lap was set to be the final lap of the race.
However, race control’s messaging flashed up with “safety car in this lap” on the penultimate lap to indicate a one-lap restart was set to take place.
But eight seconds later, the race control messaging system updated with “safety car deployed” and the safety car duly stayed out on track for the final lap, effectively ending the race.
The FIA has moved to clarify the situation, stating: “The Safety Car period regulation, Article B5. 13.5, states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure.
“This process was followed by Race Operations. The “Safety Car In This Lap” message was displayed erroneously due to a software error.”
With the rules followed correctly, it meant Charles Leclerc took victory without a final-lap fight despite pitting for fresh soft tyres in preparation for a restart.
George Russell, who didn’t pit for fresh tyres, duly moved up to second for Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton also pitted for fresh tyres.
The seven-time F1 world champion is still under investigation for an earlier yellow flag infringement.
The focus and sensitivity around late-race restarts in F1 is magnified given the events of the 2021 title decider in Abu Dhabi GP, when the FIA rules were not followed correctly and saw a one-lap restart occur, which enabled Verstappen to overtake Hamilton and take the world title.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fia-explains-safety-car-finish-at-british-gp/10836635/
Charles Leclerc believes “the feeling was back where it needs to be” after taking victory in the British Grand Prix, which was the Ferrari driver’s first win since 2024.
The Monegasque driver claimed victory in Sunday’s 52-lap race after an impressive performance at Silverstone, having taken the lead at the start from polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
Leclerc extended his advantage, initially over team mate Lewis Hamilton and then Antonelli, and only lost the lead after making his sole pit stop before moving back to the front when Antonelli also pitted.
The Mercedes driver began to cut the gap on 10-lap newer tyres, before a car issue meant Antonelli dropped back, with a late Safety Car ensuring Leclerc took his first win since the 2024 United States Grand Prix.
“It feels incredible. Unfortunately the end was maybe not the one I will have dreamt of, but to win after the last few weekends that have been particularly difficult, all the work that we put into trying to get the feeling back in the car,” said the Ferrari driver.
“I felt like I had found something yesterday between the Sprint and Qualifying but I had to confirm that today. And today, the feeling was back where it needs to be. I’m so incredibly happy.”
Leclerc had endured a difficult 2026 season ahead of this weekend, having not reached the podium since Japan back in March, as well as suffering crashes in both Monaco and Barcelona and being outpaced by Hamilton.
The Ferrari driver admitted that it would have been difficult to keep Antonelli behind in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix, and that he was glad the race finished behind the Safety Car.
“With Kimi it would have been close. He was very fast when he was coming towards me, so it would have been very difficult to keep that first place,” said Leclerc.
“Then I heard he had a problem, so I was like ‘okay, I have quite a big gap, it should be straightforward’. But then the Safety Car at the end, and then for whatever reason, I think some back markers had to pass us so I did all the Safety Car at 100, 120kph.
“My tyres were completely cold. So I was sceptical about the restart. It’s not great for the fans that are here at the track, but in the helmet I was happy that there was not a restart to keep that win. It feels really good.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/the-feeling-was-back-where-it-needs-to-be-ferraris-leclerc-reflects-on-impressive-british-grand-prix-victory.3pQljbWC50vuOsF6oob8rw
Kimi Antonelli left Silverstone empty-handed after suffering a mechanical failure during the British Grand Prix – but before that he had been firmly in contention for victory.
Having delayed his pitstop by 10 laps compared to Charles Leclerc, the Mercedes Formula 1 driver was chasing down the Ferrari when an aerodynamic component on the front-left corner of his car broke after he attacked the kerbs on the exit of Copse.
As a result, Antonelli lost several positions and Mercedes even considered retiring the car. Instead, the Italian continued to the finish, crossing the line ninth before being demoted to 16th by a five-second penalty for repeated track limits violations.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed the team’s simulations suggested Antonelli would have caught Leclerc with six laps remaining, setting up a fight for victory.
“Yeah, it’s difficult, you know, that would have been an epic end of the race,” Wolff told F1 TV after the finish. “He would have caught Charles six laps to the end with a huge tyre offset.
“But you know, it’s a mechanical sport. These things can happen.”
Wolff also hinted Formula 1 could review its approach to track limits penalties after Antonelli was penalised despite his repeated excursions beyond the white lines being caused by damage to his Mercedes.
Wolff admitted the team was initially unsure what had caused the damage and considered bringing Antonelli into the pits.
“We were not completely aware and there was the debate whether, for safety reasons, we should pit him. But then he basically dragged it out lap by lap and said, ‘I can do it.’
“And, you know, we had track limits.
“Maybe we can look at the [how] track limits done and reassess. And then it’s two points and that could be important at the end.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toto-wolff-reveals-how-close-kimi-antonelli-came-to-a-silverstone-win/10836646/