Leclerc wins thrilling British Grand Prix from Russell and Hamilton after shock Verstappen exit, Antonelli loses out to mechanical issue

Charles Leclerc won at Silverstone, finally putting an end to a disappointing dry spell | Credit: Formula One

Charles Leclerc took his first victory since Austin in 2024 at the 2026 British Grand Prix from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, the former teammates scoring podiums on home soil.

The Silverstone spectacle had several twists and turns, the first when Leclerc seized the lead from Antonelli at the start, going all the way to the final stages when Max Verstappen beached his car from third and Antonelli was forced to plummet down the order from race win-contention with a mechanical issue, ultimately finishing 16th.

Here's how a thrilling, championship-defining British Grand Prix panned out.

Race Report

Drama started even before the five lights, as Fernando Alonso came to a standstill on track inviting a momentary yellow flag, but the Spaniard managed to keep moving and peeled into the pitlane. 

The rest of the grid lined up on their grid spots as planned, all on medium tyres, as Leclerc immediately pounced on Antonelli at the start, Hamilton passing the Italian driver too to make it a Ferrari 1-2. Meanwhile, Verstappen had already started making early moves from seventh.

Leclerc immediately seized the lead and never looked back | Credit: Formula One

It was absolute melee further back, as Oscar Piastri dropped down the order with front-wing damage and recovered to the pits, as did Alex Albon after tapping Haas driver Oliver Bearman, receiving a 10-second time penalty for the same.

By Lap 3, the order was led by Leclerc a second ahead of Hamilton, followed by Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, the two Racing Bulls led by Liam Lawson, and Carlos Sainz.

Meanwhile, trouble struck Hamilton as he received a five-second time penalty for a false start, the Ferrari driver at that time just six tenths ahead of Antonelli. Up ahead, Leclerc had pulled the gap to three seconds to Hamilton, the seven-time champion starting to struggle with graining.

On Lap 11, Antonelli made the long-awaited move on Hamilton into Copse. Leclerc ahead was the next target for Antonelli, the Ferrari driver now 4.2 seconds into the lead.

Red Bull’s frustrating weekend continued as Verstappen radioed in, clearly irritated with his faulty downshifts, a familiar tirade from the Red Bull driver. Another driver with a much worse race so far was Piastri, now running down in 21st on the hard tyres after the early incident that damaged his front-wing.

The early stages saw battles for both the lead and the podium spots between the big four teams | Credit: Formula One

Up in fourth, net-third considering Hamilton’s penalty, Russell was busy fending off Verstappen but his efforts went in vain as the Red Bull driver took the position into Copse on Lap 17.

Right after completing that move, Verstappen was the first of the front-runners to pit, taking a set of hard tyres and giving other teams an incentive to react. Hadjar was the next to pit on Lap 20 but suffered a slow stop, just as his teammate set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, things were starting to look sunnier for Hamilton as he was back to matching Leclerc’s pace, and began to attempt building a buffer to nullify his penalty. 

In a bizarre turn of events, a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed on Lap 23 for a stray umbrella that flew onto the track. The following lap, Hamilton was ordered to pit despite him emphatically stating that his tyres were good. After serving the five-second time penalty, Hamilton rejoined the track in sixth and was told to push hard during his outlap.

Meanwhile, Russell had also opted to pit at the same time and jumped Hamilton in the pits for fifth. On Lap 25, the race leader Leclerc was called into the pits and received a tidy 2.4-second stop, promoting Antonelli to the lead. 

Kimi Antonelli was furious after being undercut by his rivals | Credit: Formula One

Leclerc managed to jump Norris and lined up right behind Antonelli, the Italian teenager was furious over the radio, exclaiming: “Don’t let other people undercut me!”

On Lap 29, Norris boxed from third as the podium battle intensified between the McLaren driver, Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton. Norris rejoined the field in seventh behind Hadjar. 

Hamilton sized up a move on Russell, going wheel-to-wheel with the Mercedes driver into Copse and momentarily taking fourth, but Russell quickly retook the position. The battle between the former teammates continued into Lap 31, Hamilton retaking the position at Brooklands but Russell once again sliding ahead of Hamilton.

Up in the race lead, Antonelli was frustrated at still running on 32-lap old medium tyres, while his race engineer Peter Bonnington patiently told him that they’d go for another lap.

Russell meanwhile received the message that he had a puncture, but his pace was unaffected for the moment as he pulled away from Hamilton and started applying the pressure on Verstappen. Despite the weak puncture, Russell was called into the pits on Lap 35, bowing out of the podium fight for the moment and leaving Verstappen and Hamilton to it.

George Russell and Max Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel on numerous occasions | Credit: Formula One

Antonelli finally pitted on Lap 36, rejoining the track 7.7 seconds behind Leclerc. Soon after that, Nico Hülkenberg stopped on track, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 39, letting Norris and Hadjar pit.

With just 11 laps to go, the race-defining moment came with Antonelli slowing down on track with a wheel-shield issue, while Leclerc was cruising 20 seconds into the lead. Antonelli sounded desperate over the radio to not box to retire, staying out and pleading with the team to try and salvage at least one point while he ran in 10th after pitting and changing the front-wing. 

A larger issue for Antonelli was still unresolved, causing him to exceed track limits which eventually led to a five-second time penalty for the championship leader, Franco Colapinto the closest driver to him in the order.

On Lap 48, another dramatic moment came as Verstappen went off from third into the gravel at Stowe, prompting the full Safety Car after his Red Bull was left stricken. Just as Verstappen's incident unfolded, Albon too was called to the pits to end his race early, marking two retirements in one lap. Several drivers including Leclerc in the lead pitted, as did Hamilton in second, but Russell opted to stay out.

The race finished under the Safety Car brought out after Verstappen's crash | Credit: Formula One

On Lap 50, the Safety Car period continued, with Leclerc in the lead followed by Russell — who had jumped Hamilton by staying out — Norris, Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Antonelli still running despite the penalty and Colapinto in 10th after starting 19th ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.

The Safety Car continued into the final laps, unfortunately denying us of a last-lap shootout but meaning that Leclerc was able to comfortably take a ninth career victory. The podium was completed by Russell and Hamilton, with Norris, Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad, Bortoleto, Colapinto and Gasly rounding out the points.

Find full results here.

Leclerc took Ferrari's 250th victory in Silverstone | Credit: Formula One

Championship Standings

There has been plenty of movement in the Drivers' standings following this sprint round, as Leclerc moves back up to fourth in the championship with his sprint points haul and Grand Prix victory. Meanwhile, Antonelli's once sizeable championship advantage has been sliced down to race win-points distance to Russell, who's on 154 points.

Hamilton is just seven points behind, with a three-driver championship battle now rapidly taking form.

Over in the Constructors' standings, Mercedes' advantage remains, with the top four teams maintaining order. Meanwhile, the mid-field battle intensifies, as Racing Bulls' consistency rewarded them, placing them just one point behind Alpine in fifth with 60 points.

Up Next

From one iconic venue to another, we head to Spa-Francorchamps next for the Belgian Grand Prix from 17th to 19th July, where the Mercedes vs Ferrari battle is sure to resume with gusto.