Charles Leclerc took his first win of the 2026 F1 season after a late safety car chaos.
Published July 5, 2026
Charles Leclerc won a thrilling British Grand Prix at Silverstone, giving Ferrari its 250th Grand Prix victory. The race ended under the safety car on Sunday as championship leader Kimi Antonelli missed out on a top-10 finish.
Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate and championship rival George Russell finished second, with Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari finishing third.
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Hamilton, a nine-time Silverstone winner, had already been handed a five-second penalty for a false start and was later investigated for a yellow flag violation.
Antonelli, who won Saturday’s sprint, leads the title race with 179 points, 25 points ahead of Russell, with Hamilton a further seven points behind in third place.
It was Leclerc’s ninth Grand Prix win and his first since winning the United States Grand Prix in Austin in October 2024, and he finished fourth in the championship with 108 points.
“In the end, I felt particularly good this time,” Leclerc said over the radio after taking the checkered flag.
“I wish for a slightly more normal ending. The hard work paid off, hard times never last long, only the tough survive.”
Antonelli started from pole position, but was overtaken by two Ferraris at the start, then fought back and got into a dogfight with Leclerc.
On lap 42 of 52, the 19-year-old Italian reported trouble and was forced to pit.
When he got out, he limped back to the pits, where mechanics removed the brake cooling inlets. It didn’t help him, and with the addition of a five-second penalty, he could only finish 16th.
Max Verstappen was running a strong third place and looked assured of a podium place when his Red Bull went off the track and into the gravel on lap 48 of 52.
