Charles Leclerc survived late-race drama to win the 2026 F1 British GP, which ended behind the Safety Sar following Max Verstappen’s crash. With this, the Ferrari driver ends a 624-day winless drought, scoring his first victory since the 2024 US GP.
Mercedes’ George Russell benefitted from the late-race Safety Car to finish second. Lewis Hamilton crossed the chequered flag in third place, handing Ferrari a double podium finish.
- Leclerc wins ahead of Russell, Hamilton
- Antonelli’s championship lead slashed to 25 points
Leclerc ends F1 victory drought
No points for Antonelli after car trouble, penalty
Leclerc aced the race start, grabbing the lead ahead of his teammate Hamilton and polesitter Kimi Antonelli. He then set about further consolidating that lead, only briefly losing it when he made his pit stop.
Antonelli opted to stretch his first stint till lap 36, and re-joined the track 7.5 sec behind Leclerc. By lap 41, he managed to cut that gap down to just 3.1 sec, but reported car trouble soon after.
Mercedes brought him into the pits to change his front wing and tyres, but the issues persisted. The team ultimately identified a wheel shield failure, and pitted Antonelli once again to remove the affected part. This dropped Antonelli down to P10, but he was dealt yet another blow as he was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Antonelli’s misfortune cleared the way for Leclerc to take a comfortable win. "It feels incredible,” the Ferrari driver said. “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.”
Russell benefits from late Safety Car
Hamilton had also been slapped with a five-second penalty, this time for a false start. But he had climbed his way up to second place towards the end of the race. The Briton was just ahead of Russell, who himself had recovered ground after an unscheduled pit stop due to a slow puncture.
With just five laps to go, Verstappen spun off into the gravel at Stowe, bringing out the Safety Car. While both Ferraris pitted for fresh tyres, Mercedes opted to keep Russell out, handing him P2 ahead of Hamilton. Russell held on to that spot, securing his first F1 podium finish on home soil, as the race ultimately ended behind the Safety Car.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished P4, followed by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. Gabriel Bortoleto finished P8, scoring points for Audi. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, rounded out the top 10.
2026 F1 championship standings
The late Safety Car also hurt Antonelli’s chances. While he was still in the running to score some points, the Safety Car meant he classified down in P16 after his penalty was applied.
As a result, his championship lead has now been slashed to just 25 points from teammate Russell, who moves back up to second overall. Hamilton is third overall, seven points behind Russell.
F1 will next head to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP on July 17-19.
