Charles Leclerc headed George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to win the British Grand Prix as Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli lost second place 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 team-mate through.
While Leclerc made his only pitstop, Antonelli stayed out to eke out a handy tyre-life advantage on the Ferrari man, 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 crippling handling issues that made the Italian pit twice to rectify the issue but saw him drop outside the top 10, losing 18 crucial points in the drivers’ standings.
Antonelli’s misfortunate sealed the first win of 2026 for Leclerc, as he nursed a comfortable 20-second lead on team-mate 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 second Mercedes of George Russell.
Verstappen looked set to claim an unlikely podium after struggling with his Red Bull’s handling, gearbox and power unit deployment, but the Dutchman dramatically spun off the road at Stowe with six laps to go, beaching himself in the gravel bed.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Ben Stansall / Pool /AFP via Getty Images
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. 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 vehicle 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. Meanwhile, the finish was a lucky break for Russell, who had suffered more misfortune by having to make an additional pitstop for a slow puncture.
Meanwhile, the finish was a lucky break for Russell, who had suffered more misfortune by having to make an additional pitstop for a slow puncture.
Norris ended up in fourth, benefitting from Verstappen’s and Antonelli’s misfortune after the reigning world champion had been all at sea with his McLaren, which 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 squad.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Gabriel Bortoleto finally scored more hard-earned points for Audi with eighth, the first points finish for the team since the Melbourne season opener, with Alpine duo Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
Luckless Antonelli crossed the finish line in 16th, seeing his championship lead on team-mate Russell dwindle to 25 points.
2026 F1 British Grand Prix results
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– The Autosport.com Team
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