SILVERSTONE, United Kingdom, July 5, 2026 – Charles Leclerc took Ferrari’s second win in three races in a dramatic British Grand Prix as chaos broke out in the closing stages.
Leclerc, claiming his first victory for nearly two years, led home Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton as the race finished confusingly under a safety car.
Race control initially said the safety car would be coming in with one lap to go, setting the scene for a thrilling one-lap dash to the finish, but it then stayed out, meaning the order remained the same until the chequered flag.
After the race, a statement from governing body the FIA said “the ‘safety car in this lap’ message was displayed erroneously due to a software error”.
Silverstone has seen many remarkable races in its long history but this was one of the most extraordinary.
First, championship leader Kimi Antonelli suffered a wheel-fairing failure when he was closing in on the Ferrari for the lead, and seeming set for another win.
As Antonelli dropped down the field, amid a series of increasingly desperate radio messages, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed at Stowe while chasing Hamilton for second place.
The safety car for that incident promoted Russell to second place as Mercedes decided not to pit the Briton while everyone else took fresh tyres.
Antonelli crossed the line ninth but was demoted to 16th by a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits – incurred while he was battling with the problems with his car.
Adding to the drama, Hamilton was investigated after the race for a yellow-flag infringement but the stewards gave him a reprimand rather than imposing a penalty.
The result has a major impact on the championship, narrowing Antonelli’s lead over Russell to 25 points. Hamilton is seven points further adrift.
Leclerc said he was “so incredibly happy” even though “unfortunately the end was maybe not the one I will have dreamt of”.
The key stories of an incident-packed race were:
- A superb drive from Leclerc, deserving of ending a long victory drought for the Monegasque
- Contrasting fortunes at Mercedes changing the face of the title battle
- A rare mistake from Verstappen as he sought an unlikely second place for Red Bull
Antonelli’s problems begin at the start
The race started in front of a record crowd of 175,000 fans with the expectation that Antonelli, imperious through the weekend, would cruise to a comfortable victory from pole position.
Instead, a slow start, caused by over-eager use of the accelerator, meant he was passed by both Ferraris off the line, Leclerc sweeping into the lead on the inside, Hamilton moving into second on the outside.
That set the pattern of the race, Leclerc building a lead over Hamilton, who fought to hold off Antonelli, just as he had for the first nine laps of the sprint on Saturday.
This time, Hamilton held the Mercedes back for one more lap, and Leclerc was 4.4 seconds ahead when Antonelli passed the seven-time champion into Copse on lap 11.
Leclerc stopped for fresh tyres on lap 25, by which time Antonelli was 2.5secs adrift, while Mercedes kept the Italian out for a further 10 laps, aiming to build a tyre offset for the second stint.
When Antonelli rejoined, he started carving chunks out of Leclerc’s lead until lap 41, when the Mercedes driver reported a problem with his car.
Antonelli pitted and had fresh tyres fitted, only to find the problem remained when he rejoined the track, and he had to come in again to have the loose brake duct removed, dropping to the back of the points places.
Last-lap restart does not happen in safety-car confusion
Leclerc now looked locked in for victory, but there was great doubt over second place.
Hamilton, who earlier had a five-second penalty for moving before the lights went out at the start, was 20 seconds back from his team-mate, but Verstappen was closing in and Russell was going with the Dutchman, having dropped back because of a pit stop on lap 34 forced by a slow puncture.
But on lap 48, Verstappen spun off at Stowe. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the rear wing did not close properly, meaning Verstappen had less downforce as he turned in, causing his loss of control.
Verstappen’s off brought out the safety car, and initially it looked as if there would be a short blast to the finish with the Ferrari drivers contesting victory on fresh tyres.
But Russell did not pit, so he would have taken any restart between them, which would have delayed Hamilton’s charge, even by a few seconds.
Mercedes decided to leave Russell out because Verstappen had crashed with only four laps to go, and there was doubt about whether the incident would be cleared in time.
As the cars came around to approach the start of the final lap, the timing screen initially said the safety car would pull in, but a few seconds later that message was replaced by another saying it would stay out.
The full post-race FIA statement said: “The safety-car period regulation 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.”
The safety-car finish guaranteed Leclerc’s first win since the 2024 US Grand Prix in Austin.
Russell’s podium was his first at his home race and he said: “Really pleased to be standing here, even though it was a very lucky race. I had the puncture but I was lucky to get the safety car at the end.”
Hamilton said: “I just didn’t have it today. I jumped the start, got a five-second penalty but Charles had the pace on me today. I struggled with the balance of the car. I gave it everything and I am grateful to be up here.”
Lando Norris took fourth for McLaren after a solid but quiet race as the world champions wait for upgrades due at the Hungarian Grand Prix this month.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was fifth, followed by the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and 18-year-old British rookie Arvid Lindblad.
Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri dropped to the back after being involved in a first-lap incident and recovered to 11th, behind the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.
Analysis – ‘Antonelli phenomenal but the challenge is coming’
Damon Hill, 1996 world champion, on BBC Radio 5 Live
“This is the way Formula 1 championships unfold. It Is still a long way to go, loads of points on the table. It is always in a state of flux, the form is never fixed.
“It was a bit of luck that George Russell deserved. He’s had a lot of bad luck but you cannot just ignore Kimi Antonelli. The guy is phenomenal, he’s delivering nearly every time. It was bad luck he had a mechanical issue, you’re going to have mechanical issues in a long season with cars that are new but the challenge is coming.
“Certainly Ferrari’s challenge is real. We thought that they were going to be massively struggling here and then they weren’t, they were on the pace.”
Top 10
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4. Lando Norris (McLaren)
5. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
6. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
7. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
8. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
9. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
What’s next?
It is a two-week break before the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix at the magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit, from 17-19 July.
