F1 British GP: Leclerc shocks Mercedes with win as Antonelli hits trouble

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

RACE

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		52	-			2	25		Ferrari	Ferrari
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63		52	+0.427 0.427	0.427		2	18		Mercedes	Mercedes
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		52	+0.772 0.772	0.345		2	15		Ferrari	Ferrari
4	L. Norris McLaren	1		52	+1.149 1.149	0.377		3	12		McLaren	Mercedes
5	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		52	+1.598 1.598	0.449		3	10		Red Bull	Red Bull
6	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		52	+2.023 2.023	0.425		2	8		RB	Red Bull
7	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		52	+2.214 2.214	0.191		2	6		RB	Red Bull
8	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		52	+2.413 2.413	0.199		2	4		Audi	Audi
9	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		52	+3.229 3.229	0.816		2	2		Alpine	Mercedes
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10		52	+3.445 3.445	0.216		2	1		Alpine	Mercedes
11	O. Piastri McLaren	81		52	+4.014 4.014	0.569		3			McLaren	Mercedes
12	C. Sainz Williams	55		52	+4.391 4.391	0.377		2			Williams	Mercedes
13	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		52	+5.245 5.245	0.854		2			Haas	Ferrari
14	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		52	+5.512 5.512	0.267		2			Haas	Ferrari
15	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		52	+7.403 7.403	1.891		2			Cadillac	Ferrari
16	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		52	+8.005 8.005	0.602		3			Mercedes	Mercedes
17	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		52	+8.162 8.162	0.157		2			Cadillac	Ferrari
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		51	1 lap			2			Aston Martin	Honda
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		51	1 lap			2			Aston Martin	Honda
dnf	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		46	6 laps			2		Retirement	Red Bull	Red Bull
dnf	A. Albon Williams	23		43	9 laps			6		Retirement	Williams	Mercedes
dnf	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		36	16 laps			2		Retirement	Audi	Audi
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