Racing
© fuji.tim
Charles Leclerc won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, his first victory of 2026 and Ferrari’s second of the season, after Kimi Antonelli’s late challenge collapsed with a front-left wheel-shield failure and an FIA software error left the race to finish behind the safety car.
Leclerc made the decisive first move at the start, beating polesitter Antonelli into the opening corners and taking control of the race. He stayed there through the 52-lap contest, but the strategic threat from Mercedes grew in the second half. Antonelli was left out longer for his first stop and, after finally pitting on lap 35, rejoined 7.5 seconds behind Leclerc with tyres 10 laps fresher.
That set up the fight Ferrari had been trying to avoid. Antonelli steadily cut into the gap and had reduced it to just over two seconds when the Mercedes driver reported on lap 41: “something is broken.” The issue was traced to a failed front-left wheel shield, which badly upset the car’s handling. Antonelli had to pit twice more as Mercedes tried to manage the damage, and a five-second penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits compounded the loss. Instead of fighting for victory, the championship leader was classified 16th and left Silverstone without a point.
The other late twist came when Max Verstappen, running in a podium position, spun off into the Stowe gravel with six laps remaining. His retirement brought out the full safety car and transformed the finish. Ferrari brought in Lewis Hamilton for fresh soft tyres in anticipation of a restart, while George Russell stayed out and inherited second place.
Silverstone then appeared set for a final-lap shootout when race control initially indicated that the safety car would come in on the penultimate lap. But the restart never happened. The FIA said in a post-race statement: “The Safety Car period regulation, Article B5. 13.5, states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure.” It added: “The ‘Safety Car In This Lap’ message was displayed erroneously due to a software error.”
That left Leclerc to take the chequered flag under caution, sealing the ninth win of his Formula 1 career and his first since the 2024 United States Grand Prix. Russell finished second, just 0.427s behind, after recovering from an earlier slow puncture, while Hamilton completed the podium at +0.772.
For the championship, the biggest swing came at Mercedes. Antonelli’s non-score cost him heavily, cutting his advantage over Russell to 25 points.