'Tough' Leclerc delivers Ferrari's 250th win with victory in British GP / Photo: Andrej ISAKOVIC - AFP
'Tough' Leclerc delivers Ferrari's 250th win with victory in British GP
Charles Leclerc claimed his first British Grand Prix victory on Sunday with a consummate drive for Ferrari to win a dramatic and at times controversial race that ended behind a safety car after series leader Kimi Antonelli was hit by mechanical problems.
The 28-year-old Monegasque finished 0.427 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell after he stayed out when both Ferraris pitted with five laps remaining after four-time champion Max Verstappen crashed out.
The decision proved costly for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari who slipped from second to third during the pit-stops as the race stewards chose not to resume the race, as expected, in the final laps.
He had earlier been hit with a five-second penalty for a near-invisible false start.
"I just didn’t have it today. I jumped the start and I got a five-second penalty... but Charles had the pace on,” said a disappointed Hamilton.
As a result, many spectators were left frustrated and puzzled as the race ended in a procession.
Antonelli, who won the sprint on Saturday, still leads the title race with 179 points, 25 ahead of Russell with Hamilton a further seven points back in third.
It was Leclerc's ninth grand prix victory and first since he won the United States GP in Austin in October 2024, and puts him fourth in the championship with 108 points.
It also confirmed Ferrari’s emergence as a force in the title battle after Mercedes had won the opening six races of the season.
"Tough times never last,” said a delighted Leclerc on team radio after his first win since the United States GP in 2024. “Only tough people last."
It was Ferrari’s 250th win and their first at Silverstone since 2022.
Antonelli, who had made a bad start from pole, climbed to second place and looked poised to fight for a win until he made two late pit-stops for car repairs. He battled on but finished 16th
Russell, who recovered from a puncture during the race, claimed his first home event podium finish ahead of Hamilton, who scored a record-extending 16th podium success at his favourite track, where he has won a record ninth time.
"My first podium here – I am so really pleased to be here,” said the Briton.
"I was unlucky with my puncture, but then very lucky with the Safety Car at the end. It’s a shame for the fans to miss the finish."
World champion Lando Norris finished fourth in his McLaren with Isack Hadjar in the other Red Bull in fifth.
The Racings Bulls took the next two slots with Liam Lawson sixth and British rookie Arvid Lindblad, 18, coming in seventh on his British Grand Prix debut.
Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and the Alpine duo of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
- Anti-climax finish -
The race began in near-perfect conditions in front of 175,000 fans, part of a record four-day crowd of 564,000, but ended in puzzlement and disappointment as fans grumbled at the way in which a thrilling spectacle was reduced to a processional finish.
Antonelli made a poor start from his fifth pole position and dropped to third behind both Ferraris on the opening lap while Piastri fell to 14th and Verstappen passed Norris for sixth before taking fifth from team-mate Hadjar on lap four.
By lap six, Leclerc was leading Hamilton by 2.3 seconds with Antonelli just one-third adrift in third and Russell fourth.
He pitted from the lead on lap 26 to hand the lead to Antonelli who came in on lap 35 as Hamilton launched a series of attacks on Verstappen.
The pair duelled hard before Hamilton passed him into Luffield on lap 38, seconds before a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed, after Nico Hulkenberg abandoned his Audi at Copse.
Antonelli was the next to run into technical trouble on lap 42 of 52.
"Something is broken," he radioed. "The car isn’t turning."
It was a damaged wheel shield that required two pit-stops before his vain fight for a point.
All this left Leclerc heading home 20 seconds clear of team-mate Hamilton before Verstappen’s late drama, on lap 47, when he flew off into the gravel at Stowe, triggered a late full safety car intervention.
Ferraris pitted both cars for softs, but Russell stayed out and moved up to second, ahead of the luckless Hamilton as the outcome was decided by a decision taken in the control tower and not with a showdown final racing lap.
R.Santoro--MJ
