Leclerc Wins 2026 British GP

Charles Leclerc claimed victory in a bizarre finish to the 2026 British Grand Prix from George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. 

Leclerc snatched the lead from Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the start and led until he pitted on lap 26 and Antonelli followed suit 10 laps later, before the Italian reeled Leclerc in until a windshield broke to curtail his challenge for victory.

Leclerc’s first win since the 2024 US GP was confirmed by a safety car finish after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun off at Stowe on lap 47, although racing was meant to recommence on the final lap until stewards suddenly left the safety car out until the checkered flag.

George Russell jumped Lewis Hamilton to claim his first home podium with a second-placed finish ahead of his former Mercedes teammate.

Last year’s winner, Lando Norris finished fourth ahead of Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.

Antonelli finished 16th after he received a five-second time penalty for track limits, which meant that his title lead over Russell was reduced to 25 points.

Antonelli at lights out initially enjoyed a great start but in the second phase of the getaway, Leclerc cut across the inside to take the lead whilst Hamilton cleared Antonelli around the outside as Russell held fourth from Hadjar.

Verstappen had suffered power unit issues in qualifying but was able quickly clear Norris for sixth then forced a late braking move on lap three into the Loop to take fifth on the inside from Hadjar.

Further back, Piastri ran wide at Abbey and suffered front wing damage which elevated Lawson and Lindblad into eighth and ninth positions respectively, whilst Piastri pitted and ended any realistic hopes of a top-ten finish.

Williams’ Alex Albon meanwhile spun Oliver Bearman’s Haas around at Brooklands, which earned the Thai-Brit a 10-second time penalty.

Up front, Leclerc cut Hamilton adrift and left the nine-time British GP winner to fend off Antonelli until the championship leader passed his title rival on the inside of Copse for second on lap 11.

Everyone else settled in a tyre management phase during which Verstappen cleared Russell on lap 17 into Copse for fourth, only to pit at the end of that lap for the hard tyres which saw him rejoin in seventh whilst Hadjar pitted two laps later in an early attempt to trigger the pit stop window.

None of the main runners however fell for Red Bull’s bait as Hadjar rejoined tenth but quickly cleared Bortoleto on the inside of Copse for ninth.

Leclerc out in front held a steady lead of circa four seconds to Antonelli until the Italian lowered his gap into the three-second range on lap 20.

Any hope of a cheap pit stop under a virtual safety car (VSC) for many teams were dashed on lap 22 when it was briefly deployed due to an umbrella blown onto the circuit.

Ferrari though pitted Hamilton two laps later but the Brit was jumped by his compatriot, Russell because he had to serve a five-second time penalty due to a false start, although both drivers joined behind Verstappen albeit with fresher tyres than the four-time champion.

Leclerc pitted on lap 26 to concede the lead to Antonelli who opted to stay out until lap 36 and rejoined with a seven-second deficit to the Monegasque.

Russell and Hamilton meanwhile reeled Verstappen in by lap 29 when Hamilton swept around the outside of his former Mercedes teammate into Copse for fourth, only for Russell to repass him through Stowe.

Hamilton then swept round the outside of Russell through Brooklands into Luffield on lap 31, only for the latter to repass him on the inside of Copse much to the home crowd’s delight, but Russell was forced to pit on lap 35 due to a puncture.

Verstappen however was eventually caught and passed by Hamilton with an outside move through Brooklands into the inside of Luffield on lap 38.

The VSC was briefly redeployed on lap 39 after Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg stopped on the inside of Copse but Antonelli shortly afterwards reeled Leclerc in, until he suffered a windshield issue which slowed him down and forced him to pit on lap 42 initially under belief of a broken part.

Mercedes however sent him back out on track and subsequently found the windshield issue, which they were able to remove in another stop two laps later, which left him 10th and penalised five-seconds for breach of track limits caused by his windshield issue.

The safety car however was deployed on lap 48 after Verstappen spun out at Stowe at the end of the previous lap, which saw numerous drivers pit for the soft tyres and allowed Russell to jump Hamilton by virtue of having made his second stop earlier albeit for medium tyres.

The race eventually concluded under the safety car amidst bizarre scenes after the stewards initially decided to bring the safety car in at the end of the penultimate lap, only to reverse their decision just as the safety car was about to return to the pit lane.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	52	52 Laps
2	George Russell	Mercedes	52	+ 0.427
3	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	52	+ 0.772
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	52	+ 1.149
5	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	52	+ 1.598
6	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	52	+ 2.023
7	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	52	+ 2.214
8	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	52	+ 2.413
9	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	52	+ 3.229
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	52	+ 3.445
11	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	52	+ 4.014
12	Carlos Sainz	Williams	52	+ 4.391
13	Oliver Bearman	Haas	52	+ 5.245
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	52	+ 5.512
15	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	52	+ 7.403
16	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	52	+ 8.005
17	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	52	+ 8.162
18	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	51	+ 1 Lap
19	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	51	+ 1 Lap
RET	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	46	Spin
RET	Alex Albon	Williams	45	Damage
RET	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	37	Mechanical