F1 British Grand Prix 2026 recap

Charles Leclerc picks up first win of the season with British Grand Prix win

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won the British Grand Prix 2026 to pick up his first win of the Formula One 2026 season. Late drama in the race saw pole sitter Kimi Antonelli suffer a big mechanical issue and Max Verstappen having to retire after a crash which meant, Mercedes’ George Russell finished second ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who made his double podium finish for Ferrari. The race had an anti-climactic finish, behind the Safety Car and Ferrari’s decision to pit Hamilton during the Safety Car meant that he lost out on second place.

Antonelli’s issues meant that the Italian suffered a massive blow in championship standings with Hamilton and Russell both making up big ground. For Leclerc, it was his first win since the United States Grand Prix 2024 and now sees Ferrari pick up two wins in the last three races. 

As the lights went off, it was pole sitter Kimi Antonelli getting past both Ferraris heading into the first corner as Charles Leclerc led from teammate Lewis Hamilton. The midfield saw some action on the opening lap as Alex Albon was clipped and dropped right to the back of the grid while Oscar Piastri also was hit and fell to P20 after suffering from front wing damage. Piastri was in the pits on lap three for a front wing change while the Red Bulls were involved in an intra-team battle on track as Isack Hadjar was chasing down his more experienced teammate, Max Verstappen for fifth place after Verstappen had picked him off at Loop a lap before.

Hamilton and Albon were hit with penalties with Albon getting a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Ollie Bearman at the start while Hamilton got a five second penalty for a false start. By lap 10, the top four were the Ferrari and Mercedes duos with Leclerc almost three seconds clear of Hamilton while Antonelli was within half a second of Hamilton. Antonelli went on the inside of Hamilton at Copse to snatch second place from Hamilton. Behind them, the two Red Bulls were in action as Verstappen was catching Russell for fourth place while Hadjar was being caught by Lando Norris for sixth place. Verstappen went around George Russell on lap 17 heading into Copse and he kept Russell behind before heading into the pits. Verstappen rejoined in seventh place and moved up to sixth instantly as his teammate, Hadjar came in to pit on the following lap. 

The Virtual Safety Car came out momentarily on lap 22 due to an umbrella flying onto the track and as soon as it was removed, the VSC ended as racing resumed with Leclerc holding a 3.9s lead over Antonelli. Hamilton came in on lap 23 while Russell followed him into the pits as well. Russell just about managed to come out ahead of Hamilton, taking fifth spot while Hamilton slotted in at sixth. The race leader came in for his stop on lap 25 which saw Kimi Antonelli take the lead again and after a swift stop by Ferrari, Leclerc rejoined in second place, comfortably ahead of Norris, coming out more than three seconds clear of the reigning world champion. A slowish stop for Lando Norris saw him pit from third place and come out in seventh place while Lewis Hamilton stormed around the outside at Copse to take fourth place before Russell fought back on the Hangar Straight to retake the spot. Russell and Hamilton continued to squabble and Hamilton once again got past Russell going around the outside at  Brooklands but once again Russell retook the place at Copse, going on the inside of the Ferrari. Russell was informed of a puncture on his right rear but that didn’t seem to affect the Mercedes driver as he was trying to take third place from Verstappen but Verstappen managed to keep the place. 

Mercedes eventually called Russell in for a change of tyres on lap 35 but Verstappen’s battle with Russell meant that Hamilton got much closer to Verstappen while Russell came out with his new set of tyres in P7. Race leader and the only one in yet to pit, Kimi Antonelli, came in for his stop on lap 36 and rejoined in second place, 10 seconds clear of Verstappen in third and Antonelli was seven and a half seconds behind Leclerc. On fresher tyres, Antonelli picked off a second off the lead inside the first lap of him rejoining the track as he was cruising on track and moving away from Verstappen in third place. Hamilton went around the outside of Verstappen to take third place from Verstappen on lap 38 before the VSC came out again as the Audi of Nico Hülkenberg stopped on track which saw Verstappen, Norris and Hadjar all come in for their second pit stops. 

The VSC ended the following lap when the Audi of Nico Hülkenberg was cleared off the track and it was Leclerc resuming racing with Antonelli five seconds behind him. After looking like he was catching Leclerc at a rate of knots, Antonelli’s Mercedes slowed down which saw him come in for a stop to change his front win and the championship leader rejoined in fifth place, just behind his teammate. Norris stormed past Antonelli at Brooklands as the young Italian continued to struggle with his car. Antonelli was asked to come in for another stop as the team looked to remove the left side wheel shield. The Mercedes driver came out in 10th place with eight laps to go. As the issues remained for Antonelli, Mercedes asked him to come in to retire his car but Antonelli decided to carry on for a point. The race saw its first Safety Car on lap 48 as Verstappen beached himself in the gravel at Stowe. Ferrari called Hamilton in and left Leclerc out which saw Russell take second spot. The race ended behind the Safety Car which meant it was Leclerc taking the win from Russell with Hamilton finishing third. Lando Norris finished fourth ahead of Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly who rounded out the points places. Kimi Antonelli, who finished 9th on track, was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits and it meant he dropped to P16.

Antonelli’s no points in Silverstone means that Russell now has cut down the lead to 25 points while Hamilton is only seven points behind Russell. For Racing Bulls and Alpine, it was a strong weekend as both teams ended with double points with Racing Bulls walking away with a strong haul of 14 points. Racing will take a two week break before moving to Belgium for the Belgian Grand Prix 2026.