Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver who leads the championship, had dominated the weekend earlier, winning Saturday’s sprint and taking pole for the Grand Prix. The sprint victory extended his points advantage to 43 and suggested he was well placed to control the race.
On Sunday, Leclerc made a strong start. Hamilton ran close behind and, according to the Ferrari driver, held up Antonelli in the early laps—not intentionally, Hamilton later said, but because his tyres were wearing unevenly and he was difficult to pass. Antonelli eventually overtook Hamilton and began closing on Leclerc; by his final pit stop he was on tyres roughly ten laps fresher and had reduced the gap rapidly.
Antonelli’s challenge collapsed when a technical problem developed on the left side of his car, later identified as a failure of the front wheel shield. The fault left the Mercedes hard to steer; a subsequent track-limits penalty pushed him further down the order, and he finished 16th, without championship points.
Max Verstappen’s race ended even earlier. Running third after an early virtual safety car triggered by Nico Hülkenberg’s retirement, Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull and crashed into the barriers, bringing out the full safety car. With only a few laps remaining, officials elected not to restart the race, and Leclerc took the win behind the safety car.
Ferrari’s weekend delivered more than a single victory. Hamilton, who served a five-second penalty for a false start, recovered to finish third — his second podium since joining the team — though he faces a post-race investigation for an alleged yellow-flag infringement. The result underlines that both Ferrari cars can now be competitive at the same circuit, reversing a pattern earlier this season when performance was more one-sided.
Mercedes, despite the setback, remains in control of the championship. Russell’s second place kept him firmly in the title fight, and Antonelli’s scoreless Sunday reduced his lead to 25 points rather than eliminating it entirely. Mercedes engineers are expected to analyze the wheel failure closely in the coming weeks.
McLaren had a tougher afternoon than their standings suggested. Lando Norris recovered to fourth after a poor start, while Oscar Piastri’s race was compromised almost immediately by contact that damaged his front wing and required an early pit stop, leaving him outside the points.
Audi’s weekend mirrored where the manufacturer stands in its first season back in Formula 1: promise and misfortune in the same garage. Nico Hülkenberg retired early with a hydraulic issue that caused the virtual safety car, while team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto brought the second Audi home in eighth—a solid points finish for a team still developing race competitiveness.
These developments sit alongside the sport’s 2026 technical rules. DRS has been removed and replaced by movable front and rear wings that switch between low-drag and high-downforce configurations; drivers within one second of the car ahead can activate additional electrical power to attempt overtakes, while the car being followed receives its own defensive power window. The new systems have shifted overtaking dynamics toward straight-line speed and energy management as much as tyre strategy — a factor visible at Silverstone’s long corners and heavy braking zones, and one possible reason a Red Bull lost control where it did.
In the constructors’ standings, Ferrari closed the gap to Mercedes, which remains comfortably ahead after consistent scoring by both its cars. Alpine also scored well, with Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly both finishing in the points, highlighting a competitive midfield that rewards clean, error-free races as much as outright pace.
Race result — 2026 British Grand Prix, Silverstone (July 5, 2026): Top 5
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
George Russell (Mercedes) +0.4s
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.7s
Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.1s
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) +1.5s
Drivers’ Championship — Top 7 after Round 9
Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — 179 pts
George Russell (Mercedes) — 154 pts
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — 147 pts
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — 108 pts
Lando Norris (McLaren) — 97 pts
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 82 pts
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) — 76 pts
Constructors’ Championship — Top 4 after Round 9
Mercedes — 333 pts
Ferrari — 255 pts
McLaren — 179 pts
Red Bull Racing — 128 pts
Next on the calendar: the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 19, 2026.
Copyright per le immagini:
- Ferrari: © Ferrari S.p.A. Scuderia Ferrari HP
- MERCEDES: Mercedes-Media-Database-Photo-Richard-Pardon
