Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended a nearly two-year long winless streak and tightened up the F1 championship standings in the process Sunday, emerging victorious at the British Grand Prix.
The win was secured under caution, as Max Verstappen’s crash with four laps remaining put out the safety car, which enabled Leclerc to coast to victory without duress.
“I’m so, so happy,” Leclerc said. “It feels really good to be back on the top step.”
Leclerc had not won an F1 race since Oct. 20, 2024, the United States Grand Prix. He took home three victories that season on his way to a third-place finish.
Despite the recent dry spell, Leclerc has kept himself in the running, amassing enough points to net a fifth-place finish a season ago. The Monaco native is now running fourth in 2026, 71 points behind leader A.K. Antonelli.
“It’s not something I’ll think about just yet,” Leclerc admitted when asked about his team’s chances at finishing the season on top. “We’ll see at the end of the season.”
Antonelli’s lead on the field shrank considerably Sunday after the Italian suffered a suspension failure that took him from second with 11 laps to go all the way down to 16th.
The Mercedes driver checkered in ninth at the Silverstone Circuit but was handed a five-second penalty for running off circuit multiple times in an attempt to push his car past the finish line, leaving him points-free.
Mercedes teammate George Russell, fresh off a victory in Austria, cruised into second thanks to a decision to remain on old tires. In one race, Russell cut Antonelli’s lead in the standings from 43 points down to 25.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who did break for new tires, landed in third place. The result matched the Ferrari driver’s current status in the standings, where he’s now seven points behind Russell.
That could be a best-case scenario for Hamilton, who is expected to be investigated for a yellow flag infringement.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in fourth, while Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar rounded out the top five.
–Field Level Media
