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Formula OneThere may be celebrations for England in football after their victory over Mexico, but British fans had to settle in Formula One over the weekend. Charles Leclerc led home heroes George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris over the line in a British Grand Prix that has tightened the title race. Mechanical woes hit championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who endured his second Grand Prix in three rounds without scoring points. The 2026 crown is firmly up for grabs, and, after Silverstone, Ferrari have shown they're just as capable as Mercedes of taking it. With a record-breaking crowd cheering the drivers on, a multi-team battle for the podium places began on Lap 1. Antonelli led from pole ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton, but the young Italian wasn't there for long. Leclerc took the inside line at Turn 1, with Hamilton sweeping around the outside to delight any watching tifosi, leaving Antonelli to defend from Russell instead. After so much of the season seeing Mercedes being the team to beat, Ferrari's upgrades have pulled them much closer to their silver rivals, who now had to minimise their losses. This wasn't to be a frenetic fight throughout the field, though. With gaps slowly opening as the drivers managed their Pirelli Medium tyres, it was a cat-and-mouse game to open a passing opportunity. Max Verstappen took an incisive move at The Loop to pass teammate Isack Hadjar for P5, but the battle for P2 was the focal point. Antonelli went wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton at Copse and passed the seven-time champion to begin his pursuit of P1.
Hamilton had no answer to disappoint the masses watching, but Leclerc's pace continued to impress. The gap at the front did not drop, even with Antonelli in clean air, to show the Monegasque's newfound comfort in his 2026 car. Frustration came for the sister Mercedes car, too, as Russell battled and lost P4 to Verstappen at Copse. Verstappen was the big winner after the pit stops shook up the order. His move on Russell allowed him to push on his new Hard Pirelli rubber to gain time on track. Russell and Hamilton pitted on the same lap, with Russell leapfrogging his old teammate after Hamilton served a five-second penalty for moving in his grid box before lights out. The two Brits rejoined behind the Red Bull and began a three-car scrap for P3 as Leclerc and Antonelli checked out ahead. An energy-deployment scrap began between Russell and Hamilton, with the two repeatedly getting alongside and passing one another. The home crowd cheered in delight, but the fighting would not last. A slow puncture for Russell had his team radio him to stop for a new set of tyres, with the King's Lynn driver audibly confused. Nonetheless, he attacked Verstappen for P3 and stayed out for further laps before finally stopping and dropping back to P7.
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This podium fight was not done, though. Hamilton used his fresher Pirelli tyres to jump by Verstappen down the Wellington Straight while Russell's new Mediums had him speeding by Hadjar and Norris, too. Yet the race for the trophies was about to have three huge shifts in the closing laps that turned everything upside down. Antonelli's hopes of victory, which were increasing in his second tyre stint as he closed in on Leclerc, evaporated. A bodywork failure on his front-left wheel saw him pit twice, dropping him down the order. Yet things were even worse for Verstappen. His Red Bull suffered yet another issue at a corner entry, and he spun into the gravel at Stowe, forcing him out of the race. With the Safety Car called out, Ferrari pitted both their drivers for Pirelli Softs, but Mercedes kept Russell out.
With just two-tenths of a second being the difference, Russell passed Hamilton for P2 as Hamilton’s Ferrari left the pit lane to take the position. Russell had gone from P7 to P2 by only making two on-track passes. He would, however, be on old tyres for the resumption of the race if it were to restart. Luck, it seemed, was on Russell's side, with confusing scenes ending the race. A last-lap shootout that would've provided a grandstand finish never materialised. The race director told the Safety Car to enter the pits, then immediately redeployed it. The 2026 British GP ended under the Safety Car, with Leclerc taking victory ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Antonelli crossed the line in P9, but didn't even take those two consolation points thanks to a five-second penalty for track limits. F1 now has a single weekend off before another double-header event to take the sport into the summer break. With Antonelli's grasp on the title lead slipping, Ferrari catching up, and Verstappen's Red Bull future in doubt, Spa-Francorchamps and the Hungaroring will see plenty of drama later this month.
