Silverstone, England: Charles Leclerc took his first Formula 1 win in nearly two years as a chaotic British Grand Prix ended behind the safety car on Sunday and standings leader Kimi Antonelli missed the points again with a damaged car.
Leclerc surged past Antonelli at the start as the Mercedes driver dropped to third but the Italian was chasing Leclerc down in the final laps when he reported a steering problem. Leclerc took the win under the safety car after a spectacular spin into the gravel from third by Max Verstappen.
“Finally!” Leclerc said over the radio after taking the win.
“This one felt particularly good, even if I wished it was a more normal ending.”
Leclerc leaped out of his car and ran to a crowd of Ferrari staff who surged forward to embrace him, toppling a crowd barrier onto their driver. Leclerc’s last F1 victory was at the United States Grand Prix in October 2024.
After Antonelli reported issues with his car, he came into the pits, but that didn’t help and he started dropping back through the field. Later, Verstappen’s spin shook up the race again.
Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate and title rival George Russell went on to second to deny Ferrari a one-two finish, staying out on old tires when Lewis Hamilton came into the pits under the safety car.
Hamilton had fresh tyres but couldn’t use them because the race finished behind the safety car. He crossed the line third.
Hamilton was also facing an investigation after the race for allegedly infringing yellow-flag conditions around the time he lost the place to Russell.
Antonelli was ninth across the line after ignoring the team’s pleas to retire the car so he could fight for the final points places. He ended up outside the points anyway. The Italian dropped to 16th with a time penalty for going off-track as he wrangled his damaged car around the corners.
AP
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