Leclerc wins at Silverstone amidst safety car confusion
Charles Leclerc has finally bagged a win at Silverstone by taking victory in today's British Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver took the lead and benefited from Antonelli's car failure to easily take the win. George Russell finished in second place while Lewis Hamilton finished in third.
It was the perfect weather for an afternoon race at Silverstone with sun all over and zero chance of rain.
Perhaps the Ferraris felt a bit more at ease in this weather as when the lights went out, Leclerc and Hamilton both passed Antonelli to take first and second into the first corner. As Antonelli settled for third closely behind Hamilton, Russell only just maintained fourth with Hadjar very challenging behind. Verstappen was looking at if from 6th place after passing Norris. That took just 2 laps however as on lap 3 Verstappen had enough of looking at his teammate's car and passed Hadjar.
Meanwhile, Piastri endured front wing damage on the first lap and had to pit, dropping down to 21st place, ahead only of Albon after the latter had also pitted - following a bump into a Haas that also earned him a 10 second penalty.
Alonso was 20th after having started from the pitlane following a stoppage on the installation lap. The Spaniard stood still at Becketts for about 20 seconds before continuing, opting to dive into the pitlane as he was out of position with Stroll - set to start from 22nd - already taking position on the grid by that time.
17 minutes into the race Hamilton was handed a 5 second penalty for moving before the starting lights went out. Indeed, Hamilton's car did move ever so slightly a second before the lights went out, stopped again, and then got going when the lights were off. The advantage surely was nothing, but the penalty in line with the rules.
Following that announcement Leclerc steadily kept on building his advantage on Hamilton with the latter eventually getting passed by Antonelli on lap 11, a simple move on the old pit straight. Leclerc was about 4.5 seconds ahead at that time with no immediate reduction of that gap once Antonelli got second place.
Russell followed 4 seconds behind with Verstappen increasingly close despite repeating his complaints about downshifts. On lap 17 the inevitable happened as Verstappen finally made it past the Mercedes in exactly the same spot as Antonelli made his move over Hamilton. Just after that overtake however, Verstappen was called in, changing to hard tyres and rejoining the track in 7th place.
Up in front, Antonelli crept closer to Leclerc but the gap was still 3.5 seconds on lap 22. Hamilton though couldn't keep up and found himself 6 seconds behind Antonelli at that time.
Moments later there was a VSC for about 20 seconds to allow a marshall to recover an umbrella that was swerving over the grass, risking to end up on the track.
Two laps later Russell switched to hard tyres on his stop, returning to the track behind Verstappen. Hamilton soon did the same and returned on track a second or two behind Russell due to serving his penalty. Leclerc got called in to make his stop two laps later, ending up second, 17.1 seconds behind Antonelli.
Hamilton quickly closed the gap to Russell, and together they quickly reeled in Verstappen. By lap 29 that meant the three of them were very close together. Hamilton was the first there to make an overtake in Copse, but Russell returned that favour on Hangar Straight. The squabble meant Verstappen was another couple laps safe for third.
Two laps later more of the same as Hamilton was clearly able to go faster than Russell. Following a close chase Hamilton again got ahead round the outside of Brooklyn's, followed by Russell taking fourth back 4 corners later.
At the start of lap 33 Russell was again 0.5 seconds behind Verstappen with Hamilton another 0.6 seconds further down. While being told he has a slow puncture, Russell attempted an overtake but failed at it. The next lap he made it past Verstappen through Stowe right before diving into the pitlane to take on a fresh set of medium tyres for the final 17 laps.
As Russell rejoined right behind Hadjar, Antonelli was called in for a change to hard tyres. He found himself 7.5 seconds behind Leclerc when coming back out.
With Russell gone, Hamilton found out lap after lap why Russell had trouble getting past Verstappen. Clearly the Red Bull is just fast enough in the right places. Only on lap 38 did Hamilton get close enough to attempt something, but it was mostly position to finally make that pass on the Wellington straight the next lap.
Moments later, Hulkenberg parked at Copse corner to retire from the race, triggering a VSC that was perfectly timed for Verstappen to dive into the pitlane and switch to new mediums. Norris and Hadjar also pitted while neither Ferrari or Mercedes did.
The stop put Verstappen 9 seconds behind Hamilton. Russell followed 5 seconds further behind, then Norris at 7 more seconds and Hadjar another 8 seconds behind, 54 seconds behind the race leader.
On lap 41 Antonelli reported a problem with his car and immediately went into the pits. It was clear he was suffering terrible understeer. Once back on track he quickly got passed by Norris before going off track, reporting the inability to get the car turned properly. The team noted it was the wheel shield which had broken and effectively became an brake. Unable to make it in the points at this pace he was called in. The team removed the loose part and released the Italian again, now in 10th place but still seemingly in trouble to turn properly.
Antonelli soon reported the ongoing issue, and set to lose 10th to Colapinto, he was called in to retire. The Italian had none of it and seemed to find enough pace to stay ahead of the Alpine, only to get a 5s penalty for track limits. He still kept going, building up his advantage to 3.2seconds, up from 0.9 two laps earlier.
Moments later, Verstappen was off at Brooklyn's. He was stuck in the gravel, forcing a retirement bringing out the Safety Car. Most cars opted to pit for softs, including both Ferraris. Russell on the other hand did not, ending up just ahead of Hamilton.
This Grand Prix really is a roller coaster with Leclerc suddenly finding himself with a dream lead, converted now, with 3 laps remaining into a tiny lead over Russell. Hamilton sat third, then Norris, Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad, Bortoleto, Antonelli and Colapinto for the final point.
The safety car was then announced to leave the track for a single final racing lap, but rather than coming in, it stayed out, leading the pack to the finish line, probably leaving Hamilton fuming, losing second place because of that now useless pitstop.
Antonelli meanwhile was classified 16th after application of his track limits penalty while Gasly inherited the final points scoring position.
