British Grand Prix: Leclerc - Russell - Hamilton

      Sunny. Dry. Air +24…26°C, track +40…42°C

      For the first time since 2021, the Silverstone stage took place in a format with a Saturday sprint and set a record for attendance. There were many fans already on Thursday – the organizers came up with numerous entertainment and activities, including those involving drivers. On Saturday and Sunday, there would have been no room for an apple to fall. 564 thousand spectators over the weekend – a new Formula 1 record.

      It was also interesting on the track. On Friday, Lewis Hamilton set the best time in the only practice session and won the sprint qualifying. On Saturday, Kimi Antonelli won both the sprint and the main qualifying, once again confirming Mercedes' advantage. However, unlike most tracks, pole position at Silverstone is not a guarantee of success.

      The first four rows of the starting grid were divided among drivers from the four strongest teams. Antonelli and Leclerc started from the front row, Hamilton and Russell from the second, and Hadjar and Norris from the third. Verstappen and Piastri took the fourth.

      Pierre Gasly lost three positions for blocking Stroll in qualifying and started the race 15th. Stroll had elements of the power unit replaced before the start, receiving a penalty of 10 places and, qualifying 21st, started 22nd.

      Pirelli brought a "hard" trio of compounds – C1, C2, and C3 as Hard, Medium, and Soft. In the race, everyone started on Medium.

      On the formation lap, Alonso's car stopped on the track – the engine simply stalled, but after a pause, it was managed to be restarted.

      At the start, Leclerc and Hamilton overtook Antonelli. Piastri lost two places, Hülkenberg – four, Berman fell back. Ocon gained five positions.

      The impact of Berman's car on Albon's wheel was noted by the stewards – and Albon received a 10-second penalty.

      Piastri complained about a damaged front wing and fell back.

      On the 2nd lap, Albon changed tires.

      The top ten on the 2nd lap: Leclerc - Hamilton - Antonelli - Russell - Hadjar - Verstappen - Norris - Lawson - Lindblad - Sainz.

      On the 3rd lap, Verstappen overtook Hadjar, Berman overtook Stroll. Piastri headed to the pits to change tires.

      Hamilton received a five-second penalty for a false start – the car jerked before the lights went out. Hamilton held back Antonelli while Leclerc tried to break away.

      On the 10th lap, Colapinto overtook Sainz in the battle for 11th place.

      On the 11th lap, Antonelli overtook Hamilton in the battle for second place – by this time, Leclerc had managed to pull away by four seconds.

      On the 12th lap, Hülkenberg overtook Pérez in the battle for 15th place.

      The top ten on the 16th lap: Leclerc - Antonelli - Hamilton - Russell - Verstappen - Hadjar - Norris - Lawson - Lindblad - Bortoleto.

      On the 16th lap, Albon changed tires.

      On the 17th lap, Verstappen overtook Russell in the battle for fourth place – and on the 18th, he headed to the pits to change tires. Hülkenberg also made a pit stop.

      On the 19th lap, Stroll changed tires, on the 20th – Hadjar, on the 21st – Sainz, on the 22nd – Alonso.

      On the 22nd lap, a virtual safety car mode was announced – a yellow umbrella flew onto the track from the stands. Ocon and Pérez headed to the pits.

      On the 23rd lap, Colapinto made a pit stop, on the 24th – Hamilton and Russell, – there were 5 seconds between them, and Lewis needed to serve the same penalty. Russell returned to the track ahead, Hamilton right behind him.

      On the 24th lap, Gasly changed tires, on the 26th – Leclerc, on the 27th – Bortoleto.

      On the 28th lap, Gasly overtook Berman in the battle for 12th place.

      On the 28th lap, Lindblad made a pit stop, on the 29th – Norris and Lawson.

      Hamilton pressured Russell for a long time, both drivers increased the pace and caught up with Verstappen.

      On the 30th lap, Hamilton overtook Russell, but on the next straight, Russell regained the position.

      On the 31st lap, Berman changed tires. Norris overtook Hadjar in the battle for sixth place.

      Stroll was warned with a black-and-white flag for repeatedly going off track.

      On the 31st lap, Hamilton overtook Russell again, but George fought back once more.

      On the 33rd lap, Russell tried to attack Verstappen, but Max held his position.

      On the 35th lap, Russell was informed of a slow puncture on his car – and he headed to the pits.

      On the 36th lap, Hülkenberg and Antonelli made pit stops, on the 38th – Piastri.

      On the 38th lap, Hamilton overtook Verstappen in the battle for third place.

      On the 39th lap, yellow flags appeared, and then a VSC mode – Hülkenberg's car stopped on the track due to a gearbox failure.

      Verstappen, Norris, and Hadjar changed tires. There was a delay during the servicing of Hadjar's car.

      The top ten on the 40th lap: Leclerc - Antonelli - Hamilton - Verstappen - Russell - Norris - Hadjar - Lawson - Lindblad - Bortoleto.

      Stroll received one five-second penalty for going off track, then a second.

      Antonelli increased his pace, gaining more than a second per lap on the leading Leclerc, but on the 42nd lap, he unexpectedly lost speed and headed to the pits. The mechanics changed the nose cone and tires – and Kimi re-emerged, but complained of suspension problems.

      On the 43rd lap, Albon changed tires.

      On the 44th lap, Antonelli stopped the car again in the pits, the mechanics tried to change something – and Kimi re-emerged. The car could not turn properly, Kimi was running tenth and wanted to earn at least this point, but received a five-second penalty for violating track limits.

      On the 46th lap, Verstappen went off the track after spinning at turn 15 and got stuck in the gravel.

      The safety car was deployed. Albon stopped in the pits and retired from the race.

      Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Leclerc, Bottas, Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Gasly, and Sainz changed tires. Russell did not go to the pits and as a result found himself in second place.

      The top ten behind the safety car: Leclerc - Russell - Hamilton - Norris - Hadjar - Lawson - Lindblad - Bortoleto - Antonelli - Colapinto.

      On the last lap, a restart was announced, but at the last moment they changed their minds – and the safety car did not turn into the pit lane. The race finished behind the safety car.

      Charles Leclerc won the British Grand Prix, achieving his ninth career victory – the first since the USA '24. This is Ferrari's 250th victory in history.

      George Russell climbed to the second step of the podium, significantly reducing the gap to Kimi Antonelli in the championship race. Lewis Hamilton finished the race in third.

      Antonelli, after serving his penalty, dropped to 15th place.

      After the race, the stewards reviewed an unusual incident. At the moment when the race director's notification appeared that lapped cars could overtake the safety car, Carlos Sainz did so, even though he was not a lapped car at the checkpoint, and his car number was not listed among those who could overtake. The stewards used a rare punishment – a penalty lap, so Carlos dropped from 12th to 17th place in the standings.

      In two weeks, the battle will continue with the stage in Spa.

      Race results

      

      

       Driver

       Team

       Time

       Speed

       Pit

      

      

       1. C. Leclerc

       Ferrari

       1:27:11.335

       210.713

       2

      

      

       2. G. Russell

       Mercedes

       +0.427

       210.696

       2

      

      

       3. L. Hamilton

       Ferrari

       +0.772

       210.682

       2

      

      

       4. L. Norris

       McLaren

       +1.149

       210.667

       3

      

      

       5. A. Hadjar

       Red Bull

       +1.598

       210.649

       3

      

      

       6. L. Lawson

       Racing Bulls

       +2.023

       210.632

       2

      

      

       7. A. Lindblad

       Racing Bulls

       +2.214

       210.624

       2

      

      

       8. G. Bortoleto

       Audi

       +2.413