Leclerc wins dramatic British Grand Prix

Leclerc wins dramatic British Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc has claimed victory in a dramatic British Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli dropping back due to a car issue in the latter stages while a crash for Max Verstappen triggered a late-race Safety Car.

Leclerc made a lightning start, the Monegasque and team-mate Lewis Hamilton getting ahead of Antonelli off the line. While Antonelli eventually caught Hamilton for P2, Leclerc remained steady ahead, only losing the lead when he made his pit stop.

That handed P1 to Antonelli, who stretched out his stint before eventually pitting on Lap 36. The Italian promptly went on the chase of Leclerc – but this came undone when he experienced an issue with his car on Lap 41, which the team suggested was a left front wheel shield failure.

After two further pit stops, Antonelli managed to continue on but had dropped to P10, as well as receiving a five-second time penalty for track limits. Further drama then followed when Verstappen spun off into the gravel trap on Lap 48, resulting in the Safety Car being deployed.

With the race then ending under the Safety Car, Leclerc crossed the line to claim his ninth career win ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell – who, in staying out on track while others pitted during the Safety Car phase, managed to leapfrog Hamilton.

The final spot on the podium went to Hamilton while fellow home favourite Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren.

Isack Hadjar took fifth for Red Bull, ahead of the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. Gabriel Bortoleto scored valuable points for Audi in P8, and the Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.

Oscar Piastri missed out in P11, the McLaren driver’s day having unravelled early on after making a pit stop for damage at the end of Lap 1. Carlos Sainz also left without points in 12th, despite enjoying a good start in the Williams, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon were 13th and 14th respectively.

Sergio Perez took P15 for Cadillac, and Antonelli was classified down in P16 after his five-second penalty was applied. Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the order.

Three drivers did not see the finish, with Verstappen out following his late crash while Williams’ Alex Albon retired the car – having run in the race to collect data after an early clash with Bearman dropped him backwards – and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg pulled off track with an issue.

With thanks to https://www.formula1.com