Charles Leclerc wins dramatic British Grand Prix after controversial safety car finish

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Charles Leclerc managed to earn an all-important victory by fending off the pack to win a dramatic 2026 British Grand Prix.

It was a strong start for Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton managed to take advantage of Kimi Antonelli’s poor start.

George Russell was right on his tail with an excellent start after fending off Isack Hadjar. Unfortunately for Lando Norris, he lost a place with his start, falling to P7.

Things weren’t any better for Oscar Piastri, who fell to P10 after suffering damage during the start of the race and had to pit to have his front wing replaced.

Carlos Sainz took advantage of this poor start for Piastri, making his way into the top 10. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen pulled off a brilliant move to take fifth place from Hadjar.

Alex Albon got a 10-second penalty for an incident at the start of the race, while Lewis Hamilton was also noted for a false start.

Hamilton didn’t have too much time to worry about the possible penalty, as he had to fend off Kimi Antonelli yet again.

As Hamilton’s five-second penalty was confirmed, he had to play defence against Antonelli, especially as he helped Charles Leclerc extend his lead.

After several laps of chasing him down, Kimi Antonelli managed to get past Lewis Hamilton to take second place.

Verstappen began complaining about the downshift on his car, but kept going as he looked to try and steal P4 from George Russell.

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A little further behind, Lando Norris began chasing down Isack Hadjar, as he looked to claim his position back, closing the gap with each passing lap.

All the way at the back of the track, his teammate, Oscar Piastri, struggled to overcome his disastrous start to the race, finding himself behind the struggling Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

At Lap 17, Verstappen managed to get past Russell after chasing him down. But as Russell tried to fight back for that position, he wound up getting it back as Verstappen inexplicably went into the pit lane.

READ MORE: Charles Leclerc made mysterious change to Ferrari car before beating Lewis Hamilton at British GP

He came out of the pit lane behind Lando Norris with a lot of clean air to try and close the gap while driving on hard tyres.

In the meantime, Piastri made some progress after overtaking both Aston Martin drivers to take 19th place and trying to climb back into the points.

Isack Hadjar, much like Verstappen, was asked to pit earlier than expected, thus allowing Norris to move into P5. Unfortunately for him, it was a slower pitstop than they had hoped.

After exiting the pit lane in P10, right behind Gabriel Bortoleto, Hadjar didn’t take much time to overtake the Brazilian in the Audi.

On Lap 24, despite some protests from Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari asked him to pit, which allowed him to serve his five-second penalty and switch to the hard tyres.

Not long after, Charles Leclerc was brought into the pits to change tyres, allowing Kimi Antonelli to take the lead of the race.

Leclerc’s pit stop was quick enough for him to come out right behind Antonelli, while Hamilton began to reap the rewards of his pit stop by setting a new fastest lap time.

At the back of the race, Oscar Piastri managed to move into P15, as he kept getting past the rest of the drivers who were struggling to match his pace.

In an incredible move, Lewis Hamilton managed to snatch P4 away from George Russell, only for his former Mercedes teammate to take it right back on Lap 30.

Hamilton, Russell, and Verstappen then continued an intense battle for P3, as Hamilton managed to take P3, only for George Russell to take it right back for a second time.

A puncture for Russell forced the Briton back into the pits, allowing Hamilton to attack Max Verstappen for P3, as the two revisited their war on one of their most contentious battlegrounds.

Kimi Antonelli finally pitted to switch to hard tyres, managing to stay in P2 as he came out having enough pace to hold off Verstappen and Hamilton.

It didn’t take long for Lewis Hamilton to overtake Max Verstappen, as he took P3 away from the Dutch driver. But disaster struck as Nico Hulkenberg was forced to stop the car due to an issue, prompting a yellow flag and a virtual safety car.

Max Verstappen took advantage of this, as he went into the pits to switch onto a set of medium tyres, with Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar following him in right after.

Despite Leclerc asking whether he should pit under the VSC, Ferrari told him to stay out and try to fight off the upcoming push from Kimi Antonelli.

But perhaps Ferrari got a rare bit of luck, as Kimi Antonelli pitted the car, as he complained about something being broken, getting his front wing replaced.

Despite coming out with a new front wing, Antonelli complained that the suspension is broken, as he lost P5 to Lando Norris.

Despite an attempt to try and stay out, Antonelli complained that the car wasn’t turning before losing P6 to Isack Hadjar, suggesting that his race was over.

Antonelli was told to box the car to retire, but the young driver seemed adamant that he wanted to stay out and fight, which prompted Peter Bonnington to bring him into the pits to see if they could try and fix it.

Bonnington asked Antonelli to retire the car again, but the Italian once again tried to salvage a point after seeing himself in P10.

Unfortunately, Antonelli was given a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits, which effectively ruled him out of the points.

A massive surprise as Max Verstappen ended up in the gravel, forcing a safety car. This allowed Charles Leclerc to pit onto a pair of soft tyres, with Lewis Hamilton right behind him.

Russell used the safety car to move into P2. With the race ticking into Lap 51 under the safety car, everything was set for a one-lap shootout, but the safety car stayed in, allowing Leclerc to earn his first win of the season.