Formula 1 in England: Mega drama about Antonelli – “Incredible feeling” for Leclerc

After the Formula 1 thriller at Silverstone and the mega-drama involving World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc lost a ton of weight. In the late chaos of the British Grand Prix, the Monegasque took advantage of the technical disaster at the Italian Mercedes teenager and celebrated his first victory in 623 days.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said the cool Leclerc. Under the safety car after Max Verstappen’s gravel exit in the Red Bull, he crossed the finish line first for the first time since the USA race in Texas in 2024. “After the last few weeks, which were particularly difficult, to win now makes me incredibly happy.”

Leclerc relegated Antonelli’s teammate George Russell to second place in his ninth career win. Third place was local hero Lewis Hamiltonwho had to serve a five-second penalty for a false start and ended up losing second place due to a tactical error during the pit stop. The record world champion was threatened with another penalty for a possible offense during a yellow phase.

“I feel sorry for Kimi”

Antonelli experienced a disaster. The teenager complained ten laps before the end while catching up with the leader Ferrari about damage to his Mercedes. He was thrown back a long way and, as a pointless 16th, remained without a win for the third time in a row.

“The bitter thing is that Kimi took such big steps towards Leclerc that he would probably have caught him six laps before the end, then we would probably have seen some great racing. Of course that’s bad luck, I feel sorry for Kimi,” admitted Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Sky.

Antonelli despairs in the cockpit

Antonelli, who won the sprint on Saturday, remains the world championship leader. However, his lead over Russell dwindled to 25 points. “The suspension is broken,” he shouted over the radio in the final stages, then had to pit and was on the verge of parking his car prematurely several times. But the 19-year-old didn’t want to give up.

A year after his first career podium, Nico Hülkenberg experienced another setback this season. This time the only German driver in the field didn’t even see the checkered flag. The Audi driver, who was still without points, had to park his company car on the grass strip on the 38th lap due to a defect.

Leclerc and Hamilton pass Antonelli

Hollywood actor Hugh Grant and the lead guitarist of the British rock band Queen, Brian May, once again experienced a botched start from Antonelli. The Italian teenager also secured pole position after his first sprint win at Silverstone. But things rarely go well for Antonelli at the top. In turn one, Leclerc was over in the first Ferrari. Hamilton in the second Ferrari also left the Mercedes driver behind.

A week ago, Verstappen seemed to have initiated the turnaround with Red Bull with his second place in Spielberg. But frustration returned at Silverstone. The Dutchman only came sixth in the sprint and didn’t get past seventh place in the qualification. Four laps before the end of the race, Verstappen slid into the gravel trap – a debacle.

“Embarrassing, bad,” was Verstappen’s conclusion, who complained about the balance in the car and the lack of top speed. “I’m not superstitious, but I feel like I’ve been run over by a black cat,” said Verstappen fatalistically on Dutch television about his current situation with the former world champion team. “Honestly, I hate this car,” said the Red Bull star after his exit.

Hamilton is serving a time penalty

At the beginning it didn’t look like such a setback for Verstappen and Antonelli. Antonelli grabbed the first Ferrari on lap eleven. In the legendary high-speed Copse curve, he left Hamilton behind and pursued Leclerc. The Monegasque, who had missed pole by just 0.175 seconds the day before, increased his lead to four seconds.

Verstappen went on the offensive. He had hard tires fitted on the 18th of 52 laps. But the maneuver didn’t get him to the top. Hamilton came into the pits on lap 24 and immediately served his time penalty. One lap later, Leclerc’s Ferrari was also given the hard compounds.

Antonelli stayed further out – a balancing act. It wasn’t until lap 36 that the mechanics put on hard tires Mercedes of the World Cup leader. A 13-second lead over Leclerc became seven seconds behind. Would there be enough time to catch up with fresh rubber?

Then the 175,000 spectators experienced a completely wild final act. At first Antonelli complained about problems with his car and negotiated with his pit driver for several laps as to whether he should give up early. The young star prevailed and drove to the end, but received a time penalty for driving over the edge of the track several times without permission.

Then Verstappen was also hit and stranded in the gravel bed. The safety car came onto the track and slowed down the field until the last lap. Hamilton tried a pit stop to attack first place again. But he came back onto the slopes in third place behind Russell – the strategists probably didn’t want that.

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