Charles Leclerc won his first race of 2026 after a dramatic late-race Safety Car altered the proceedings at Silverstone. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
Chaos ensued at the storied Silverstone circuit from Lap 1 but the Monegasque held his head and, eventually the race lead even when his rivals faltered behind him to secure P1 as the thrilling 52-lap race concluded behind an errant Safety Car.
Charles Leclerc: 9.5
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P1
The Monegasque came into the British GP weekend off the back of consecutive disappointments at Monaco, Barcelona and Austria.
But on Saturday, he managed to slot his SF-26 onto the front-row alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Heading into the 52-lap race, he was eager to right the wrongs he had suffered in 2021 and 2022.
And Leclerc did finally set the record straight after a commanding drive at Silverstone, on Sunday. The Ferrari driver got off the line the quickest, jumping pole-sitter Antonelli.
From there on, he did what he had to; keeping track position, and eventually benefitted from Antonelli’s late-race heartbreak, to take the chequered flag in P1, for the first time this season, albeit behind Bernd Maylander.
Lewis Hamilton: 8
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P3
Hamilton brought himself into title contention after his maiden Ferrari win at Barcelona.
And even though he stumbled in Austria, last weekend, the iconic Italian marque’s reliability upgrades for Silverstone seemingly pulled him back into the fray.
After relinquishing the Sprint win to Antonelli, on Saturday, Hamilton got himself planted onto the second-row of the grid for the main race on Sunday, after qualifying.
Antonelli’s sluggish start off the line helped the seven-time World Champion slip past the Mercedes on Lap 1 but a false start penalty eventually saw him fall down the order mid-way through the race.
Despite this setback, the Ferrari driver ploughed through the likes of Russell and Verstappen to get himself back into the podium places.
Trouble for Antonelli meant Hamilton climbed as far up as second. The Safety Car triggered by Verstappen’s Stowe shunt however, prompted the Briton to pit for Softs – expecting at least a single lap of racing.
Russell, who was in third, did not pit and jumped Hamilton and as the Safety Car failed to come in on Lap 52, as the Briton followed his former Mercedes team-mate home in third.
A solid result for Hamilton heading into Spa, partially undone by the Safety Car chaos.
George Russell: 8.5
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: P2
The Briton had been on the back foot for the majority of the race weekend, at Silverstone, compared to his team-mate Antonelli.
Qualifying, on Saturday, saw him three-and-a-half tenths off the Italian, with the fourth-fastest lap of Q3. After the session, Russell complained about the aerodynamic profile of his W17.
But the “draggier” package came to his aid during the 52-lap race on Sunday. The Mercedes driver made a steady start after lights out, settling into fourth.
That said, trouble struck early for Russell who started reporting “odd downshifts” as Antonelli eked a handy gap out to him. Meanwhile Verstappen was consistently threatening to take P4 away from the Briton.
Half-way through the race, Russell was back again in podium contention, sandwiched between the Red Bull of Verstappen and the Ferrari of Hamilton, who he had jumped in the pits after Hamilton served his false start penalty. But a slow puncture once again impeded his advances.
Forced to pit again, Russell eventually climbed back into P2 after Antonelli suffered a broken front-left wheel shield, Verstappen spun out at Stowe and the resulting Safety Car prompted Hamilton to pit from second.
A triple stroke of luck allowed Russell to take the chequered flag in second, but it was balanced out by the bad luck he had faced in the early phases of the Grand Prix.
In the end, Russell was in the right place at the right time on all occasions, and rounded off a well deserved albeit interrupted home race weekend with a maiden Silverstone podium.
Kimi Antonelli: 7.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P15
The race at Silverstone turned out to be a disappointing outing for the 19-year-old championship leader.
After winning the Sprint race, on Saturday, the Italian secured his maiden Silverstone pole during qualifying.
But his afternoon already had started unravelling at lights out as he dropped behind the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton on Lap 1.
Despite this, he unleashed the race pace of his W17, first taking Hamilton, with a daring move down the inside at Copse, following up with a concerted attack on Leclerc in the lead.
Mercedes decided to leave Antonelli out 10 laps longer than the Ferrari driver, and came out of the pits with fresh Hards and a seven-and-a-half seconds deficit to take the outright race win from Leclerc at the chequered flag.
But as soon as Antonelli had started to chip away at the gap, he suffered an inexplicable mechanical fault that completely destroyed his chances.
Track limits excursions owing to a broken front-left wheel shield earned him a five-second time penalty and the late-race Safety Car meant he fell down to 15th at the chequered flag.
A heartbreaking result for the 19-year-old despite a spirited drive. If only had he gotten off the line better, would he not have had to push his car to the brink?
To rub salt into his wounds, his team-mate also benefitted from the ensuing chaos to close down the gap in the standings to just 27 points.
Lando Norris: 7
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P4
McLaren has been the third-fastest package since the European leg of the 2026 season kicked off.
Naturally, the third-row of the grid, for the race on Sunday, was an all-McLaren affair with Norris being the lead driver with the sixth-fastest lap, on Saturday.
Off the line, however, the Briton suffered a “poor” start that left him lagging the likes of Verstappen, Piastri and a Racing Bulls coming out of Abbey.
Though Norris was able to pick himself up from there onwards. A steady pace and problems for Antonelli and Verstappen out front helped Norris take fourth at the chequered flag.
A respectable recovery drive for the reigning World Champion in a ‘not so very nice to drive’ MCL40.
Oscar Piastri: 6.5
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P11
The Australian’s race unravelled pretty much from Lap 1 onwards, on Sunday. Piastri got caught up in the opening lap melee, taking damage to his front-wing and pushing him to pit for repairs on Lap 2.
This pushed him down the field and outside the planned strategy window. There wasn’t much left to recover for the McLaren driver thereafter, and the three-stop strategy then all but extinguished his bid to get back into the points paying positions.
He finished outside the top 10 for the first time since the Chinese GP.
Isack Hadjar: 8
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P5
The French-Algerian driver was arguably the fastest Red Bull on track, throughout the weekend, notwithstanding Verstappen’s assertions about missing top-speed in the sister RB22.
This showed especially on Saturday, when Hadjar dealt Verstappen his first-ever qualifying defeat at Silverstone.
The opening phase of the 52-lap race even proved that Hadjar’s competitiveness compared to the four-time F1 Champion wasn’t an anomaly. Though, he was quickly overtaken by his team-mate in the succeeding laps.
Eventually, benefitting from Verstappen’s troubles at Stowe and Antonelli’s nightmarish late-race disaster, the 21-year-old hauled in a solid P5 at the chequered flag.
That said, Hadjar’s British GP showing maybe a sign that parity between the two sides of the Red Bull garage has finally returned for the first time since 2018.
Max Verstappen: 7.5
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P20
Verstappen’s ‘running over a black cat’ theory found credence at the storied Silverstone circuit, on Sunday.
A tricky qualifying turned even more disastrous for the Dutchman in the closing stages of the British GP.
Running in net third place, an underserved accolade by Verstappen’s own admissions, after Russell’s slow puncture and Antonelli’s plummet down the order, the 28-year-old’s RB22 malfunctioned leading to a hairy high-speed snap at Stowe.
“F*** this car,” was all he could muster as he left his beached RB22 in the gravel-trap to mull over the competitive disaster that 2026 has been so far for him, with the team.
Liam Lawson: 8.5
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P6
Lawson extended his streak of Q3 appearances for the fourth weekend running, at Silverstone on Sunday.
The Racing Bulls have looked like the leaders of the midfield, since Monaco, and Lawson matched his best finish of 2026 (incidentally from also at Monaco) with a sixth-placed finish, on Sunday, at Silverstone.
P6 must have felt like “bonus points” to Lawson after Verstappen and Antonelli’s incidents at the top, but one can’t ignore how the Kiwi driver’s redemption arc has developed since his unceremonious Red Bull sacking, last year. Notably, his British GP exploits mean he now has 39 points to his name – one more point, only nine rounds into 2026, than he did all season with Racing Bulls in 2025.
Arvid Lindblad: 8
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P7
Lindblad celebrated his maiden British GP with a career-best seventh-placed finish at the chequered flag.
The British-Swedish driver also wracked up a fourth consecutive top 10 finish, a record he holds since Monaco.
Lindblad’s 15 points haul in four races has helped the Faenza-based squad to cut its deficit to Alpine for P5 in the Constructors’ to just one point and only goes to show why Red Bull have placed their faith in the rookie.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 8.5
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P8
After the Austrian GP, I had surmised that it was only a matter of time before Bortoleto sneaked back into the points, given a string of P11 finishes since Monaco.
The Brazilian racing driver was knocked out on the cusp of third Q3 appearance, on Saturday, but more than made up during the race on Sunday.
Benefitting from trouble at the top, the Audi driver took the chequered flag in eighth – his first points since the season-opening Australian GP.
Moreover, he was able to extract the maximum pace from his upgraded Audi to round off a stellar weekend for the German marque.
Nico Hulkenberg: N/A
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: DNF
While celebrations would have erupted in one Audi garage, the lights went out pretty quickly in the other.
Hulkenberg’s one-lap prowess over Bortoleto seems to have withered away after the team’s upgrades, with qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday proving to be the second consecutive race weekend where the German driver was out-qualified by his rookie team-mate.
The Grand Prix on Sunday also came to an unceremonious end for Hulkenberg who bowed out half-way through the event after a gearbox issue forced him to stop on the inside of Copse, triggering the VSC.
Franco Colapinto: 9
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P9
The lack of confidence Colapinto endured with the A525, last season, seems to have finally concluded with the latest generation of cars.
Despite a shock qualifying that saw him knocked out in Q1, the Argentinian racing driver put in a stellar recovery drive on Sunday at Silverstone to climb up the order and all the way into the points.
He made a quick getaway off the line, picking up places before settling into his rhythm. The chaos that ensued thereafter allowed the Alpine driver to score a worthy two points for the Enstone-based team.
And though the team did cede ground to Racing Bulls in the Constructors’ standings, Colapinto lead an impressive third double-points finish for Alpine in 2026, so far.
Pierre Gasly: 8
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P10
The Frenchman has been starved of Q3 appearances ever since the Monaco GP, and that particular trend continued at Silverstone.
Gasly could only post the 12th fastest lap on Saturday. But he made his Sunday afternoon even trickier after earning a three-place grid drop for impeding during qualifying.
That said, a solid recovery drive from 15th ensured his seventh points-scoring result of 2026.
Oliver Bearman: 6
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P12
Haas’ strong start to F1’s latest era has quickly withered away as the Banbury-based outfit has struggled to stay relevant in the massive development war of 2026.
But Bearman still showed that he was indeed the lead Haas driver. The Briton out-qualified team-mate Ocon for the third consecutive race weekend, on Saturday, but his Lap 1 incident with Albon, sent him into a spin and eventually compromised his push to get into the top-10.
Esteban Ocon: 5.5
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P13
Ocon has only scored points twice this season, and couldn’t better his record at Silverstone, on Sunday.
Yet another disappointing qualifying session, getting knocked out in Q1, turned into an uneventful race, on Sunday. The Frenchman took the chequered flag in 13th, albeit not on pace but on the misfortunes of the ones running above him.
Sergio Perez: 7
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: P14
The Mexican racing driver was counting on Cadillac’s Austrian GP package to deliver the goods at Silverstone, and in all fairness, it did.
While one-lap pace is still a gremlin for F1’s 11th team, Perez was able to deliver a solid result for the GM-backed project with a 15th placed finish at the chequered flag. Sainz’s post-race penalty meant a P14 classification for the former Red Bull driver – equalling his best result since the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Points have still eluded the team, but in Perez’s own words, the British GP was “one of [the] the best races” for the outfit so far in 2026.
Valtteri Bottas: 6.5
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: P16
The British GP was a weekend full of positives for the Finn, well, relatively speaking.
The former Mercedes driver finally has started feeling at ease with his package’s one-lap pace, as he out-qualified Perez for the first time since Miami, closing his qualifying deficit to the Mexican to 3-6.
Speaking of firsts, the 52-lap race was the first time since Canada, that Bottas took the chequered flag. Admittedly, however, Bottas was caught up in no man’s land on Sunday, with a clear advantage to the Aston Martins but an unscalable deficit to the midfield pack.
Carlos Sainz: 6.5
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P17
The Spaniard drove a pretty solid race from 14th on the grid, throughout the 52 laps at Silverstone – the venue of his maiden F1 win back in 2022.
But despite taking the chequered flag in 12th, the Williams driver was demoted all the way down to 17th after a bizarre one-lap penalty was imposed on the 31-year-old for a Safety Car infringement.
Not that Sainz had anything riding on that result, given it was his third-consecutive point-less finish, but the tumble down the grid would have felt like a punch to the gut.
Alex Albon: N/A
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: DNF
The Williams driver had a home GP to forget at Silverstone. Despite scrapping through into Q2 on Saturday, the British-Thai driver’s race ended pretty quickly on the Sunday after an early race lock up into Brooklands and the resulting collision with the Haas of Oliver Bearman rounded off yet another disappointing outing for Albon in the FW48, this season.
Fernando Alonso: 3.5
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: P18
Alonso has been engrossed in his own little championship with team-mate Stroll courtesy of Aston Martin’s competitive woes.
For a second consecutive race, the Silverstone-based team’s duo locked out the bottom-row of the grid.
Alonso, was also out-qualified by Stroll for the second time in three races albeit a 10-place grid drop for the Canadian for taking additional power unit elements meant Alonso started ahead of him.
DNFs for Albon and Hulkenberg, and Verstappen’s late-race spin saw him at least win the intra-team battle against Stroll on track, albeit a lap down despite the Safety Car ending.
Lance Stroll: 3
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P19
The only silver lining for the Canadian racing driver this weekend was that he has out-qualified Alonso twice already, this season – not that Stroll would have cared too much about this after his 10-place grid drop.
The AMR26 has been disastrously lagging behind, leaving the former Williams driver the last of the ones to have taken the chequered flag.
READ MORE – FIA explains F1 Safety Car ‘error’ after Silverstone confusion
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