The British Grand Prix delivered quite the spectacle for Round 9 of the 2026 season, with Charles Leclerc having the best Sunday of all after claiming his first victory since 2024.
There were many other talking points that emerged throughout what proved to be an eventful weekend at Silverstone, however, from Kimi Antonelli’s highs and lows to plenty of goings-on in F2, F3 and F1 ACADEMY.
Here are all the key moments from the 2026 British Grand Prix…
Leclerc ends his tough run as Hamilton gives the crowd plenty to shout about
The last few race weekends prior to Silverstone had not been happy ones for Leclerc. After recording back-to-back DNFs in Monaco and Barcelona, the Ferrari driver had to settle for P8 in Austria – having fallen backwards from what had been a promising P2 in Qualifying.
Ahead of the British Grand Prix weekend, Leclerc was not optimistic about his fortunes improving, with the Monegasque suggesting that the track layout – featuring a lot of straights – would not play to the team’s strengths.
Despite this prediction, team mate Lewis Hamilton topped Free Practice 1 and Sprint Qualifying on Friday before taking P2 in the Sprint. There then appeared to be another step forward when Leclerc and Hamilton claimed second and third respectively in Saturday’s Qualifying, sandwiching themselves between the two Mercedes cars.
Both of the Scuderia drivers enjoyed a strong start in Sunday’s race – but it was Leclerc who took the lead and held onto it, only losing P1 when he made his first pit stop. And while he looked under threat from Antonelli later on, an issue for the Italian saw that challenge unravel.
With the race ending under the Safety Car following a crash for Max Verstappen, Leclerc crossed the line to seal his ninth career win and first at Silverstone, marking quite the comeback from his tough run – as he summed up: “I felt like I had found something yesterday between the Sprint and Qualifying but I had to confirm that today. And today, the feeling was back where it needs to be. I’m so incredibly happy.”
On the other side of the garage, the Grand Prix proved to be an eventful one for Hamilton, who received a five-second penalty for a false start before later missing out on a likely P2 finish after pitting under the Safety Car, with George Russell remaining out on track and taking the position.
There was further drama for the seven-time World Champion when it was confirmed that the stewards would investigate him post-race for a yellow flag infringement – but they ultimately opted to hand out a reprimand, meaning that the Briton held onto his podium finish on an afternoon where his battles with the likes of Verstappen gave the fans plenty to cheer about.
Antonelli shines across the Sprint weekend – but comes undone with tech issue
After missing out on pole for the Sprint to Hamilton, Antonelli was in commanding form during the 100km dash as he set about chasing down the Ferrari. The championship leader kept the pressure on and eventually made his move on Lap 8.
From there he was untroubled at the front, surging ahead to seal his first-ever Sprint win and boost his tally at the top of the standings in the process. That form continued later on Saturday in Qualifying, where the youngster took pole position for Sunday’s race.
It was not a good start for Antonelli when the Grand Prix got underway, with both Ferraris steaming past to drop him down to third – but the Mercedes racer bided his time as he remained on the tail of Hamilton, before finding a way past at Copse on Lap 11.
When Leclerc made a pit stop on Lap 26, Antonelli stayed out on track and stretched out his stint for another 10 laps. After visiting the pits himself, the Italian started to hunt down Leclerc – and within a few laps, the gap had closed down to only 3.1s.
However, this charge suddenly came undone when Antonelli reported something broken on his car, which would transpire to be the left-hand wheel shield. Two pit stops followed as the Silver Arrows tried to fix the issue, with this dropping him down to P10.
Given his struggles with turning the car due to this problem, the teenager soon received a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits – and after crossing the line under the Safety Car, this demoted him down to a final result of P15.
It marked a disappointing end to what had been another eye-catching performance from Antonelli, who has also now seen his championship lead reduced to 25 points over Russell as a result.
Russell ‘brutally honest’ about his performance but still bags P2
Russell never looked like beating team mate Antonelli on pure pace at any point throughout the weekend at Silverstone, yet – as touched on above – the Briton came away having almost halved his deficit in the Drivers’ standings.
Heading into the event, Russell trailed by 40 points, which extended to 43 after Antonelli’s win in the Sprint, with it looking likely the gap would grow even further on Sunday.
While Antonelli started from pole and challenged Leclerc for the win, Russell was left in a battle for the final podium spot between Verstappen and Hamilton, only for a slow puncture to force an unscheduled stop.
Dropping to P7, any hopes of a first-ever rostrum at his home event looked over, but Antonelli’s car troubles, along with Verstappen’s crash, brought Russell back into contention.
A pit stop for Hamilton under the late Safety Car gifted Russell P2 at the chequered flag, but the Mercedes driver was far from thrilled with his performance.
“If I’m being brutally honest, I’m not going to fight for a championship if the performances continue like that,” said Russell, having cut Antonelli’s points lead down to just 25.
“I’m not coming away from this weekend satisfied. I’ll take the result, but I would have been more satisfied leaving Canada when I broke down from the lead than I am today standing P2. Just because I probably deserved the win in Canada, and today I didn’t deserve to stand where I stood.”
Verstappen reflects on his crash and the recurring issue
Max Verstappen was left to brand a recurring issue with his Red Bull car as “frustrating and painful” after he crashed out of the British Grand Prix with just four laps to go.
The Dutch driver was sitting third at Silverstone, with a podium spot potentially on the cards, when he spun out into the gravel at Stowe.
His off triggered a late Safety Car as marshals worked to remove his beached RB22, meaning the race concluded in neutralised conditions.
The four-time World Champion blamed the same rear wing issue that caused him to crash during Qualifying in Austria at the previous race weekend, having explained after the event at Silverstone that “when the rear wing doesn’t close fully, you lose a lot of downforce”, before adding that “this is becoming dangerous” due to the issue having now occurred twice.
Verstappen seemed despondent as he reflected further on his afternoon, labelling what happened as “painful and frustrating” and conceding that he has not been happy with his Red Bull’s balance and top speed throughout the weekend.
Plenty to improve for McLaren despite strong results
Running a new livery inspired by founder Bruce McLaren’s F1 car at the 1966 British Grand Prix, McLaren ultimately failed to feature in the lead battle this weekend, having been outpaced by Ferrari and Mercedes.
An aggressive opening lap in the Sprint put Lando Norris in contention for a podium which he sealed with P3, but the reigning World Champion never featured in the rostrum battle on Sunday.
His P4 was down to Antonelli’s car problems and Verstappen’s crash, with the Briton critical of how McLaren’s MCL40 performed over the weekend.
“We have to understand some things. Also the car was just wasn’t very nice in any way whatsoever today, so we have a lot to improve,” said Norris.
“The positive is the results, and that’s really the only thing that matters in the end of the day, but the pace to get them was really, really not good. We need to take a big step forward.”
It proved to be even more of a challenging weekend for team mate Oscar Piastri. The Australian could only reach P7 in the Sprint, while having to pit for a new front wing in the Grand Prix after opening lap contact with the Racing Bulls left him outside of the points in P11.
Plenty of chaos and some brilliant drives in F1 ACADEMY, F2 and F3
There was home success in F1 ACADEMY at Silverstone, with Alisha Palmowski winning the Feature Race for Red Bull. She started second but picked off impressive Wild Card racer Chiara Battig on the first lap as the pair then drove clear of the field.
Emma Felbermayr completed the rostrum, having risen from eighth on the grid in a superb effort for Audi.
There was yet more success for Nikola Tsolov, who made history as he won his third consecutive F2 race for Campos Racing. He had to work hard though, a great start lifting him from fifth to second before he picked off Rafael Villagomez late on. The result extended Tsolov’s lead in the standings to 17 points.
Over in F3, there was plenty of drama with the winner of the Feature Race, Matteo De Palo, disqualified after his car was found to have not met the minimum height requirement. Maciej Gladysz inherited the win on a chaotic day where plenty of post-race penalties were handed out.
Ugo Ugochukwu remains in the Championship lead ahead of Freddie Slater.
Actors, musicians and farmers flock to Silverstone
The Silverstone grid was a busy place on Sunday, with the drivers mingling with plenty of famous faces. Hannah Waddingham was in attendance, and not for the first time as her love affair with F1 continues. F1 The Movie star Damson Idris was also on the grid, as was Hugh Grant.
Star of the small screen Jeremy Clarkson watched on, leaving his farming at home for one day. Brian May was wandering around too in a Ferrari shirt, so the Queen star should have been pleased with the result.
Justin Rose made time to watch some racing, before the final golf major of the year begins at Royal Birkdale later this month, and footballers Jamie Vardy and Jack Grealish used their off-season to sneak in some F1 action. Ellie Kildunne also took in the sights and sounds of Silverstone, before the rugby season kicks back into action.
They joined a record-breaking crowd in enjoying a thrilling Grand Prix, with the Ferrari fans leaving the happiest after Leclerc’s brilliant win.
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