George Russell’s bid to win a maiden world championship was dealt a significant boost after Kimi Antonelli failed to score in a dramatic conclusion to Sunday’s British Grand Prix, which was won by Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc ended a 624-day winless streak to take the win at Silverstone, but the drama unfolded behind the Monegasque as Antonelli surrendered second place when a suspension failure struck his Mercedes with just 11 laps to go.
In another late twist, Max Verstappen crashed out at Stowe on the 48th lap of 52 while running in third place.
With Verstappen’s Red Bull stranded in the gravel in front of 16,000 Lando Norris supporters at the world champion’s designated stand, the safety car was deployed.
Leader Leclerc and Hamilton both stopped for new tyres, but Russell remained out on track which elevated him to second place.
The safety car looked set to peel in to provide a one-lap grandstand finish, but it remained on track, with Leclerc taking the win ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Lando Norris finished fourth.
Antonelli took the chequered flag in ninth but he was dealt a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits as he ran off the circuit on multiple occasions in his “broken” Mercedes to leave him pointless in 16th.
Antonelli’s demise has allowed Russell to reduce his rival’s championship advantage from 43 points to 25.
Hamilton, who will be hugely aggrieved to have given up second place following a pit-stop behind the safety car, is 32 points back in the title race. He also faces a stewards’ investigation for a yellow-flag infringement.
Leclerc blasted ahead of pole-sitter Antonelli at the start and never looked back to claim his first win since the United States Grand Prix in October 2024.
Antonelli seemed set to take second, only for technical gremlins to strike his Mercedes on the 41st lap.
“Something is broken,” yelled the teenager, with television replays later showing that he had damaged a wheel shield on the left-hand side of his Mercedes after he ran wide at Copse.
Antonelli dived into the pits and was fitted with a front wing after a flurry of frantic radio messages with his race engineer Peter Bonnington.
Antonelli returned to the track in sixth, but he was all at sea as he struggled to cope with the handling of his Mercedes. He stopped for a second time, with his mechanics removing his broken wheel guard.
He was sent on his way, but by now he was ninth in the order and could not keep his car on the track. Then, Verstappen was in the gravel at Stowe after he lost control of his Red Bull.
A furious Verstappen blasted his Red Bull as “s***” as he departed the scene of his accident.
Leclerc came in for new tyres, and so did Hamilton, who was running in second at the time, in the hope that the race would restart again to allow him a shot at a record-extending 10th win.
However, the safety car remained out, and the chequered flag was waved by Sir Mo Farah amid a smattering of boos from some of the 175,000-record crowd at Silverstone, hoping for a one lap shoot-out to the flag.
The big winner was Russell, who was as low as fifth before Antonelli’s mechanical failure and Verstappen’s crash.
Russell was 68 points behind Antonelli after the Monaco Grand Prix on June 7 but Antonelli’s failure to score in two of the last three races has provided him with renewed belief with 13 scheduled rounds still remaining.
Hamilton will report to the stewards at 17:00 for his alleged yellow-flag misdemeanour.
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