Charles Leclerc won at Silverstone, a turnaround from his eighth place finish at the Red Bull Ring the previous round. Kimi Antonelli took the Sprint and set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, yet was nowhere in the top ten when the race itself was over.
Saturday: Antonelli Wins the Sprint
Hamilton took Sprint Qualifying pole, with Antonelli second, Verstappen third, and Leclerc fourth. Russell was fifth, Norris sixth, and Piastri seventh, with Hadjar, Lawson, and Lindblad completing the top ten.
Antonelli converted second on the Sprint grid into the win, leading home Hamilton and Norris. Russell was fourth, Leclerc fifth, and Verstappen sixth. Piastri picked up two points in seventh, and Lawson claimed the final point in eighth. Hadjar and Lindblad finished the Sprint without scoring.
Qualifying: Antonelli on Pole for Sunday
Antonelli took pole for the Grand Prix, with Leclerc second and Hamilton third. Russell was fourth, and Hadjar fifth, a strong lap for Red Bull’s second car. Norris qualified sixth, Verstappen seventh, and Piastri eighth, with Lindblad and Lawson rounding out the top ten.
Race: Leclerc Wins, Antonelli Fades from Pole
Leclerc converted second on the grid into victory, a result that will be a welcome turnaround after finishing eighth from a front row start in Austria. Russell was second from fourth on the grid, and Hamilton completed the podium in third after starting there too.
Norris moved up from sixth to fourth, and Hadjar backed up his qualifying lap with fifth. Lawson climbed from tenth to sixth, and Lindblad picked up seventh after starting ninth. Gabriel Bortoleto scored Audi’s first points in some time with eighth, and Colapinto and Gasly rounded out the points for Alpine in ninth and tenth.
Antonelli, who had taken pole, was not among the top ten finishers, despite setting the fastest lap of the race. Nico Hulkenberg was the day’s first retirement. A Safety Car was deployed at some point during the race, though not during Saturday’s Sprint. Mercedes claimed the fastest pitstop of the Grand Prix.
The Points Table Tells the Story
Antonelli’s Sprint win is worth eight points, taking him to 179 and holding his lead despite the quiet Grand Prix. Russell’s weekend, fourth in the Sprint and second in the race, is worth 23 points combined, moving him to 154 in second. Hamilton’s Sprint and Grand Prix podiums add 22, taking him to 147 in third.
The biggest mover is Leclerc. His Grand Prix win, combined with fifth in the Sprint, is worth 29 points across the weekend, the most of anyone, taking him to 108 and clear of Norris and Piastri into fourth. Norris’s own haul of 18 points moves him to 97 and past Piastri, who adds two points of his own to reach 82, now sixth after a quieter weekend by his standards.
Further down, Hadjar’s combined ten points move him to 52, holding eighth. Lawson’s nine points across the weekend take him to 39 in tenth, and Lindblad’s six move him to 20, still outside the top ten overall but building.
In the constructors’, Mercedes extend their lead to 333 points on Antonelli and Russell’s combined 31. Ferrari’s weekend is worth 51 points between Hamilton and Leclerc, moving them to 255 in second. McLaren add 20 to reach 179 in third, and Red Bull Racing’s 13 from Verstappen and Hadjar takes them to 128. Audi picked up their first points in some time through Bortoleto, moving to 6.
Drivers’ Championship: Top 10
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 179 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | 154 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 147 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 108 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 97 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 82 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 76 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 52 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 42 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 39 |
Constructors’ Championship: Top 10
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 333 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 255 |
| 3 | McLaren | 179 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing | 128 |
| 5 | Alpine | 60 |
| 6 | Racing Bulls | 59 |
| 7 | Haas F1 Team | 21 |
| 8 | Williams | 11 |
| 9 | Audi | 6 |
| 10 | Aston Martin | 1 |
The Wider Picture
Ferrari leave Silverstone with the best weekend of the two title-adjacent teams: a Grand Prix win and a podium, Leclerc’s turnaround from Austria the headline of the round.
Mercedes still lead comfortably despite Antonelli’s quiet Grand Prix, his Sprint win and Russell’s race podium doing enough to extend the constructors’ advantage regardless.
McLaren picked up points across both sessions with Norris the stronger of the two this weekend.
Red Bull scored with both cars across the weekend, Hadjar’s fifth place in the Grand Prix the highlight.
Audi will be pleased with Bortoleto’s eighth place, their best result in some time.
Final Verdict
Silverstone had two stories running side by side. Leclerc’s win, a genuine bounce back from Austria’s eighth place, gives Ferrari their strongest result of the season so far. And Antonelli’s Grand Prix, pole position and the fastest lap but nothing to show for it at the flag, is another reminder that his season has not been entirely spotless, even if his Sprint win means the weekend still moved his tally forward.
Circuit photo: “0 Silverstone Circuit Grid BRDC” by Gillfoto, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Leave a Reply