Leclerc wins British Grand Prix behind safety car as Russell cuts gap to Antonelli

[p]The win was Ferrari's ‌250th in Formula 1 and came at the Silverstone circuit ‌where the championship started in 1950 and in front of a capacity ‌race-day crowd of 175,000.[/p][p][b]On a day of changing fortunes, with Red ‌Bull's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] crashing out four laps from the finish to trigger the safety car, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] got lucky and finished second for Mercedes to close ‌the points gap to his 19-year-old Italian ⁠teammate.[/b][/p][p]Seven-time world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] completed ‌the podium in third place for Ferrari, overcoming a five-second penalty for ​jumping the start, but the Briton finished the race under investigation for a potential yellow-flag breach.[/p][embed guid="63e0eebd-fe7b-4bbc-851c-36b030c257da" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2073793137248539066" social-type="twitter" /][p]There was additional confusion over ​the safety car, with a message suggesting it would pit to allow one last lap of racing only for it to then ⁠stay out until the ​last corner and rob the crowd of a potentially thrilling final dash to the line.[/p][p]Hamilton had pitted for fresh tyres, dropping from second to third, while Russell - behind his compatriot on track - stayed out ‌in a gamble that ultimately paid off when it emerged that there was no chance of him being overtaken.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Antonelli[/a], who started on pole position and looked likely to win, had been closing on leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Leclerc[/a] with 11 laps to go when he slowed and alerted the team to a problem with the car. The 19-year-old Italian finished 16th.[/p][p][b]"It feels incredible. Unfortunately the end was maybe not the one I would have dreamt of,"[/b] said Leclerc of his first win ‌since 2024.[/p][embed guid="70ba2b08-e9de-490a-b6ac-104ba7c23261" url="https://x.com/ScuderiaFerrari/status/2073792070133690779" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"With Kimi, it would have been close. He was very ​fast when he was coming towards me. It would have ‌been very difficult to keep that first place. Then I heard he had a problem so I was like 'Okay, now I have a big gap and it should be straightforward'.[/b][/p][p][b]"(It was) not great for the fans around the track but in the ⁠helmet I was happy that ⁠there was not a restart ‌to keep that win."[/b][/p]