Winners and losers from F1 British GP

We’re at that frantic point of the 2026 Formula 1 season where races are coming thick and fast.

And top performing teams can either inflict a lot of damage on their rivals, or catch up after a botched start to 2026.

Winner: Charles Leclerc

Last year it looked like Leclerc was going to end Lewis Hamilton’s storied career, only for Hamilton to turn up reinvigorated and much more comfortable to both his surroundings and his machinery.

And it was Hamilton, not Leclerc, who got Ferrari up and running in 2026 with a first win of the season in Spain – a popular and emotional win that reverberated well outside the Barcelona paddock’s confines.

Leclerc had his own struggles to overcome with the SF-26, including a move towards Hamilton’s long-requested brake set-up, but after being handed a few qualifying defeats Leclerc grabbed a front-row spot alongside Antonelli, used a strong Ferrari launch to take the lead and then never looked like giving it up again.

“I need to be careful saying that and not get carried away too much, but we did a really good job in finding a place where I feel much more comfortable with the car,” he said. “Is this something that I can carry on on every single track? I can, definitely. So that gave me the confidence that I will take a step forward from now on.”

As Leclerc also points out, things can turn around quickly in F1, which is probably a lesson for everyone who loves to overreact on the basis of a single race or event. That applies to Leclerc’s struggles as much as it does to his Silverstone win.

Loser: Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes certainly loves to keep things interesting. With the car and power unit combo at its disposal, the squad should be – if not out of sight – at least significantly further ahead than it is right now, but reliability issues keep plaguing the Brackley team at this relatively early stage of the rules cycle.

Initially it looked like George Russell was going to bear the brunt of the misfortune again with a slow puncture, which was likely caused by debris rather than anything on the team’s side. But then it was Antonelli who was dealt a blow with a wheel shield failure, which appeared to cause further handling issues on the Italian’s front-left corner.

His subsequent track limits excursions then netted him a five-second penalty. Was the penalty harsh given Antonelli’s car was compromised? Maybe, but if your car is unable to navigate the black stuff in a safe manner, then that’s probably where that argument ends.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Winner: George Russell

In any case, Antonelli shipped a truckload of points to Russell, who now returns to within a race worth of points, with Hamilton another seven points further back. Game on.

It’s not the first time the result perhaps flattered Russell a little bit in recent weeks, as Antonelli also looked faster in Austria, but the Briton won’t care one bit that some of the bad luck that has followed him around is now starting to balance out a bit.

“It ebbs and flows, that’s racing sometimes,” Russell mused. “I probably deserved to finish third behind Charles and Kimi. Ended up, fortunately, coming home in P2 after the puncture. So, strange emotions, but really nice to finally stand on the podium here.”

Loser: Red Bull

For all of Red Bull’s promising progress in Austria with its heavily upgraded RB22, its form fell flat in Silverstone as its energy deployment deficit to the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari was brutally punished. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar also kept struggling with myriad other issues, ranging from starts to downshifts and various balance issues.

His powerlessness to do anything about his car’s pace already left Verstappen frustrated after qualifying, but then he suffered a high-speed spin into the Stowe gravel trap after what appeared to be a second rear wing problem in as many race weekends.

“A different fault, let’s say, but the same outcome,” he said. “So again, while turning into the corner, the rear wing is not fully attaching. You just spin off the track. At that point it’s super dangerous, because you can really hurt yourself – two times. I was lucky in Austria, I was lucky here, but that’s why you get really fed up with it.”
 
Verstappen’s crash and Antonelli’s troubles elevated team-mate Hadjar into a flattering fifth at the finish, with little hope that Spa will be much better.

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winner: Racing Bulls

Red Bull’s sister team, meanwhile, has all the momentum in the world after another best-of-the-rest performance atop F1 2026’s stacked midfield. Liam Lawson made his fourth straight appearance in Q3, with Lindblad 10th for the second consecutive weekend.

The pair drove line astern to another double points finish and wasn’t even miles away from Hadjar when the safety car neutralised the end of the race. Misfortune for others yielded a sixth and seventh spot respectively, bringing Racing Bulls to within one point of midfield leader Alpine in fifth.

Loser: McLaren

To say McLaren’s season is unravelling is a little too harsh, but like Red Bull it is seeing clear daylight between itself and the top two teams, Mercedes and Ferrari. Some of that is still down to not exploiting the Mercedes power unit as effectively as the works team, but the majority is simply a lack of aerodynamic performance, both in terms of load and efficiency.

Norris limited the damage with fourth, again thanks to attrition, while Oscar Piastri’s race was effectively over on lap one when he picked up damage and had to collect a new front wing.

Like Red Bull, McLaren is also expecting to be a sitting duck in Spa, with the next upgrade package scheduled for Hungary. Is it a coincidence that both teams contested the drivers’ world championship until the bitter end last year, and developed their cars longer than Mercedes and Ferrari? Probably not.

Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images

Winner: Gabriel Bortoleto

Audi hasn’t scored points since the Melbourne curtain raiser, missing a couple of clear cut chances to do so. But the team didn’t waste the gilt-edged opportunity that Silverstone threw its way, despite lacking the required engine performance on a power-hungry venue like the former airfield.

And while the Brazilian couldn’t quite keep up with the Racing Bulls, he comfortably controlled both Alpines on his way to eighth.

When asked if Australia felt like a lifetime ago, an elated Bortoleto said: Two lifetimes. Three, four. It’s crazy. It’s even difficult to think that Melbourne has been this year. So much work, so much effort from the team. Finally, we managed to put it there.”

Loser: Haas

It would be easy to just dump Aston Martin here every week, but do you really have to keep kicking a man when he’s down?

After a stout start to the year, Haas has been mightily struggling for pace in F1 2026’s midfield, having been unable to get into the points over the last three weekends. There was no improvement in Silverstone as Haas is still awaiting much needed upgrades to keep up in the arms race.

Haas’s fate was not helped by a slow stop for Esteban Ocon, who at least seemed to have a more normal weekend in Britain after experienced discomfort with the VF-26, and Bearman being speared out of the way by the Williams of Alex Albon at the start, as both drivers finished a lap down.

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– The Motorsport.com Team