Leclerc wins busy British GP, and Bortoleto returns to points

All drivers stopped, Hamilton lost second place to George Russell, and came third. The Mercedes driver, who had a flat tire during the race, remained in second place in the championship. And leader Antonelli didn't score.

Hamilton is under investigation for a yellow flag infringement, which was not shown during the race.

BORTOLETO ARRIVES IN EIGHTH AND SCORES AGAIN

Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto scored for the first time since the opening stage of the championship in March. He was eighth after starting 11th.

Bortoleto started well, and even so he fell to 14th on the first lap. But the Brazilian passed Gasly, Ocon and Sainz and even inherited a position when Oscar Piastri had damage to the front wing of his McLaren, entering the scoring zone.

With a better pace than the Alpine, who were behind, they had a lonely first part of the race, as they also did not have the pace to attack the Racing Bulls, who were ahead of them. With Antonelli and Verstappen's problems, the Brazilian gained two positions, and now has all of Audi's six points for the season.

ANTONELLI IS SURPASSED BY FERRARI AT THE START

Antonelli started on pole position and was passed by the two Ferraris in the first meters of the race. Hamilton, however, moved the car before the red lights went out and was given a 5-second penalty, paid at his first stop. Before that, the Brit tried to hinder the Italian so that his teammate could escape in front, and the tactic worked until lap 11, when Mercedes overtook Ferrari. In the lead, Leclerc had a 4s advantage.

George Russell did not enter this dispute. On lap 15, the Briton was already 3s behind Hamilton and 10s behind the lead on lap 15, when he came under pressure from Max Verstappen, who had started seventh and passed Russell on lap 17, just before being the first to change tires.

On lap 24, Hamilton was called to the pits and protested: "My tires are still good!", but swapped the medium tires for the hard ones. Mercedes took the opportunity to also call Russell to the pits and, as Hamilton had to pay his penalty, he ended up coming out behind his former teammate and also Verstappen, although both had much newer tires than the Dutchman.

On the next lap, leader Leclerc made a pitstop. He had a 2s9 advantage over Antonelli when he stopped. The Italian continued on the track, sounding nervous on the radio, something unusual this season: "Don't let anyone pass me in the pits!" The Italian only stopped on lap 36, 11 laps after Leclerc, and came back in second, 7.5 seconds behind the Monegasque. His mission would be to use the newest tires to pass the Ferrari in the final laps.

HAMILTON GOES FROM FIFTH TO SECOND

Behind the two, Russell and Hamilton swapped positions a few times, using their energy differently with overtaking mode. With seven laps more used tires, Verstappen was unable to use the dispute between the two to escape.

But Russell had a tire puncture and had to make an extra pitstop, leaving the world champions' path. Hamilton then went after Verstappen, in a dispute that was interrupted by a Virtual Safety Car caused by the abandonment of Nico Hulkenberg, who had a breakdown. And Red Bull took the opportunity to call him to the pits again.

In contention for victory, Antonelli was approaching Leclerc when a piece of his Mercedes broke when he attacked a curb. The Italian had a lot of difficulty turning the car. Mercedes called him into the pits twice to try to resolve the problem.

VERSTAPPEN ROADS BY ITSELF AND CAUSES A SAFETY CAR

With five laps to go, the race would take a new turn: Leclerc was leading, with Hamilton in second and Verstappen in third when the Dutchman escaped the track alone and stopped in the gravel. The Red Bull driver complained a lot about the car, which seemed to surprise him as it did in qualifying for the Austrian GP.

The abandonment brought a Safety Car to the race and all the drivers took the opportunity to change tires, except for Antonelli, who was in ninth place and had a penalty for leaving the track several times, trying to control his Mercedes.

As Hamilton took a lap to make the pitstop, the Briton went back behind Russell. The race was never restarted. SEE THE FINAL CLASSIFICATION 1st - Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 2nd - George Russell (Mercedes) 3rd - Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 4th - Landon Norris (McLaren) 5th - Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) 6th - Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 7th - Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) 8th - Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 9th - Franco Colapinto (Alpine)10th - Pierre Gasly (Alpine)11th - Oscar Piastri (McLaren)12th - Carlos Sainz (Williams)13th - Oliver Bearman (Haas F1 Team)14th - Esteban Ocon (Haas F1 Team)15th - Sergio Perez (Cadillac)16th - Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)17th - Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)18th - Fernando Alonson (Aston Martin)19th - Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)20th (did not finish) - Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)21st (did not finish) - Alexander Albon (Williams)22nd (did not finish) - Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

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