A hard-won victory The one won on Sunday at Silverstone was anything but an easy and predictable victory for Charles Leclerc, who in addition to the pressure brought on – at least until the moment of his very unfortunate technical problem with the wheel cover – by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, also had to deal with some ‘external’ obstacles that stood between him and the final success. The most evident obviously was the Safety Car that entered the track in the final laps of the race, which erased the conspicuous advantage that Ferrari’s Monegasque had over his pursuers and which, if it had returned to the pit lane before the end of the Grand Prix – thus leaving the race free on the final lap – could have truly proved fatal for the #16’s ambitions of success. What a thrill with Sainz But Leclerc had also felt a shiver down his spine several laps earlier, during the 37th lap, when he found himself having to lap his former teammate Carlos Sainz. The episode was not broadcast live on TV, but it generated wide (and unfortunately in some cases even vulgar) debate on social networks. At that stage of the race, Leclerc was very focused on trying to resist the pursuit of Antonelli who had just come out of the pits after the stop, had fresh tires and was rapidly closing the gap to the top. In an attempt to overtake Sainz’s Williams in the section of the Woodcote curve, the Ferrari driver however had a very risky misunderstanding with the Spaniard: Leclerc’s on board camera in fact shows how first Sainz seems to widen to make room for the SF-26 and then instead maintains the ideal race trajectory, effectively closing the curve at the rope. GALİBİYET YERİNE KAZAYI KONUŞUYOR OLABİLİRDİK!Carlos Sainz, mavi bayrak altında Charles Leclerc’i bariyerlere itmiş. pic.twitter.com/zDw2GlDUPZ— Tutkumuz F1 (@F1tutkumuz) July 6, 2026 However, Leclerc, who was entering the space left free by Sainz to lap, was forced at this point to suddenly swerve to the right, pinching the inside curb with his right front wheel and seriously risking losing control of the car. A scare that did not leave Leclerc indifferent, so much so that the Cavallino standard bearer then joined Sainz on the short straight leading to the Copse curve, letting himself go with a rather eloquent hand gesture before finally completing the lapping.
Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News
2026-07-06 13:39:00
