Quashing negativity makes British GP win especially sweet for Leclerc

Charles Leclerc says his form this season has led to negativity and “narratives being created” that make his victory in the British Grand Prix even more impactful.

The Ferrari driver had not won a race since late 2024, and had struggled for results since starting this season with two podiums in three races. Having seen teammate Lewis Hamilton emerge as a title contender, Leclerc says winning again at Silverstone carried extra weight as it proved his recent hard work has been paying off.

“It means a lot,” Leclerc said. “It means a lot because when things get tough, and that's literally the situation I've been in the last few races. Obviously there's a lot of negativity around me in general, with narratives being created, and it's never a nice environment to work in.

“But to keep our head down and to keep working very hard and get the result that we got today, I'm super proud of the whole team that have been pushing me and helping me to find that feeling again with the car.

"It's only a first step and I've got to prove that on multiple track layouts. But on such a track where confidence is key, I wouldn't have been able to do that without the feeling, and so that's really good.”

Leclerc says he felt the win was on the cards from the early stages of Sunday’s race, but admits he expected it would be tough to hold off Kimi Antonelli before the Mercedes driver hit trouble in the late stages.

“We had a very strong start, which wasn't a given because yesterday [in the Sprint] the start was very poor," he admitted. "So that was a point of focus. After that, I just tried to manage my tires, focus on the feeling I had with the car from qualifying. I knew what to do inside the car, I knew what to change in terms of tools that I have on my steering wheel.

“I just felt very comfortable in the car, especially in the first stint. So, then I understood that the win was a possibility. It was going to be tricky with Kimi at the end, so we've been a little bit lucky on that, but we also need that sometimes.

“With Kimi, it would have been close. He was very fast when he was coming towards me, so it would have been very difficult to keep that first place. Then I heard he had a problem, so I was like, ‘OK, now I have quite a big gap and it should be straightforward.’

“But then the safety car at the end and for whatever reason, I think some backmarkers had to pass us, so I did all the safety car time at like 100, 120 kph. My tires were completely cold, so I was very skeptical about the restart. It’s not great for the fans that are here around the track [but] in the helmet, I was kind of happy that there was not a restart to keep that win. It feels really good.”