F1 news: Five takeaways from Ferrari’s British GP as Charles Leclerc wins and optimism grows

Scuderia Ferrari arrived at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix looking to maximise on their recent upgrades after a disappointing Austrian GP.

They vastly improved their consistency across the Grand Prix weekend, with Lewis Hamilton grabbing a podium in the Sprint race before both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc drove a great qualifying.

Sunday’s main event then saw the pair begin on the second row of the grid and, after good starts, they secured a double podium finish.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer and Ferrari fan Luca Salmasi takes a look at five key takeaways from the Scuderia’s successful British GP.

Strong qualifying pace

Saturday’s qualifying produced strong performances from Hamilton and Leclerc, first for the Sprint race and then for Sunday’s main event.

The Sprint qualifying was more of a success by Ferrari’s standards, with Hamilton taking pole position while Leclerc struggled and could only start fourth.

The main qualifying session was more successful overall.

After Kimi Antonelli proved to be miles faster than the rest of the field, the Ferrari duo became best of the rest, locking out the second row of the grid.

Sprint race battle

The Sprint race produced an incredible battle between Hamilton and Antonelli as the seven-time world champion gave everything he had to try and hold off the young Italian.

However, Hamilton’s fantastic start and lead in the Sprint would only last eight laps after some hard-fought defending, and he dropped to P2.

Despite the clear gap in pace to the Mercedes shown by Hamilton’s inability to keep up with Antonelli, he seemed pleased with the result and is happy at the effort being put in by the team over the last few races to help close the gap on competitors.

MORE BY LUCA SALMASI: F1 news: Five takeaways from Ferrari’s Austrian Grand Prix as progress tempered by frustration

Hamilton shows confidence

One of the biggest positives for Ferrari at Silverstone was the continued progress of Hamilton, whose confidence in the SF-26 appears to be growing with every race weekend.

After showing strong pace in practice, Hamilton secured the Sprint pole and remained competitive throughout the weekend, demonstrating an increasingly natural understanding of Ferrari’s package.

Although a late safety-car strategy ultimately left him frustrated after dropping behind George Russell, he admitted he felt far more comfortable with the car than he had earlier in the season.

Leclerc delivers victory

Charles Leclerc took victory after an eventful British Grand Prix, ending a 624-day winless streak, but more importantly, it was Scuderia Ferrari’s 250th race win as a constructor.

Before the British GP, Leclerc believed that Silverstone’s layout wouldn’t suit him.

Yet, he showed surprising pace during qualifying and, alongside his team-mate, had an incredible start on the opening lap of the Grand Prix.

Whilst Leclerc did have the pace, he also benefited from Antonelli’s setback late in the race, only briefly surrendering first place during his pit stop under the safety car.

Although it wouldn’t have been the way he wanted to end the race, the late safety car guaranteed a long-awaited win for the Monegasque driver that should give him confidence ahead of the double-header before the summer break.

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Momentum is building

The upgraded SF-26 features a heavily revised floor and improved downforce, which have helped solve previous tyre-degradation issues.

Ferrari has been strategic with its Additional Upgrade Opportunities, bringing in its initial upgrades online to close the gap to Red Bull and Mercedes.

Leclerc’s win and Hamilton’s recent success – together with assertive leadership – have really improved and galvanised the whole team, providing them with a much more positive outlook on the rest of the season.

The high-speed nature of Spa is generally tough for Ferrari, but with its vastly changing ecosystem, like in previous races, they will be able to capitalise on wet-weather variables and lower-downforce set-ups.

In contrast, the Hungaroring favours Ferrari’s characteristics, making it the strongest venue to challenge for a win.

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