Charles Leclerc calls out ‘narratives being created’ after comeback British GP win

Charles Leclerc said there were “narratives being created” and a “lot of negativity around me” before his return to the top step at the British Grand Prix.

Having last won at the 2024 United States Grand Prix, Leclerc ended his drought with a win at Silverstone.

Charles Leclerc calls out ‘negativity’ surrounding him

Leclerc, and team-mate Lewis Hamilton, utilised Ferrari’s excellent starts to move past pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli and while the seven-time World Champion dropped down to third on lap 11, Leclerc was able to hold the lead until lap 25.

Antonelli retook the advantage at that point but Leclerc took it back on lap 36 and issues with the Italian’s W17 ensured Leclerc would remain unchallenged for the win.

The result comes at an optimum time for Leclerc who had scored fewer points than his team-mate at the last five races and Leclerc reflected on the ‘tough’ situation he was in.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“As I said, 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.”

While Ferrari had been consistently strong at the start line, it was not the case for Leclerc in the sprint on Saturday after he slipped from P4 to P7 by the end of the opening lap.

The 28-year-old Monegasque said improving the starting procedure was a “point of focus” for Ferrari for Sunday and one that paid off.

“We had a very strong start, which wasn’t a given because yesterday the start was very poor,” he said. “So that was a point of focus.

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“After that, I just tried to manage my tyres, 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.”

Leclerc is fourth in the Drivers’ standings, 39 points behind team-mate Hamilton and 11 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

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