Leclerc's Silverstone breakthrough could ignite F1 title race, says Montoya

Charles Leclerc delivered Ferrari’s standout result of the season at the British Grand Prix on Sunday, leading from the opening lap and crossing the line under safety car conditions to win at Silverstone for the first time in his career. George Russell finished second for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton third.

The result ends a difficult run for Leclerc, who had struggled for form earlier in the campaign. His path to victory was aided by a safety car triggered when championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s closest rival, Max Verstappen, spun into the gravel at Stowe corner, though Leclerc had already established himself at the front before the incident.

Speaking on the F1 TV post-race show, seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya reflected on what the win could mean for the title fight. “We see Lewis is there now every week,” Montoya said. “And if we’re going to see Charles there every week, this championship is going to get really exciting.”

Montoya suggested the turnaround likely came from Ferrari identifying a specific technical issue. “You always spend hours looking at the data, and you go, ‘OK, this is where I have the issue. How can we stop it?’” he explained. “Once you figure that out and you work around the problem, you try it and you go, ‘Oh, that was it.’ And the problem is now they need to translate that to every track and gain that confidence a little bit.”

The win moves Leclerc to fourth in the drivers’ standings with 108 points. Antonelli leads the championship on 179 points, with Russell second on 154 and Hamilton third on 147. Leclerc’s deficit to the top remains significant, but Montoya’s point is clear: a Ferrari with both drivers consistently at the front would fundamentally change the complexion of a title race that has so far been dominated by the Mercedes pair.