Charles Leclerc says it would have been difficult to keep P1 without Kimi Antonelli troubles

After both Leclerc pitted, Mercedes kept Antonelli out to give him a tyre advantage towards the end of the race to try and catch the Monegasque.

And indeed, it appeared the Italian was on his way as per plan as he was catching the leading Ferrari at an impressive rate, but then disaster struck: the left wheel shield broke, and he started dropping.

While he tried to remain in the race, Antonelli dropped back and was slapped with a time penalty for exceeding track limits as he struggled to keep his car under control, finishing 16th.

Leclerc, on the other hand, just had to survive a late Safety Car due to Max Verstappen's crash, which is what he did to take his first win this season.

Speaking after the race, Leclerc said: "With Kimi, it would have been close. He was very fast when he was coming towards me. 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 a big gap, and it should be straightforward'. Then with the safety car, some backmarkers had to pass us, so I did all the Safety Car time at 100 kph, so my tyres were very cold.

"Not great for the fans around the track, but in the helmet I was happy that there was not a restart to keep that win," he admitted.

Leclerc reflected on the rough patch that ended with his win in Silverstone on Sunday; he added: "After Monaco, the feeling wasn't there. I crashed in Q3, then in the race we had an issue, and that ended our race.

"In Barcelona, I felt good but crashed again on Saturday. Then on the Sunday we had an issue with the car.

"Austria wasn't so great, but here I, we managed to put everything together, and I hope I can keep that momentum going forward," the Ferrari driver concluded. (Source: Sky Sports F1)