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<\/p>\nKimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n
Antonelli led the early stages from pole position, but only after a frantic opening lap where he was passed by Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen before the Mercedes driver got back ahead, just seconds after George Russell had crashed out in the other Mercedes.<\/p>\n
That was the result of contact with Lewis Hamilton in the other Ferrari, for which Hamilton was later penalized as Russell was spun around and got stuck in the gravel.<\/p>\n
This led to a safety-car period, after which Antonelli extended his lead at the front and Leclerc clashed with Oscar Piastri\u2019s McLaren, all while chasing Verstappen\u2019s second place.<\/p>\n
Debris from various clashes needing to be cleared up led to two short virtual safety-car activations, the second of which came after Antonelli had stopped on Lap 18 of 44. Ferrari brought Leclerc in while the race was still neutralized and he gained so much time he vaulted up the order to lead the race once he rejoined.<\/p>\n
Antonelli taking longer to pass the yet-to-stop McLaren of Lando Norris meant Leclerc had stretched his lead to 3.1-seconds over Antonelli by Lap 26. But the Mercedes closed in from there.<\/p>\n
He retook the lead on Lap 34, after which Leclerc stayed close behind. But he could not do anything about Antonelli stretching away, with the Italian ending with a victory margin of 1.9 seconds.<\/p>\n
Verstappen took third, with Hamilton fourth but the seven-time world champion is facing a post-race investigation for an unsafe release from his pit stop. Piastri was fifth, with Isack Hadjar going from the back of the grid to sixth ahead of Norris\u2019 late charge, in large part thanks to Red Bull stopping him behind the early safety car.<\/p>\n
Luke Smith, Alex Kalinauckas, in Spa, and Madeline Coleman analyze the action.<\/p>\n
Kimi Antonelli strikes the right balance of risk vs. reward<\/p>\n
Antonelli didn\u2019t exactly pull away with the lead at the start. He managed to hold on to his pole position, staying just a few seconds ahead until it came time for him to pit. Mercedes called him in on Lap 19 for hard tires and to defend Max Verstappen\u2019s undercut attempt.<\/p>\n
But the Italian driver\u2019s biggest test came as he picked his way through the field after other teams pitted and the grid navigated virtual safety cars.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a balance of risk versus reward \u2014 when do you make a bold move without risking a mistake? He stood to gain significantly in the championship battle after Russell was out in an opening-lap incident.<\/p>\n
Antonelli picked off Norris, who was on older tires, on Lap 26 on the Kemmel Straight and set his sights on Leclerc, who was in the lead. The Ferrari driver quietly became a threat during the race and Leclerc kept Antonelli behind for some time as the Mercedes driver waited to make his move.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Kimi Antonelli celebrates his sixth grand prix win of the season. (Clive Rose \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
By Lap 33, the gap came down to half a second, and a lap later Antonelli slipped past with relative ease. But it took a while, about five laps to go, for the 19-year-old to create the one-second gap between the two of them.<\/p>\n
Winning this race marked a big moment for Antonelli, this year starkly contrasting last season. He stood in the media pen after qualifying at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps last season, a tissue in hand and his emotions evident. The European stretch was a rollercoaster for the then rookie \u2014 and he struggled with his confidence.<\/p>\n
The 2026 season has seen a new and improved Antonelli. He\u2019s stronger, more confident. His comfort in the car is evident. As the final laps of the Belgian GP ticked by, the only threat to his victory would be a possible track limits infringement if he exceeded the limit a couple more times.<\/p>\n
Madeline Coleman<\/p>\n
Russell left \u2018numb to the disappointment\u2019 as title hopes take big blow<\/p>\n
Russell knew going into Sunday\u2019s race it would be hard to trim the points gap to Antonelli, given his pace deficit at Spa amid what he called a \u201cserious issue\u201d with his engine.<\/p>\n
But to suffer a third zero-score of the season, spinning into the gravel on the opening lap after contact with Hamilton, has dealt a serious blow to his championship hopes.<\/p>\n
Russell didn\u2019t do a lot wrong on the first lap, hanging his Mercedes to the outside at Les Combes to try and hold the position ahead of Hamilton. A loss of downforce from the cars in front caused Hamilton to understeer ever so slightly, clipping Russell\u2019s car and sending him into the gravel.<\/p>\n
He explained to reporters after his retirement that a problem with the Boost on his battery meant he had nothing left before the start of the straight, causing him to get swallowed up by the cars behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite frankly, it was dangerous; I got swamped by three cars,\u201d said Russell. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have been in that position in the first place. That\u2019s why I\u2019m most angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286134392-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n George Russell crashed out on the first lap. (John Thys \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Russell already looked on the back foot in this title fight despite making big points gains in recent races. He\u2019d capitalized on Antonelli\u2019s reliability issues, but still looked the less comfortable and, crucially, the slower of the two Mercedes drivers.<\/p>\n
But Russell now again faces a chasm at the top of the standings, 50 points back from his teen phenom of a teammate with one race to run before the summer break. Momentum can, of course, swing quite quickly, but this latest dose of bad luck will be difficult for Russell to digest on top of his ongoing search for form.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m numb to the disappointment now,\u201d Russell said. \u201cWhen it happens so often, you just get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke Smith<\/p>\n
Leclerc leads Ferrari challenge, Hamilton hurt by penalty<\/p>\n
Back-to-back wins at two of the most power-hungry tracks of the year would have sounded like a long shot to Ferrari ahead of the races at Silverstone and Spa. Yet, after Leclerc\u2019s excellent British GP victory two weeks ago, he had a period on Sunday where there might have been thought of a repeat, only for Antonelli\u2019s pace to prove too strong.<\/p>\n
Having resolved some of his driving style issues with the Ferrari car at Silverstone, Leclerc looked the quicker of the two Ferrari cars throughout the weekend. He started well to run second to Antonelli after the first lap, making a podium a serious possibility.<\/p>\n
Some quick thinking by Ferrari to seize the moment under the virtual safety car \u2014 effectively taking a \u2018cheap\u2019 pit stop while the field was slowed \u2014 brought Leclerc out a couple of seconds ahead of Antonelli, making him the net leader. Fresher tires and track position was a good advantage to have over the chasing Mercedes.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286751906-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Charles Leclerc had to settle for second in Spa. (Clive Mason \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Nothing can substitute raw pace, though. Antonelli likely would have defeated Leclerc at Silverstone had an issue not emerged on his car. This time, he was not going to be denied the win, easing into the lead with 11 laps remaining on the long Kemmel Straight.<\/p>\n
Leclerc was able to keep in touch with Antonelli for a while, the gap remaining at less than a second until the final few laps, at which point there was simply not enough left in Leclerc\u2019s tires to hold on. Second place would have to do.<\/p>\n
Ferrari can take some confidence from Spa and Leclerc\u2019s performance in particular. Hamilton wasn\u2019t quite on the same level, but his race was dented by the somewhat harsh penalty for the collision with Russell. Still, fourth place was enough to lift Hamilton to second in the championship above his former teammate.<\/p>\n
Hamilton is also going to face a post-race investigation for an unsafe pit release after one of his mechanics was caught as he pulled away in response to the green light shown, but that typically results in the team being fined instead of a time penalty for the driver.<\/p>\n
Luke Smith<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls equals Alpine for \u2018best of the rest\u2019<\/p>\n
Coming into this weekend, Alpine held a narrow one-point edge over Racing Bulls for fifth in the constructors\u2019 standings. Both teams had steadily earned points, with only one pointless weekend for each.<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls entered the weekend bringing upgrades, but only enough to be fitted on one car this weekend, with the other receiving the components next time out in Hungary. Team principal Alan Permane said Friday: \u201cIt was impossible for us to do it to two cars. It\u2019s a chassis modification. We had to shrink the whole hoop, and we just couldn\u2019t do that in time between Silverstone and here on both cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Arvid](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2286753947-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Arvid Lindblad leads Liam Lawson during the race. (Clive Mason \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
To decide who would receive the upgrade, the drivers agreed it would be whoever qualified ahead of the other at Silverstone, which ended up being Arvid Lindblad. And the updated car looked competitive. The rookie secured his best qualifying position of the year, eighth, and ahead of Lawson and, crucially, the Alpines.<\/p>\n
The Racing Bulls teammates often found themselves near each other \u2014 and racing each other \u2014 throughout the first half of the race. The team pitted Lawson first, followed by Lindblad a lap later, both stops happening after Alpine had executed both of theirs. By the halfway point, Lindblad led Lawson but both were in points, though Pierre Gasly was gaining on Nico H\u00fclkenberg behind them.<\/p>\n
By Lap 30, the Alpine duo closed in on Lawson, and Franco Colapinto managed to not only pass Lawson but also teammate Gasly for the last points spot into Turn 5. But the best midfield driver happened to be Audi\u2019s Gabriel Bortoleto, who quietly was running eighth ahead of Lindblad with 10 laps to go.<\/p>\n
Lindblad and Colapinto made up the final two points-scoring positions, putting Racing Bulls level on 61 points with Alpine in the constructors\u2019 standings.<\/p>\n
The midfield, from a constructors\u2019 standings perspective, is split into mini battles. On the grid, the margins are tight as the development war continues to unfold. The pecking order is a bit more clear, compared to the top four at least, but Racing Bulls is steadily becoming a bigger, quieter threat.<\/p>\n
Madeline Coleman<\/p>\n
Provisional Top 10
\nKimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
\nCharles Leclerc (Ferrari)
\nMax Verstappen (Red Bull)
\nLewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
\nOscar Piastri (McLaren)
\nIsack Hadjar (Red Bull)
\nLando Norris (McLaren)
\nGabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
\nArvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
\nFranco Colapinto (Alpine)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli led…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,4031,16283],"class_list":["post-29482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-formula-1","tag-motorsports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116949776180074391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}