Kimi Antonelli saw off a challenge from Charles Leclerc to get back to winning ways at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday as his team-mate and title rival George Russell failed to finish.
Antonelli started on pole but lost the lead to Leclerc when a virtual safety car slowdown allowed the Ferrari driver to save time during his pit stop.
Antonelli sped back past Leclerc with 10 laps remaining and cruised from there to his sixth win of the season and first since last month’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Leclerc was second and Max Verstappen was third after briefly taking, then losing, the lead from Antonelli on the opening lap.
The Italian stretched his standings lead after Russell was left stuck in the gravel on the first lap after he was pushed into a spin by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli went into the race with a 25-point lead over Russell after recent reliability issues for the Italian cut his advantage. That has now nearly doubled. Antonelli will leave Belgium with a 45-point gap over Hamilton, who moved up to second, and is 50 ahead of Russell.
More to follow...
The next race...
Is the Hungarian Grand Prix, which takes place next week. It is the last race before the summer break and here are the session timings for that.
Friday, July 24
FP1 – 12.30pm BST
FP2 – 4pm
Saturday, July 25
FP3 – 11.30am
Qualifying – 3pm
Sunday, July 26
Race – 2pm
Toto Wolff on Russell’s straight-line struggles
What can be done?
Another points finish for Arvid Lindblad
That is five in a row now. He is just quietly going about his business in an impressive debut season.
Antonelli’s sixth win of the season
To go with his six poles. Russell has four poles and two victories from 10 rounds. This was his second retirement. Antonenlli has had one, though a mechanical issue did cost him in Silverstone.
It is a long way back for Russell at this point, but we said that about Lando Norris at this stage. He was out of ideas and out of luck and then Piastri bombed from the point he looked nailed on after Norris’s retirement in Zandvoort. So, all is not lost. But something needs to change and drastically for Russell.
Updated driver standings
This is provsional, given Hamilton’s investigation.
- Antonelli - 204pts
- Hamilton - 159pts
- Russell - 154pts
- Leclerc - 126pts
- Norris - 103pts
- Piastri - 92pts
- Verstappen - 91pts
- Hadjar - 60pts
Your winner...
Verstappen pleased with third
“I tried everything I could in the race, the first stint wasn’t too bad, the second stint a little bit more difficult. I think for us to be on the podium is very good. I gave it everything I had and P3 is good.”
And the final word from the winner, Antonelli...
“I think the momentum was always there, it was just about getting the result. Today we were a bit lucky with what happened in terms of the championship that is why you have got to try to take very opportunity because it can swing, the situation. We will see what happens at the end of the year.”
Leclerc speaks on his second
“I believed in the win until the end. We had a little bit of luck obviously with the VSC at the right time for us. The pace was relatively strong. I felt better with the car, there is still some work to do but surely it is a step forward.”
Antonelli reacts
“It’s great to be back on the top step after a few difficult rounds, it was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with the virtual safety car but then we managed to work our way back.”
A potential penalty for Hamilton
If it’s five seconds he moves from fourth to fifth. If it’s 10 seconds then he slips down to eighth, which, I think would put Russell second in the standings.
⏱️Belgian GP - Classification
- ANT 25pts
- LEC 18pts
- VER 15pts
- HAM 12pts ⁉️
- PIA 10pts
- HAD 8pts
- NOR 6pts
- BOR 4pts
- LIN 2pts
- COL 1pt
Hamilton under investigation for an unsafe release. Hadjar drives from the back of the grid to sixth, suggesting that McLaren’s strategy wasn’t correct, as Norris finished seventh after starting 13th. That said, they were able to under the SC and VSC to help them in a way that McLaren were not.
KIMI ANTONELLI WINS THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX!
It wasn’t without jeopardy but there were few mistakes in the end he gives himself a chunky championship lead thanks to Russell crashing out on the first lap. Had to overtake to win.
Leclerc second, Verstappen third to make it three different teams on the podium.
FINAL LAP
Antonelli is cruising to victory here and will extend his championship lead to 47 points, I believe, over Lewis Hamilton.
Piastri looking likely to inherit fourth after a potential Hamilton penalty. Bortoleto on for a good haul of four points in eighth.
Norris might get one chance at Hadjar for sixth... but maybe not.
Lap 43 of 44 - Piastri 3.1sec behind Hamilton
That means if Hamilton receives a five-second penalty then Piastri will take fourth place back.
Norris now 1.5sec behind Hadjar. He might get a go at the Red Bull on the final lap...
Lap 42 of 44 - Antonelli leads Leclerc by 1.9sec
Hmmm. In the bag now. It has been a strong fight from Ferrari, though they were aided by a cheap pit stop under the VSC. Still, they were not a million miles behind Antonelli on race pace. Some encouragement with Hungary coming up next week.
Gasly is within one second of Alpine team-mate Colapinto for the final point of the day... that could be a fun scrap.
Lap 41 of 44 - Norris’s charge continues
He sets the fastest lap of the race, 1.6sec faster than Antonelli’s current pace. He has 2.8sec to make up to catch Isack Hadjar in sixth.
Antonelli leads by 1.4sec over Leclerc.
Lap 40 of 44 - Hamilton into fourth!
He gets Piastri with a nice move at Les Combes but needs to stretch his lead as much as he can because he is likely to receive a penalty for an unsafe release.
Antonelli has been told to remember the track limits. Two more instances and he will get a five-second penalty. I think he should be OK with four laps to go.
Lap 39 of 44 - Antonelli now a second ahead
Is that it? Without a mistake from Antonelli, yes. As it stands he will be heading 50 points ahead of Russell, who will slip down to third in the standings behind Hamilton. Hamilton on course for 10 points, but faces a penalty for an unsafe release. He is battling with Piastri for fourth at the moment...
Lap 38 of 44 - Top 10
- ANT
- LEC
- VER
- PIA
- HAM
- HAD
- NOR
- BOR
- LIN
- COL
Hamilton is closing in on Piastri. Lindblad and Bortoleto are in close quarters. Norris 5.6sec behind Hadjar but might run out of laps to overtake.
Lap 37 of 44 - Leclerc not going away...
He is within half a second as they approach the Les Combes chicane... he needs to stay close in order to get the overtake mode. Antonelli cannot break that one-second mark.
Lap 36 of 44 - Norris the fastest man on track
He is closing down Hadjar.
Lap 35 of 44 - Antonelli leads Leclerc by 0.7sec
The Mercedes driver has not exactly “checked out” out front. I would be surprised if Leclerc can make a challenge from here, though, without a significant mistake from Antonelli.
Lap 34 of 44 - Antonelli retakes the lead
Never in doubt really. Easily done and that should be that.
10 laps to go at the end of this one.
Lap 33 of 44 - Top six and gaps
- LEC
- ANT +0.6
- VER +7.8
- PIA +9.4
- HAM +13.2
- HAD +21.2
It’s close out front...
Norris, having overtaken Bortoleto, has another 10 seconds to make up to reach Hadjar.
Bottas gets right in the way of Leclerc when being lapped. Not ideal but I don’t think it has cost Leclerc all that much.
Lap 32 of 44 - Antonelli pushing
I would have thought he would have been ahead by now. The Mercedes is faster but the advantage isn’t enormous, it seems. That is the story for a lot of the last five or six races. Mercedes the best, generally, but not always and not always by much.
Leclerc has a backmarker in Bottas coming up in the next few laps, perhaps even this one...
Antonelli now within a second, which gets him overtake mode on this lap.
Lap 31 of 44 - Norris finally pits
It moves him back to eighth and behind Bortoleto in seventh who is having a fine race. It was a slow stop and Norris now has a lot of overtaking to do in the next 14 laps on medium tyres.
Leclerc is complaining about his upshifts from first to second out of turn one. He has Antonelli by close company. The Italian was half a second faster the last lap...
Lap 30 of 44 - Instructions at McLaren
No yo-yo racing, it seems. Or that is what they are told to avoid.
Antonelli has reduced Leclerc’s lead to 1.9sec now.
Lap 29 of 44 - Verstappen into third
He gets Norris at the Les Combes chicane with a late-braking move but he nearly loses it again. That leaves Piastri right on the back of Norris.
Leclerc leads Antonelli by 2.5sec, having passed the backmarkers. Looks like Stroll has now retired from last.
Lap 28 of 44 - Top 10 and gaps
- LEC
- ANT +2.4
- NOR +5.7
- VER +6.4
- PIA +7.3
- HAM +14.6
- HAD +21.4
- BOR +28.6
- LIN +32.6
- LAW +44.9
Lap 27 of 44 - Leclerc leads Antonelli by 2.6sec
Verstappen’s pace is not great, though not too far off what Leclerc is doing. Neither Leclerc nor Verstappen have the pace of Antonelli. Hamilton has dropped down to sixth and will struggle to finish any higher than that as it stands. Maybe fifth depending on what Norris can do.
Lap 26 of 44 - Still Antonelli tries to get past Norris
This is giving Leclerc a 0.8sec advantage every lap. Verstappen is closing up on them but surely Antonelli will get beyond this time. Yes, he does at the end of the Kemmel Straight.
Three seconds now the gap to Leclerc. I’d give it four laps before he is ahead.
Lap 25 of 44 - Leclerc leads Norris and Antonelli
Antonelli does not manage to get the move done into the Les Combes chicane. This is a battle that Norris will not win, but it is helping Leclerc in the lead all the same.
⁉️Hamilton investigated for an unsafe release, but after the race. That could be another penalty for Hamilton...
Lap 24 of 44 - Leclerc responds with the fastest lap
Antonelli is miles faster than Norris but has yet to get past him. Leclerc is now in clean air, the next cars ahead of him are the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton asks if they put front wing in during the pit stop, but is told that they didn’t manage. That is what the man who was knocked over was trying to do, I believe.
Lap 23 of 44 - Leclerc closing in on Norris for the lead
He needs to get it done quickly because Antonelli behind is the fastest man on the track.
Leclerc gets the job done into the braking zone for Les Combes. Leclerc is in the lead... but for how long?
Lap 22 of 44 - Half-distance...
Here is the order:
- NOR
- LEC +0.7
- ANT +3.1
- VER +7.0
- PIA +8.3
- HAM +13.5
- HAD +21.3
- BOR +23.9
- LIN +27.2
- LAW +27.3
Of that lot Norris is the only one yet to stop and is on 21-lap old hards. Everyone else is on fresh hards between one and six laps old.
Lap 21 of 44 - Norris now leads
He has yet to stop, though. His team-mate Piastri did. That has worked out brilliantly for Leclerc. He is now ahead of Antonelli. Problems for Hamilton in the stop, he nearly ran over his front-right tyre man. He seems to be OK.
Lap 20 of 44 - It was not an orchestrated switch for McLaren
Piastri is back ahead... and we have another Virtual Safety Car for marshals on the track. Not sure what for... exactly.
Leclerc is coming towards the pit entry and the VSC is still on. They have both been told to stop, which means both cars could get a cheap stop. Leclerc at least will... and Hamilton. Does the double stack work? It looks like it does. Hamilton also has a five-second penalty to serve.
How does this work out? A bit of a slow stop for Hamilton, too.
Lap 19 of 44 - Antonelli retains advantage
Yes, Antonelli is comfortably out ahead of Verstappen. The gap is pretty much what it was before Verstappen stopped. Leclerc leads Hamilton at the start of the race, with Piastri and Norris third and fourth, but they have all yet to stop.
Norris is right on the back of McLaren team-mate Piastri but is losing time in doing so. Different strategies, will McLaren make the switch? Yes. Or at least Norris is now ahead. Not sure it was the cleanest switch, if they indeed made that call.
Lap 18 of 44 - VSC deployed
Hamilton is unhappy with the strategy he has been put on. We do not know why the VSC has been called, so it is a little hard to know how many drivers are going to stop.
VSC is ending and Antonelli comes in but will not get the advantage of a cheap stop. He went very aggressively into the pit lane but it’s a fairly tidy stop of 2.6sec. Not rapid.
Leclerc inherits the lead but will Antonelli retain the net race lead?
Lap 17 of 44 - Leclerc avoids penalty
Fair enough. I’d have to look at it again but I am a little surprised. Does that affect what Ferrari do with their two cars?
Lindblad has stopped for some fresh hard tyres. He has come out in 12th, just ahead of team-mate Liam Lawson.
Antonelli told to find some pace. Or at least, make sure he doesn’t waste any tyre rubber before coming in to change them.
Verstappen pits from second... undercut?
Lap 16 of 44 - Norris on a charge
He was 1.4sec faster than Piastri last lap and trails only by 3.7sec now. Antonelli has got a move on again and now leads Verstappen by 2.5sec. I don’t think anyone has the power to stop him, especially as this race now looks like a certain one-stopper.
Lap 15 of 44 - Russell sounded close to tears in that interview
Clearly emotional and gutted after what has happened today and what has been happening generally. He seems a bit helpless. As it stands he will be back to trailing Antonelli by 50 points.
❌Sergio Perez has retired from the race with a suspected broken suspension.
Lap 14 of 44 - Top six and gaps
- ANT
- VER +1.8
- LEC +2.8
- HAM +3.9
- PIA +6.9
- NOR +12.1
Lap 13 of 44 - Antonelli stretches his lead
2.1sec over Verstappen now. Hamilton is on the back of Leclerc and says he is faster. He probably is but that doesn’t mean he will be let through.
Lap 12 of 44 - Russell speaks
What about this straight-line speed issue?
Lap 11 of 44 - Hamilton carrying damage it seems
To the front wing and the bargeboards. I think Leclerc might be getting a five-second penalty himself soon.
Lando Norris now up into seventh and has countryman Arvid Lindblad next up the road. The Racing Bulls is a good car this year, very driveable again but Lindblad is doing a very fine job behind the wheel.
Lap 10 of 44 - Top 10
- ANT
- VER
- LEC
- HAM
- PIA
- LIN
- NOR
- LAW
- COL
- GAS
Antonelli now leads Verstappen by 1.8sec, though Verstappen has Leclerc, Hamilton and Piastri for close company.
Lap 9 of 44 - Penalty for Hamilton!
Hamilton into fourth now. Piastri a little defencless to resist Hamilton’s charge into the Les Combes chicane. Ferrari in third and fourth now. The incident has been noted between Piastri and Leclerc.
Speaking of which...
❗It’s a five-second time penalty for Lewis Hamilton for that incident with Russell on lap one...
Lap 8 of 44 - Piastri and Leclerc collide!
Piastri is alongside Leclerc for third heading into the first chicane... Piastri turns into the corner and they touch! Some bodywork comes off one of the cars but did Leclerc give him enough space?
I am not sure, but the McLaren now drops back. I think that incident will be looked at.
“He didn’t leave enough space, that could have been a massive crash,” the Australian says.
Lap 7 of 44 - Antonelli leads Verstappen by 1.1sec
Piastri is threatening Leclerc for third now. Verstappen has stretched his lead over Leclerc but isn’t quite within a second of Antonelli in the lead. A decent battle from first to fifth at the moment, 3.1sec between them.
Lap 6 of 44 - Verstappen makes a charge
Verstappen into second! The usual way, into the Les Combes chicane after the long Kemmel Straight. Antonelli is 1.1sec further ahead having set the fastest lap of the race.
Antonelli just needs to keep his head here. He is down to extend his advantage significantly over Russell today. It doesn’t really matter whether he wins or not, as long as he is on the podium.
Lap 5 of 44 - Antonelli leads Leclerc
Antonelli has no issues keeping the lead at turn one as he is miles ahead. Hamilton makes a dive up the first chicane on Piastri, though soon cedes the position back going into Eau Rouge! Hamilton must have drained his power on the pit straight there as he is slipping well back now.
At the end of the lap the top three converge as Verstappen comes into view, threatening Leclerc for second.
Lap 4 of 44 - ⁉️ HAM vs RUS incident is being investigated
I think it can only be Hamilton’s fault, but it might go down as a racing incident. He said on the radio that he couldn’t do anything else because he was right on another car’s rear wing.
The Safety Car is coming in this lap...
Lap 3 of 44 - Top 10 as it stands
- ANT
- LEC
- VER
- PIA
- HAM
- LAW
- LIN
- COL
- BOR
- NOR
Lap 2 of 44 - Safety Car is out on track
A few cars stop to change for hard tyres. We see the replay of the start.
Russell was in third coming onto the Kemmel Straight but then gets swallowed up by Norris, Leclerc and Hamilton. Russell is then late on the brakes and comes across Hamilton’s left side from the outside of the corner.
Not quite sure whose fault that one was yet. Nothing too horrific from either driver, but perhaps a little risky for Russell. Fair to say a nightmare start for the Briton.
RUSSELL CRASHES OUT ON THE FIRST LAP!
It’s a good start for Antonelli who keeps the lead at the first turn but that does not last very long as Verstappen takes the lead at Raidillon and Eau Rouge!
Antonelli them comes back on the Kemmel Straight to retake the lead and they go three abreast almost into Les Combes as Leclerc fights for the lead... but Hamilton and Russell collide a bit further back... Russell is in the gravel and stuck there, it seems.
He’s out of his car and out of the race... Hamilton continues in fifth. Not quite sure what happened there.
🌧️A bit of rain?
Piastri thinks so. Very light, though and at turn one.
Antonelli takes his spot on pole position and the rest slot in behind him...
The formation lap is go!
Everyone away cleanly in the end. Mediums for most of the drivers except for Norris in 13th. The bottom five, for what it’s worth, are on a mixture of softs and hards. Not individually, obviously.
We are nearly ready to go....
You’d have to think that someone will have to overtake Antonelli at the start to stand a chance of winning...
It has clouded over at Spa but currently dry and expected to stay so for the race. But you never know at this place.
Chance of rain?
10 per cent, according to official FIA forecasts.
Speaking of the grid, this is how they line up
1. ANT 2. VER
3. RUS 4. LEC
5. HAM 6. PIA
7. LIN 8. BOR
9. LAW 10. GAS
11. COL 12. HUL
13. NOR 14. BEA
15. ALB 16. OCO
17. BOT 18. PER
19. SAI 20. STR
21. HAD 22. ALO
A busy grid
Current driver standings
It’s not like this season has been a write-off for Russell, far from it. He had some bad luck early on that Antonelli took advantage of. The problem is that when he has been behind it has generally been a significant margin, but when he has been ahead it has been a small one. Another Antonelli mechanical issue or DNF will help him here...
Ferrari’s up and down season continues
Generally and on average they are the second fastest team, as well as being the only team to stop Mercedes winning a grand prix, having done so twice. This weekend, though, they are the fourth fastest team. Leclerc did briefly show some pace and Hamilton did well to get into qualifying at all after his late crash in final practice. Still, they start fourth (Leclerc) and fifth (Hamilton) today.
I think Hamilton, at the moment, is only theoretically in the title fight. Today might be about damage limitation, though Spa does occasionally throw up some strange results. Normally only in the wet, though.
Qualifying gaps from Russell to Antonelli
Australia: 0.293 ahead ✅
China sprint: 0.289 ahead ✅
China: 0.222 behind❌
Japan: 0.298 behind❌
Miami sprint: 0.402 behind❌
Miami: 0.399 behind❌
Canada sprint: 0.068 ahead✅
Canada: 0.068 ahead✅
Monaco: 0.394 behind❌
Catalonia: 0.319 ahead✅
Austria: 0.301 ahead✅
GB sprint: 0.346 behind❌
GB: 0.370 behind❌
Belgium: 0.508 behind❌
You can see the trends there...
What is up with Russell?
Or at least what is up with him losing so much time on the straights? Is it his driving style? Apparently not.
“That’s what we thought coming out of Silverstone. We thought it was in the driving style and technique, but we have finally concluded it’s not. We have changed everything... it’s frustrating,” he said.
“So we keep going through this process of ‘Oh, we think it’s this’. We change it. ‘Oh, it’s not this, maybe it’s the driving style’. I thought it was the driving style. Honestly, I came into this weekend and said on Thursday, ‘I think it’s the driving style’. Changed the driving style, and it’s not the driving style.”
“Anything can happen [in the race]. But as I said, the truth is battling against my team-mate, who is such an incredible driver, doing such a great job at the moment, in the best of times, is a tall order.”
⏱️Times from qualifying
Antonelli’s sixth pole of the season. He has converted four of his five so far into victories with his one other coming after George Russell’s retirement in the Canadian Grand Prix a couple of months ago.
Good afternoon
Welcome to our live coverage for the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix from Spa-Francorchamps. The story of yesterday and in fact the weekend was of everyone trying to dislodge Kimi Antonelli from the top of the timesheets. Spoiler alert if you did not watch qualifying: they failed.
That is not to say the fight wasn’t a half-decent one. Max Verstappen and Red Bull were the closest challengers in the end, demonstrating an element of revival during a tricky season. Whether that will continue during the race is hard to know. Verstappen certainly thought he would have been further down the field without the tremendous tow he received from Isack Hadjar, his Red Bull team-mate, in the final sector.
Lando Norris also pushed Verstappen, though was almost half a second down on Antonelli’s time in the end. Unfortunately he will not be able to take advantage of a start from third place because he takes a 10-place grid penalty. George Russell, who has managed to reduce his Mercedes team-mate’s advantage to just 25 points in the past few rounds, was fourth and will start third. He did however, have a difficult session once again, finishing more than half a second off his team-mate.
He was at a loss to explain this. Well, he knows where he lost most of the time: on the straights. But he still does not understand exactly why it is happening. The good news for him is that third place is often the most optimal starting position at this track.
Will that be the case today? Let’s see...