Kimi Antonelli overcame Charles Leclerc to claim his sixth victory of the Formula 1 season at the Belgian Grand Prix, strengthening his grip on the championship lead on another dreary day for Mercedes counterpart George Russell. Autoweek rounds up the key talking points from the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Antonelli returns to the top step
Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a hot streak of five straight victories, and while he was never truly away from front-running contention, two non-finishes and a visit to the lowest step of the podium dented his points advantage.
But from the outset at Spa-Francorchamps he was impressive, and Antonelli duly converted pole into victory.
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Kimi Antonelli leads Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Antonelli didn’t quite have it all his own way across the 44 laps on Sunday afternoon. Charles Leclerc profited from a mid-race Virtual Safety Car period to pit with minimal time loss, elevating him from third to the net lead, and forcing Antonelli on the attack. But Antonelli duly chipped away at Leclerc’s advantage and completed a straightforward move along the Kemmel Straight, ticking off the remaining laps to win by 1.9 seconds.
The relatively narrow margin of victory belied a race Antonelli never looked like losing, despite the time Leclerc spent at the front of the field. Antonelli was pleased to win again but was never unduly concerned by his three-race drought.
“The momentum has always been there despite what happened in the previous races,” he said. “That’s why I just need to take it one weekend at a time, because you never know what can happen. I just need to maximize the performance every time and try to do my best whenever I get in the car.”
Antonelli’s sixth victory of his sophomore season gives the 19-year-old a 47-point advantage over new nearest rival, Lewis Hamilton, in the championship.
Team Principal Toto Wolff was full of praise for Antonelli, highlighting not only his speed, but his greater maturity in his second season.
“We’re all surprised,” Wolff said. “I think the first season came as expected. And after the winter, knowing the technicality, the tracks, the marketing side. But what was not expected is the serenity and structure that he brought into his game.
“Whether the session was good or bad, you wouldn’t see a difference in emotions in the debrief. It is absolutely transactional.”
“With Kimi, whether the session was good or bad, you wouldn’t see a difference in emotions in the debrief. It is absolutely transactional. ‘What is the problem? How do we solve it? How do we move on from it?’ And that is new. That’s why, when he wins, you can’t see this absolute excitement that a 19-year-old would almost have. At the same time, in Barcelona, when we had the car stoppage, or even in Silverstone, he comes back in, and he was the one saying to the team: ‘This is a mechanical spot, this is going to happen.’ He’s 19 years old. That is very, very impressive to see. I think his mindset and his attitude is probably one of the main drivers that has allowed the talent to shine so early in his career.”
Russell ‘numb to disappointment’ after early exit
Another day, another disappointment for George Russell. His victory in Austria increasingly looks like an outlier rather than any tangible shift in momentum, as a deployment issue followed by contract truncated his race after only a minute.
Russell preserved third place through the opening corner but was a sitting duck to rivals behind due to a battery issue, and was slipstreamed by Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri along the Kemmel Straight. Russell, on the outside line, braked to get back ahead of Piastri and tried to re-pass Hamilton, but was tagged by his former teammate, because Hamilton copped a touch of oversteer due to the dirty air from Verstappen’s car in front.
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The trajectory looped Russell’s W17 around and into the gravel, where he was beached, bringing his afternoon to a close after just five turns. Hamilton was harshly sanctioned for the clash, docked five seconds, but Russell labelled it a racing incident and was moreover frustrated by the bigger picture.
“I made a good start, I made a great first corner and I was tucked up right behind Verstappen,” Russell said. “But for whatever reason the battery decided not to recharge at Turn 1. So I went around the first corner, the battery didn’t charge and I exited the first corner 35 percent down. And because of that, because it didn’t charge I also had a boost problem, the turbo didn’t sort itself out so I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0 percent on the battery. Quite frankly it was dangerous, I got swamped by three cars.”
Russell emphasized that it was a different issue to his mysterious ongoing lack of top-end speed.
“I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, that’s why I’m most angry,” he said. “I’m numb to the disappointment now. When it happens so often, you just get used to it.”
A messy weekend for Hamilton
A practice crash, first lap contact, and a penalty, and a messy pit stop were the main takeaways of a scrappy weekend in Belgium for Lewis Hamilton. The Briton hit the wall during the closing stages of the final practice session, ahead of qualifying, and that left him on the back foot. Hamilton’s clash with George Russell on the first lap left him with damage, and a harsh time penalty, which he served at his pit stop. There was a mix-up as a mechanic tried to add more front wing during the stop and Hamilton was given the green light to go, and the mechanic was knocked to the floor, but was fortunately uninjured.
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“I take on responsibility for my incident yesterday, which then had a knock-on effect with the setup not being right, and then out of place in qualifying,” Hamilton said. “I think with the setup right, I think we could have been righting for second/third, and then that meant starting further back, and then I was in a position where George, it looked like he lost power, and then he swooped around the outside, and just had a small coming together.
“I got damaged, and pretty unfortunate to see his race come to an end, because you never want to see that. And then in the race, I did the best job I could with the damage that I had, and then also the penalty.”
Hamilton reckoned his SF-26 “lost a massive amount of downforce” in the tap, explaining “the front of the floor was gone.”
“Then we didn’t get to put the front wing in, because [of the] double stack, and then, oh my god, I’m just grateful that he didn’t get hurt, my mechanic.”
Fourth place was still a relatively decent return given the number of setbacks Hamilton had, but a cleaner weekend would surely have resulted in a podium.
Haas drivers clash in dispiriting race
It was another tricky race for Haas in Belgium as an overall lack of performance was compounded by a first-lap clash between Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon. It was a scruffy and clumsy brush of wheels, rather than anything malicious or untoward, but it left both VF-26s with a puncture and made an uphill task even steeper. Points were an unlikely proposition even before the incident, but it effectively removed Haas from contention and left both slightly out of sync, with Bearman going on to finish 14th, and Ocon 16th.
“Today was a bit of a messy day, so that’s a shame,” said Haas boss Ayao Komatsu. “The lap one incident between teammates shouldn’t happen, so we just need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Said Ocon: “It was the wrong place and wrong time for both Ollie and me on lap 1, there’s not much we could’ve done. We were three-wide, and I think Ollie had an issue, so everyone tried to avoid him. I went on the inside of Nico [Hulkenberg], let him past, and once Nico cleared, I was still on the inside and we touched. It was unfortunate, but it didn’t impede either of our races. We struggled with the pace, and on my side we were still struggling with straight-line speed, lacking rear grip, and we were not quick at all.”
FORMULA 1 MOËT & CHANDON BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2026—RACE
RESULTSCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps—Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, July 19, 2026
Pos/Driver/Team/Time(Retired)/Pts
1. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:24:42.479, 25
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +1.952, 18
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, +11.586, 15
4. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, +17.245, 12
5. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +18.988, 10
6. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing, +23.307, 8
7. Lando Norris, McLaren, +24.014, 6
8. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, +49.140, 4
9. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, +50.406, 2
10. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, +76.037, 1
11. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +76.991, 0
12. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, +77.523, 0
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi, +78.348, 0
14. Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, +94.465, 0
15. Alexander Albon, Williams, +104.684, 0
16. Carlos Sainz, Williams, +105.856, 0
17. Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, +110.925, 0
18. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac, +1 Lap, 0
19. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +2 Laps, 0
NC, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, Retired, 0
NC, Sergio Perez, Cadillac, Retired, 0
NC, George Russell, Mercedes, Retired, 0
Fastest Lap: Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — 1:46.101
2026 FORMULA 1 DRIVER STANDINGS
After the Belgian Grand Prix
Pos/Driver/Team/Pts
1. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 204
2. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 159
3. George Russell, Mercedes, 154
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 126
5. Lando Norris, McLaren, 103
6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 92
7. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 91
8. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing, 60
9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 42
10. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 39
11. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, 22
12. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 19
13. Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, 18
14. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi, 10
15. Carlos Sainz, Williams, 6
16. Alexander Albon, Williams, 5
17. Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, 3
18. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1
19. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi, 0
20. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac, 0
21. Sergio Perez, Cadillac, 0
22. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 0
Source: Official Formula 1 2026 Drivers’ Standings.
2026 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
After the Belgian Grand Prix
Pos/Team/Points
1. Mercedes, 358
2. Ferrari, 285
3. McLaren, 195
4. Red Bull Racing, 151
5. Racing Bulls, 61
6. Alpine, 61
7. Audi, 10
8. Haas F1 Team, 21
9. Williams, 11
10. Aston Martin, 1
11. Cadillac, 0
Source: Official Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship
standings.
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.