Key events
Giles Richards
Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes with a cool, assured drive but his title rival and teammate George Russell was left distraught after his championship challenge suffered another serious blow when he was knocked out on the opening lap after a clash with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli was in control at the front and delivered a commanding drive including coming back at Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second, after the Monegasque driver had gained the lead through the pit stops. The win was assuredly deserved but the race was notable because of Russell’s retirement, for which the British driver took aim at his Mercedes team and what he sees as his car’s weakness.
The win has once more given Antonelli a huge lead in the world championship, with the 19-year-old now 50 points clear of Russell. For the title race at least the key moments had come in the opening seconds.
Full standings
Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – 204
Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 159
George Russell – Mercedes – 154
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 126
Lando Norris – McLaren – 103
Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 92
Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing – 91
Isack Hadjar – Red Bull Racing – 60
Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 42
Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls – 39
Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls – 22
Franco Colapinto – Alpine – 19
Oliver Bearman – Haas F1 Team – 18
Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi – 10
Carlos Sainz – Williams – 6
Alexander Albon – Williams – 5
Esteban Ocon – Haas F1 Team – 3
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 1
Nico Hulkenberg – Audi – 0
Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac – 0
Sergio Perez – Cadillac – 0
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 0
Cooldown chats: “Oh wow,” says Leclerc as he sees what happened between Hamilton and Russell.
“And Lewis got a penalty?” asks Antonelli. “I think so,” replies Leclerc. “Yeah, five seconds,” says Verstappen.
Our podium speaks.
Kimi Antonelli:
It’s great to be back on the top stop after a few difficult rounds. It was a hard-fought race. We lost the first place with the Virtual Safety Car, we made our way back and it was a tough win as Charles was quick and we had to hold on to them.
Charles Leclerc:
I believed in the win until the end. We had a bit of luck with the VSC at the right place for us. The pace was relatively strong. There were five or six laps on the hard tyres when I was struggling with the front axle, then it came back a little bit. I felt better with the car, there is still some work to do but it is a step forward.
Max Verstappen:
I tried everything I could in the race. The first stint wasn’t too bad. The second stint probably a little bit more difficult. Kimi and I, we got a little bit unlucky with the VSC so for us, a podium is good. I gave it everything I had.
Mercedes: A clenched fist, a wave to the crowd and Antonelli sprints into the arms of his crew and leaping into that gaggle of Mercedes mechanics. It was his father’s birthday yesterday and what a treat.
Russell ‘numb to the disappointment’ after opening lap crash
George Russell said he was “numb to the disappointment” after crashing out of the Belgian Grand Prix on the opening lap in a major blow to his title hopes. The Mercedes driver collided with the Ferrari of former teammate Lewis Hamilton and ended up spinning off into the gravel.
Russell had started in third place on the grid but dropped down to sixth after losing ground on the straight. In fighting back, the Briton went side by side with Hamilton and the pair made contact. After spinning off, Russell stepped out and walked away as seven-time champion Hamilton continued, with the safety car deployed. Stewards investigated and gave Hamilton a five-second penalty for causing a collision.
Russell, who has now failed to score in three races this season, said he felt numb.
When it happens so often you just get used to it. I made a great first corner and I was tucked up right behind (Red Bull’s Max) Verstappen but for whatever reason the battery decided not to recharge at Turn One.
I exited the first corner 35% down because of that, and it didn’t charge, I had a boost problem, the turbo didn’t sort itself out, so no power, and I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0% battery and quite frankly it was dangerous.
I got swamped by three cars and I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, and that is why I am most angry. The incident with Lewis was a racing incident. He didn’t do it on purpose. He was more to blame than I, but he didn’t do anything reckless.
Antonelli takes victory at Belgian Grand Prix for sixth win of the season
What a performance from the Italian youngster. A real champions drive. He did not panic when Leclerc jumped him in the pits, waited patiently and made a clean move on track to extend his Championship lead.
Leclerc takes second, Verstappen third. Hamilton was fourth, ahead of Piastri, Hadjar and Norris. Bortoleto, Lindblad and Colapinto round out the points.
Lap 43 of 44: Hamilton in P4, 3.1s ahead of Piastri. Hamilton on team radio: “I’ve done the best I can with the wing that I have.” Norris has set a new fastest lap and is 1.7s behind Hadjar.
Lap 42 of 44: Norris is closing in fast on Hadjar, the lap times are half a second quicker.
Lap 41 of 44: Piastri has just been told over the radio that Hamilton is facing that post-race investigation for an unsafe release. Piastri’s engineer wants his to stay within five seconds in case Hamilton gets a five-second penalty later. The gap is 2.7s.
Lap 40 of 44: Hamilton makes a clean move at the end of the Kemmel Straight ahead of Piastri into fourth. It will be worth Piastri sticking with him though, given Hamilton is facing that post-race investigation.
Antonelli leads by 1.5s and is warned about track limits, with his engineer saying he’s had two strikes so far. Two more and he will get a penalty.
Lap 39 of 44: Hamilton has closed right up to the rear wing of Piastri. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s engineer on the team radio: “Engine braking plus one. It’s not over.” They still think they can get in here.
Lap 38 of 44: If Antonelli wins here in Belgium he would have a 50 point lead over Russell heading to Budapest. Antonelli is now over a second ahead.
Lap 37 of 44: The lead is just nine tenths of a second now, Leclerc doing everything he can to hold on. Norris is 6.8s back on Hadjar now, and Hamilton is just 1.6s back on Piastri.
Lap 36 of 44: Leclerc losing just one tenth on that lap. The gap is 0.8s as he races down the Kemmel Straight. But he cannot make a move quite yet. Verstappen is 2.2s ahead of Piastri. Norris is now 7.7s back on Hadjar.
Lap 35 of 44: Leclerc is pushing hard to stay within a second of Antonelli to get Overtake Mode. Verstappen still in third.
Lap 34 of 44: Antonelli is cruising now with a new fastest lap time. He has pulled seven tenths on Leclerc, so his rival will have Overtake Mode this lap.
Lap 33 of 44: Seven tenths between first and second … and Antonelli makes his move at the end of the Kemmel Straight. He is now in the lead. Leclerc on the radio: “This first to second gear is so bad. Out of one it’s so bad. So harsh.”
Lap 32 of 44: Antonelli is just 0.9s behind Leclerc now. Norris eases past Bortoleto for seventh.
Lap 31 of 44: A slow stop for Norris after a problem with his left rear – 7.8s, that is awful. He is behind Hadjar and Bortoleto down in P9.
Further back, Colapinto just picked off two cars in a fight between the two Alpines, Lawson and Hulkenberg.
Lap 30 of 44: Norris is warned by his engineer Will Joseph on team radio: “I don’t want any yo-yo racing with Oscar. I’ll explain why later.”
Lap 29 of 44: Norris is holding off Verstappen … but not for long. The Dutchman goes past into Les Combes.
Piastri will be the next on the back of his teammate, and given they are on differing strategies, surely the team will swap those two in the next lap or two unless Norris pits.
Lap 28 of 44: 2.5s is the gap between Leclerc and Antonelli. Who can manage the tyres best and not make any errors? Leclerc’s tyres are two laps fresher. Hamilton is 7.6s back on Piastri now in the fight for P5.
Lap 27 of 44: Stroll is called into the pits with a clutch problem and he is the third retiree of this race.
Out on track, Verstappen is reporting that his tyres are not working.
Lap 26 of 44: Leclerc is in prime position with a chance for back to back wins. Antonelli is all over the back of Norris and finally gets past him.
Piastri is one second behind Verstappen, those two the next to chase up to Norris. Hamilton back in P6.
Lap 25 of 44: More information about the Hamilton/mechanic incident. It seems the call went out late to tweak Hamilton’s front wing, and that is what the mechanic was doing when Hamilton got the green light and went. He has asked on the radio whether the setup change was completed, and is told it was not. He is not happy with his balance as a result.
Lap 24 of 44: Perez retires as a precaution after reporting a rear spring issue, so was retired as a precaution. He joins Russell out of this race.
Up front, Leclerc is flying, he is 1.3s ahead of Norris, who now has Antonelli for company.
Lap 23 of 44: It is an easy overtake for Leclerc as he powers past Norris on the long straight down to Turn 5. Antonelli will hope to do the same on the next lap. Hamilton has been noted for an unsafe release. That could be his second penalty of the race.
Lap 22 of 44: Norris leads the race having started on the hard tyre – he still needs to pit. Leclerc is 2.5s ahead of Antonelli, so we could have an on-track battle for the de facto lead incoming. Verstappen is 3.8s back, Piastri a further 1.3s and then comes Hamilton. Hadjar is seventh ahead of Bortoleto, Lindblad and Lawson. Bortoleto jumped the Racing Bulls boys with a cheap Virtual Safety Car stop.
Lap 21 of 44: Ferrari get a cheaper pit stop thanks to pitting under the Virtual Safety Car conditions and Leclerc comes out two seconds ahead of Antonelli. The new order is Norris in the lead – he has yet to pit. Then comes Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen, Piastri and Hamilton.
Hamilton actually caught a mechanic, he got the green light and went, and he has checked the mechanic is OK, which the team says he is.
Lap 21 of 44: Another Virtual Safety Car, as there are marshals that need to clear the track again. Hamilton is told about his penalty and he says: “Another one …”
Lap 20 of 44: The race leader Antonelli pits. It is a 2.6s stop for him, and he comes out ahead of Verstappen. That promotes Leclerc to the lead of the race.
Lap 19 of 44: Virtual Safety Car is out for 30sec, unsure why. Lewis Hamilton on the team radio: “Why the hell… I told you what strategy I wanted to do. You’ve just put me out with everyone else now.”
Lap 18 of 44: Verstappen is the first frontrunner to pit, maybe to cover a potential pit stop from Leclerc. His hard tyres go on, in a 2.5s stop and he is out in sixth, just ahead of his teammate.
Lap 17 of 44: Lindblad pits from P7, which releases Hadjar to try and catch the McLarens ahead.
Meanwhile Peter Bonnington tells Antonelli: “Your tyres are looking good, Kimi. Better than others, so you can afford to use them.”
Lap 16 of 44: Leclerc avoids penalty for Piastri collision. Huge let-off for Piastri and maybe some frustration for Hamilton, who the stewards did decide to penalise.
Lap 15 of 44: Perez is in the pits, Gasly has also come in. Sainz is in for a new nose. Things have settled a bit here at Spa.
Lap 14 of 44: Antonelli is two seconds clear of Verstappen out front. Leclerc is only one second behind Verstappen and Hamilton is in fourth.
Lap 13 of 44: Hamilton says he’s “quicker than Charles” and that he has “more pace” as the pair are side by side again. Leclerc still in third.
Lap 12 of 44: Piastri is dropping back in that floor damage, but further ahead, Hamilton is all over the back of Leclerc. Those two seem to be allowed to fight it out on track at the moment. Norris gets Lindblad, and he is 8.2s behind his slightly ailing teammate.
Lap 10 of 44: Antonelli has just put a little bit of breathing space between himself and Verstappen, helped by all the squabbles behind. Verstappen has Leclerc right on his tail. Hamilton is also in that fight, and further back, Norris is lining up a move. Oscar Piastri’s engineer on the radio: “We have some damage to the right hand side forward floor. It’s not huge, we’re still in this.”
Lap 9 of 44: Hamilton has been given a five-second time penalty for causing that collision with Russell. He will serve that at his first pit stop. Meanwhile, Leclerc has been noted for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri.
Lap 8 of 44: Contact between Piastri and Leclerc as they collide in the braking zone! Some debris came off the back of Leclerc’s car, but he holds the position and now Hamilton is all over the back.
Piastri on the radio says that could have been a “massive crash”.
Lap 7 of 44: Verstappen is within one second of Antonelli! Antonelli flies through Eau Rouge and down the straight, just 0.8s clear of Verstappen. Leclerc is 0.8s further back, Piastri off the back of the Ferrari.
Lap 6 of 44: Antonelli has not quite broken free of Leclerc, but fortunately for him, the Ferrari driver is busy defending for the time being – Leclerc is picked off by Verstappen at the end of the Kemmel Straight. Norris up to P9.
Lap 5 of 44: Antonelli controls the restart perfectly and opens up a gap to Leclerc that he maintains.
Lap 4 of 44: The Safety Car heads into the pits at the end of the lap after marshals quickly clear Russell’s stricken Mercedes. Antonelli leads the field back to green flag conditions, but faces immediate pressure from Leclerc and Verstappen, who are poised to challenge into the opening corners.
Further back, Norris produces an impressive recovery drive, climbing from 13th on the grid into the points in 10th, while Lawson moves from ninth to sixth in the opening laps.
Lap 3 of 44: Hamilton has dropped behind Piastri, who is up to fourth. Norris has gained three early places to get up to 10th. Antonelli is first, Leclerc is second and Verstappen has dropped to third after his earlier aggressiveness. The Safety Car continues to lead the pack.
Lap 2 of 44: The Safety Car is deployed after the dramatic opening-lap, neutralising the race as marshals recover Russell’s stranded Mercedes from the gravel. Russell climbs out of the car and walks away unharmed, but his race is over.
The incident occured after Russell attempted a late move around the outside of Hamilton, with the pair making contact. Hamilton believes Russell cuts across his front, but the Ferrari driver escapes damage and continues in fifth place. The collision has been noted by the stewards.
Hamilton on his radio: “Car crossed over in front of me. I was right behind another car so I had no front end.”
The Safety Car period also prompts several teams to gamble on an early pit stop. Bearman, Hadjar, Perez, Bottas and Ocon all dive into the pits to switch strategy.
Russell goes out on opening lap
Lap 1 of 44: The race bursts into life from the opening corner as Antonelli initially held off Verstappen to keep the lead. However, the Red Bull driver uses his superior speed on the run up to briefly snatch first place.
Antonelli responds immediately, using the Mercedes’ straight-line pace to reclaim the lead before the end of the straight, while Leclerc also capitalises to overtake Verstappen and move into second, dropping the Dutchman to third.
Behind the leading trio, drama strikes for Mercedes as Russell’s race ended almost instantly. Contact with Hamilton sends Russell spinning into the gravel, where he becomes beached. Crushing blow for Russell, whose championship hopes suffer a major setback with a pointless finish.
Lights out
And away we go at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps! As expected, the medium C3 rubber is the tyre of choice for most, but there are some outliers. Five drivers have gone for the hards: Norris, Perez, Hadjar, Stroll and Alonso. Sainz and Bottas have gone for the soft ones.
Weather watch: Light rain is trickling down during the formation lap. It will be our first time seeing how these cars truly perform in these conditions.
Weather watch: The clouds are rolling in and it looks like we may get some light rain on the track at the start of the race.
Max Verstappen speaking to Sky Sports says: “It looks like maybe there is a little bit of rain, and I might jinx it now, but I don’t think its going to rain.” while Oscar Piastri says: “It looks pretty grey and we’re in Spa so I wouldn’t be surprised [if it rains].”
Ferarri: It is not just the leading trio who will be hoping to capitalise when the lights go out at Spa. Ferrari will line up directly behind them, with the Scuderia showing stronger race pace than qualifying speed in recent rounds.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were separated by a mere 0.002 seconds in qualifying, earning fourth and fifth on the grid respectively. That puts both drivers in prime position to take advantage of any drama or mistakes ahead of them in the opening laps.
Confidence will also be high within the Ferrari camp, with Leclerc and Hamilton having claimed a victory in the last three races. Leclerc’s most recent triumph came at the British Grand Prix, where he made a decisive move on Kimi Antonelli at the start before going on to secure the win.
Silverstone was an example of Ferrari getting away off the line better than Mercedes but even if that does not prove to be the case at Spa, they have shown an ability to put pressure on Mercedes in recent races.
Red Bull: Away from the championship battle, Verstappen remains one of the biggest talking points heading into today’s grand prix. The four-time world champion will once again enjoy huge support from his travelling “Orange Army,” but questions surrounding his future continue to dominate the headlines after another frustrating weekend for Red Bull at Silverstone, where technical issues led to a second consecutive retirement.
Kimi Antonelli’s lead in the standings looked insurmountable after Monaco, but now George Russell is potentially within one race win of wiping it out.
Russell still has ground to make up and the pre-season favourite has been honest in admitting how he has struggled to adapt to the new cars. How well he does so, at Spa and in the future, will be key to his title tilt. In Belgium he painted a picture of the task.
“It’s like if somebody asked you to draw the Mona Lisa and you’ve got the Mona Lisa next to you, do you think you could achieve it straight away?” he said. “Maybe with practice, you will. With these new power units, with these new tyres, with these new cars, I’m having to set the car up in a way that has not been suited to my driving. I’m having to drive in a way that I haven’t driven in my whole career and I’m having to adapt to this.”
There has been no enigmatic smile from Russell, rather he has been forthright all season, not hiding from the problems he is having but equally refusing to be cowed. Even when Antonelli had built that immense lead, the British driver stoically kept his head down and insisted there was still a long way to go. It is unlikely even he expected it to quite turn on a dime in three races, however.
Read Giles Richards’ full feature below.
Today’s grid, after penalties
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:44.361
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:44.678
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:44.869
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:44.893
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:44.89
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:45.016
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:45.143
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:45.628
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:46.120
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:46.331
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:46.392
12 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:46.671
13 *Lando Norris McLaren 1:44.801
14 **Oliver Bearman Haas 1:46.779
15 Alexander Albon Williams 1:47.120
16 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:47.801
17 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:47.823
18 Sergio Pérez Cadillac 1:47.971
19 *Carlos Sainz Williams 1:46.777
20 *Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:50.177
21 †Isack Hadjar Red Bull no time
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:50.002
*10-place grid penalty; **20-place grid penalty; †30-place grid penalty and set no time in Q3
Preamble
The Formula One championship battle is heating up as we arrive at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the final double-header before the summer break and what once looked like a comfortable advantage for the Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli has quickly become one of the closest title fights of the season. His lead over his teammate, George Russell, reduced to just 25 points after a dramatic British Grand Prix.
Despite a difficult outing at Silverstone, Antonelli secured a second consecutive pole position at Spa by comfortably outpacing Max Verstappen and Russell.
Behind him, Russell’s runner-up finish at Silverstone has reignited his championship hopes, while Lewis Hamilton sits just seven points further back after another podium finish. Ferrari have also found form at the perfect time, with Charles Leclerc racing the Scuderia to a second victory in three races.
With dry weather expected at Spa, teams are likely to favour aggressive race strategies, but the 7km circuit leaves little room for mistakes. Join me for lights out at 2pm BST/3pm CEST.
