Race report
Formula 1 Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sixth 2026 win as George Russell crashes out
Antonelli came home ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen at the F1 Belgian GP
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Jul 20, 2026, 4:19 AM
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Kimi Antonelli put a pass on Charles Leclerc to secure victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, as his Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate George Russell retired on the opening lap after contact with Lewis Hamilton.
Aside from the briefest of stints in the lead from fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen, who took the lead on the exit of La Source, Antonelli found his way back past on the Kemmel Straight run to ensure the lead remained in his custody in the early stages of the race.
Two laps after Antonelli had made his switch to the hard tyre, a virtual safety car was called on the 20th lap to clear debris at Blanchimont, which offered a wide enough window for Ferrari to pit both cars at a significantly cheaper cost. Leclerc, who had been behind both Antonelli and Verstappen, used this opportunity to switch to the hard tyre and cycled out ahead for the lead.
The Monegasque was able to build a lead gap once he'd cleared the off-strategy Lando Norris, who was yet to pit after starting on the hard tyre, as Antonelli also needed a few laps to clear the McLaren.
There was about three seconds between them once Norris was cleared, but Antonelli demonstrated the strong pace characteristic of his weekend and closed in on the Ferrari, helped when Leclerc was baulked by Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac through Turn 15. Antonelli broke past at Turn 5 on the following lap after stalking the Ferrari up the hill.
Leclerc stayed with Antonelli for a few tours of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, just about holding on in overtake range, but had been unable to eke out an opportunity to return to the lead. Instead, Antonelli maintained enough pace in hand to open the gap beyond the requisite one-second barrier needed to evade a potential Leclerc fightback.
George Russell was out before the end of lap one
Photo by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Images
The Italian teen continued to manage his lead, ultimately finishing 1.9s ahead of Leclerc to extend his championship lead as Russell failed to score following his first-lap contact with Hamilton's Ferrari.
Russell had been battling Leclerc through the first couple of corners. Misfortune struck when he ran out of battery half-way along the Kemmel Straight on the opening lap, which led to the Mercedes driver being swamped by the cars around him on the entry to Les Combes. He was side-by-side with Hamilton; the Ferrari driver's snap of oversteer led to contact between the two, pitching Russell into the gravel.
Verstappen finished third, albeit somewhat distant to the leading pair after being passed by Leclerc during the VSC pitstops. The Dutchman had put pressure on Antonelli in the opening laps, but fell back as Leclerc began to find pace ahead of the pit phase.
Hamilton took fourth, despite serving a five-second penalty for the contact with Russell. Another potential penalty looms through an unsafe release; the seven-time champion had the green signal from his pit gantry post-stop, and hadn't seen a mechanic attempting to implement a last-minute wing adjustment.
He'd passed Piastri to reach fourth, but the Australian had been able to hang onto the Ferrari's tail in the event of a penalty; Piastri had suffered contact earlier in the race with Leclerc, causing minor damage to his car which hurt his race pace.
Charles Leclerc had to settle for second place
Photo by: John Thys / AFP via Getty Images
Isack Hadjar worked his way up to sixth after using the early safety car to conduct his mandatory tyre swaps, later using the VSC to pick up a lightly used set of hard tyres in the middle of the race. Arguably, this helped the Frenchman evade a late fightback from Norris, whose alternate strategy was undone by a very slow pit stop. A slow left-rear wheel change put the Briton behind Gabriel Bortoleto on-track, but he soon passed the Brazilian for seventh.
Bortoleto finished eighth ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who at one point was investigated for potential contact with team-mate Liam Lawson, while Franco Colapinto pulled off a two-for-one move on Pierre Gasly and Lawson along the Kemmel Straight to take the final point.
F1 Belgian GP: Race results
All Stats
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine 1 A. Antonelli Mercedes 12
44
-
1 25 Mercedes Mercedes 2 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
44
+1.952
1.952
1.952 1 18 Ferrari Ferrari 3 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
44
+11.586
11.586
9.634 1 15 Red Bull Red Bull 4 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
44
+17.245
17.245
5.659 1 12 Ferrari Ferrari 5 O. Piastri McLaren 81
44
+18.988
18.988
1.743 1 10 McLaren Mercedes 6 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
44
+23.307
23.307
4.319 3 8 Red Bull Red Bull 7 L. Norris McLaren 1
44
+24.014
24.014
0.707 1 6 McLaren Mercedes 8 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
44
+49.140
49.140
25.126 1 4 Audi Audi 9 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
44
+50.406
50.406
1.266 1 2 RB Red Bull 10 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
44
+1'16.037
1'16.037
25.631 1 1 Alpine Mercedes 11 P. Gasly Alpine 10
44
+1'16.991
1'16.991
0.954 1 Alpine Mercedes 12 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
44
+1'17.523
1'17.523
0.532 1 RB Red Bull 13 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
44
+1'18.348
1'18.348
0.825 1 Audi Audi 14 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
44
+1'34.465
1'34.465
16.117 2 Haas Ferrari 15 A. Albon Williams 23
44
+1'44.684
1'44.684
10.219 1 Williams Mercedes 16 C. Sainz Williams 55
44
+1'45.856
1'45.856
1.172 1 Williams Mercedes 17 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
44
+1'50.925
1'50.925
5.069 2 Haas Ferrari 18 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
43
1 lap
2 Cadillac Ferrari 19 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
42
2 laps
2 Aston Martin Honda dnf L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
25
19 laps
2 Retirement Aston Martin Honda dnf S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
13
31 laps
3 Retirement Cadillac Ferrari dnf G. Russell Mercedes 63
0
44 laps
Collision Mercedes Mercedes View full results
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Photos from Belgian GP - Sunday
Belgian Grand Prix - Sunday
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