Antonelli fends off Leclerc to win Belgian Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli returned to the top step with victory at a closely contested Belgian Grand Prix, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Max Verstappen settled for his third podium of the season in P3.

The Dutchman got off to a sublime start as he stormed past Antonelli on the opening lap at Eau Rouge, but couldn’t quite stay ahead of the Mercedes driver and quickly gave up the lead.

While Antonelli clung on at the front, there was heartbreak for his team mate who fell behind both Ferraris and made early contact with Lewis Hamilton, spinning George Russell into the gravel and bringing his race to an end, with far-reaching implications in the title battle.

The Italian resisted the pressure of a Safety Car restart as well as a late challenge from Leclerc after retaking the lead to take the chequered flag by 1.9s, securing his sixth race win of the 2026 season and first since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc missed out on claiming consecutive victories but confidently held onto second place ahead of Verstappen, who crossed the line ahead of the second Ferrari of Hamilton – who had to serve a five-second time penalty for the collision with Russell and will also be investigated after the race for an unsafe release – and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

The top five were followed by Isack Hadjar, the Frenchman charging from the back of the grid to a mighty points haul in P6, with Lando Norris similarly improving from P13 to P7. Gabriel Bortoleto scored for Audi in eighth, while Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10.

There was an exhilarating contest for the final point that saw Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg just miss out, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman finishing significantly further back in P14.

The Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were 15th and 16th respectively, leading Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso. The latter two were the sole finishers for their respective teams as Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez retired with car issues, joined by the damaged Mercedes of Russell.

Spa-Francorchamps has played host to all manner of drama over the years, and plenty had already occurred before the drivers lined up for this season’s 44-lap affair – Hamilton and Gasly crashing at the tricky Fagnes Chicane, forcing both Alpine and Ferrari to rebuild their cars over the weekend.

Elsewhere, it was confirmed that a total of five drivers would take grid penalties for taking on new power unit components that exceed the permitted allocation. Alonso would be joined on the back row by Hadjar, who demonstrated great pace in the sessions leading up to race day, while Sainz and Stroll would start ahead in P19 and P20 respectively.

But arguably the most frustrated penalised driver would be McLaren’s Norris, who made the most of his updated engine by storming to P3 in Qualifying but having to settle for a P13 grid slot on race day. He later insisted that the goal was a top-six finish, but it remained to be seen just how much the Briton could achieve.

The chance of rain was still low despite the dark clouds hovering above the circuit, but one factor that could impact the afternoon was the cooler temperature, which had gradually dropped over the course of the weekend.

Pirelli had originally expected the two-stop strategy to be a popular choice thanks to thermal tyre degradation. When the tyre blankets were removed prior to the formation lap, it was revealed that the majority had opted to start on the medium compound, with Norris the first on hard tyres. He was joined by Perez, Stroll, Hadjar and Alonso while Bottas and Sainz went for the bold choice of the red-walled soft tyres.

As the formation lap got underway, reports spread that rain was closing in on the track despite the forecast low chance, but everyone remained on slick tyres for the beginning of the race.

Polesitter Antonelli executed a quick formation lap and was forced to wait on the grid as the other 21 cars settled into position, but when the five red lights finally went out, he initially clung onto the lead ahead of Verstappen.

However, the Dutchman got an excellent launch and snatched first place heading into Eau Rouge, before Antonelli used the superior pace of his Mercedes to reclaim his original position down the Kemmel Straight.

While the pair sparred at the front, Leclerc surged through to take P3 as Russell lost speed and dropped behind both Ferraris. He tried to come back at Hamilton in Turn 6, where he darted across the track and ultimately beached his car in the gravel trap after contact, resulting in a Safety Car as he abandoned his race. Hamilton reported that he was “right behind another car so had no front end” in the incident.

Meanwhile, Ocon fell to the back of the order after making contact with Sainz and his Haas team mate in two separate moments, which caused the Frenchman a front left puncture.

With the Safety Car deployed, a number of drivers including Hadjar, Bearman and both Cadillacs chose to pit for fresh tyres, with the race commencing again at the start of Lap 5.

Antonelli bravely decided to go early at the front of the pack and maintained his spot ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen, but a thrilling battle was developing further behind – Hamilton surged ahead of Piastri at La Source on the restart before the Australian shot back through for P4 just a few metres later.

Outside of the top five, Racing Bulls were enjoying a fantastic opening stint as Lawson and Lindblad had improved to P6 and P7 respectively, getting stuck into a three-way fight with Alpine’s Colapinto.

Verstappen was also gaining on Leclerc and found a way past heading into Les Combes, maximising the performance of his Red Bull despite running an older specification rear wing. Next up in the Dutchman’s sights was race leader Antonelli, who had failed to escape up the road and held a slim advantage of around a second.

Just as Bearman reported that it looked like Sainz’s wing was hanging off – presumably due to his early incident with Ocon, Leclerc came under pressure from Piastri for the final podium spot and the pair made contact, flicking a piece of carbon fibre onto the circuit.

The McLaren man insisted that Leclerc “didn’t leave enough space” and added that he could have caused “a massive crash”, but neglected to take into account that their scrap had allowed Hamilton to rapidly close up.

He overtook Piastri and improved to P4 before claiming the fastest lap of the race, but his impressive drive was soon put at risk as he was handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision that ruled Russell out of the Grand Prix.

Further back, Norris was on the charge after beginning outside of the top 10, using the durability of his hard tyres to run in seventh place by Lap 11. That quickly became sixth as he cleared Racing Bulls’ Lindblad, leaving him 7s adrift of his McLaren team mate who had been informed that he had sustained damage from the touch with Leclerc.

The Monegasque was still under investigation and faced the added frustration of Hamilton repeatedly attempting to pass him on track, with the Briton asserting over the radio that he was “quicker” and had “more pace”, hinting at a desire for team orders to be implemented.

The order began to shuffle as Gasly and Sainz headed into the pits, giving Williams the opportunity to change the Spaniard’s front wing at the same time. However, Sainz was far from happy with the decision and claimed that he “didn’t approve” it, adding that the damage was to the floor instead.

He wasn’t the only driver struggling, as Cadillac added another retirement to their season tally for Perez who suggested his suspension was broken. There was some good news for Leclerc, however, as it was ruled that there would be no repercussions for his contact with Piastri.

The gaps at the front had begun to stabilise before Verstappen became the first contender to pit on Lap 18, likely as a response to the lack of a penalty for Leclerc. He dropped from P2 to P6 just before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear debris on track.

It didn’t last long enough for anyone to benefit in the pits, but Antonelli nevertheless covered off Verstappen by changing his tyres and came back out in fifth place – maintaining the net race lead behind the Ferrari and McLaren duos.

Norris managed to overtake his team mate at the Bus Stop, but Piastri wasn’t ready to give up P3 and fought back in a mirror image of their 2025 battle, just before the Virtual Safety Car made another appearance to neutralise the field.

On this occasion, there was more than enough time for Ferrari to take advantage and they called both drivers into the pits. While Hamilton had to serve his penalty (and accidentally hit one of the team’s mechanics on his release, who was thankfully uninjured), the gamble played out perfectly for Leclerc, who emerged ahead of Antonelli to seize the on-track advantage.

Running in first place, Norris was the sole driver yet to bolt on new tyres at the halfway point and started to suffer the consequences – Leclerc easily passed him towards the end of the Kemmel Straight, putting him in the ideal place to secure back-to-back wins.

Antonelli joined him to demote Norris to third place shortly after it was announced that Hamilton would be investigated after the race for an unsafe release. Despite repeated complaints about his tyres, Verstappen was the next to find a way past the McLaren on Lap 29.

Still on his original hard tyres, Norris was told not to get involved in any “yo-yo racing” with Piastri, who was running behind in fifth from Hamilton, Hadjar, Bortoleto, Lindblad and Gasly at the 30-lap mark.

There was an incredible tussle for the final point that saw both Alpines and Lawson go three-wide, with Colapinto finding a way to leapfrog his way into P10, but the gaps between the trio remained close.

After patiently waiting for a Safety Car, McLaren finally gave in and boxed Norris on Lap 31. He endured an agonisingly slow stop as he switched onto the medium compound, dropping him to P8 before overtaking Audi’s Bortoleto.

While Norris was firmly out of victory contention, the same couldn’t be said for Antonelli, who massively reduced Leclerc’s lead and powered past with 10 laps to go to reclaim first place, where he stayed for the remainder despite the Ferrari driver’s best efforts to cling on.

The gap was as close as half a second at times, but he ultimately finished 1.9s adrift of Antonelli, with Verstappen securing the final podium position for Red Bull. Hamilton grabbed P4 from Piastri on the final laps while Hadjar and Norris bounced back from their grid penalties to take P6 and P7.

Audi’s Bortoleto enjoyed a second consecutive points finish in eighth as Lindblad and Colapinto completed the top 10. The second Alpine of Gasly narrowly missed out on the last point, closely followed over the line by Lawson and Hulkenberg.

Bearman placed P14 from Albon, Sainz and Ocon, with Bottas and Alonso the last of the finishers. There were three retirements in total for Aston Martin’s Stroll (suspected gearbox issue), Cadillac’s Perez and Mercedes’ Russell.

The F1 circus moves directly on to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which will take place from July 24-26.