Kimi Antonelli ended a difficult run of races with a tenacious victory in the Belgian Grand Prix Sunday (July 19) at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Although Mercedes was the fastest car in Belgium, Antonelli had to work for the win, with Silverstone winner Charles Leclerc holding the lead after the pit stop window. Despite passing Leclerc on lap 34, Antonelli was hassled by the Monegasque driver in the closing laps, who kept the gap down to just under a second.
However, Antonelli held his nerve to clinch his sixth win of 2026, and with it extend his championship lead from 25 points to 50 heading into next Sunday’s Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring.
“It’s great to be back on the top step after a few difficult rounds, and it was a hard-fought race,” said Antonelli straight after the race. “We lost the first-place with the virtual safety car, but we made our way back, and it was a tough win as Charles was quick.
“The momentum was always there; it was just about getting the result. We were a bit lucky in terms of the championship, but that’s why you’ve got to try to take every opportunity because we saw that it can swing very easily.”
If George Russell thought his luck was finally turning, he was very much mistaken. Needing to make progress from third on the grid, Russell lost two spots at the start and was tagged by Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes, sending the Mercedes into the gravel and out.
Hamilton didn’t get away scot-free either, as the stewards deemed him at fault for the incident and handed him a five-second penalty, which he served at his first pit stop on lap 21.
Leclerc held on to finish second ahead of Max Verstappen, who gave his supporters something to smile about with a lonely drive to third, securing his second podium in three races. Hamilton finished fourth despite his penalty, but the Briton remains under investigation for a pitlane infringement at his first pit stop.
Oscar Piastri headed the McLaren contingent in fifth ahead of Isack Hadjar, who was the big mover on Sunday after charging from a lowly 21st following a power unit change. Lando Norris finished seventh ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who matched his best result of 2026 and, with it, earned more good points for Audi.
Rounding off the points was Arvid Lindblad, who had another solid afternoon to finish ninth, while Franco Colapinto picked up another point in 10th.
Cadillac had another challenging weekend with Valtteri Bottas coming home 18th after outqualifying Sergio Perez for the second consecutive race. Perez ultimately exited the race on lap 16 due to damper issues.
Lance Stroll also joined the retirees on lap 28 with a gearbox failure while Fernando Alonso crawled home 19th and last, two laps down.
Formula 1 Grand Prix of Belgium Unofficial Results
As previously mentioned, next up for the World Championship is the Grand Prix of Hungary at the Hungaroring. It will be the 41st visit to the twisty circuit outside of Budapest. Coverage is scheduled to begin at 8:55 a.m. ET next Sunday (July 26) with live coverage on Apple TV.
Pretty lazy reporting of the race. The win was never in doubt and Leclerc did not cause any real issue for Antonelli as the gap was 2+ seconds for most of the time. Also, Hamilton “tagged ” Russell because Russell was unexpectedly very slow. Normal race that F1 fans love.