(credit: Jiri Krenek / Active Pictures)

F1 Review: Kimi Antonelli Overcomes Charles Leclerc Challenge to Win Belgian GP; George Russell KO’d On First Lap

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Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli started on pole and bested Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, whose hopes for victory were buoyed by a timely virtual safety car, to win the Moët & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday (July 19th). Antonelli’s teammate George Russell’s race ended on the first lap after a collision with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who earned a five-second penalty for the incident. The victory was Antonelli’s sixth of the season, and first since the Monaco Grand Prix on June 7th.    

 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third, Hamilton was fourth and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri placed fifth. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar blazed to a sixth-place finish after starting 21st on the grid. 

McLaren’s Lando Norris finished seventh after taking a 10-place grid penalty, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoletto grabbed eighth, Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad took ninth, and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto held on to finish 10th.

“It’s great to be back on the top step after obviously a few difficult rounds,” said Antonelli. “Was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with a VSC, but then we managed to make our way back. Was a tough win because Charles was quick and we had to hold onto that.” 

In the driver standings, Antonelli leads Hamilton by 45 points, 204 to 179. Russell’s scoreless race left him 50 points adrift of his teammate, 204 to 154.

In the constructors standings, Mercedes leads Ferrari by 73 points, 358 to 285. McLaren is third with 195 points. 

The Race

Antonelli was off well at lights out, but Verstappen gained the Mercedes’ slipstream and overtook Antonelli into Eau Rouge and Raidillon, but Antonelli reclaimed the lead right back into Kemmel Straight, as Leclerc blew by Verstappen as well. 

A few places back, disaster struck for George Russell, who collided with Lewis Hamilton and left the Mercedes stranded in the gravel as Hamilton drove off relatively unscathed. The Safety Car came out, while Russell lamented a pointless day at Spa. Stewards investigated, and Hamilton later served a five-second penalty for causing a collision.

Racing resumed on lap 5, and Antonelli took off, and Verstappen soon took second from Leclerc, but the Red Bull made no gains on the Mercedes. Antonelli maintained a 1-2 second lead and appeared to not be overly stressing his tires, and an ideal one-stop strategy was in play.

Sixteen laps in, Antonelli was cruising, and the order had stabilized, with Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Piastri, Norris, and Hadjar trailing. Hadjar was especially charging, running seventh after starting 21st. 

Verstappen pitted on lap 18, and Antonelli and Mercedes countered a lap later, easily covering Verstappen. 

Ferrari was gifted a virtual safety car on lap 21, and both Ferraris dove into the pits, as Ferrari’s gamble of staying out paid off, and Leclerc came out of the pits ahead of Antonelli, over three seconds ahead to be exact. Antonelli’s task to win the race was now twofold: first, catch Leclerc, and second, pass Leclerc. And Leclerc had proven already that he’d push the bounds of legality to keep a car behind him.

Antonelli passed the pesky Norris for second on lap 26, and now had 18 laps to track down Leclerc, three seconds ahead. Four laps later, the gap was under two seconds and falling. Now, Leclerc was well within Antonelli’s grasp, and to make matters worse, his Ferrari was experiencing a slight gear issue.

With 11 laps to go, Leclerc was a sitting duck, less than one second back, and Mercedes advised Antonelli to be cautious, citing Leclerc’s earlier battles with Piastri and Hamilton. Antonelli’s inevitable pass was anti-climactic, with Leclerc surprisingly offering little resistance. 

Leclerc was not ready to accept second just yet, and remained within one second of Antonelli. Antonelli was unfazed, and methodically built his lead to a safe two seconds with two laps remaining.

Antonelli took the checkered flag with a 1.9-second cushion over Leclerc. Verstappen was well ahead of Hamilton for the final spot on the podium, marking Red Bull’s 300th podium in Formula 1.

The Bad 

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso said prior to the race that his main focus was to finish the race and get home to watch the Spain-Argentina World Cup final. I applaud Alonso’s honesty and national pride for his beloved Spanish soccer team, but maybe less of each would have been appropriate at the time, especially when you’re the face of the F1 team. 

If Alonso thinks admitting that the race was not his number one priority, then he is “Cu Cu.” And the ramifications of his admission that the World Cup final is more important? Well, they could get “Messi.”

Ultimately, Alonso apparently didn’t have the pace to finish the race in a hurry, as he was classified 19th, two laps down. Wait a minute. We’re talking Aston Martin. Two laps down could mean he was actually in a hurry. 

Charles Leclerc seemed determined to battle for second. He seemed more determined to run some of his competitors off the track in their attempts to overtake him.

On lap 8, Leclerc squeezed Piastri as the two raced side-by-side, and contact resulted in floor damage for Piastri. A few laps later, Leclerc similarly forced his Ferrari teammate Hamilton nearly into the grass as Hamilton had a look for the overtake. While the defense against the Hamilton attack seemed fairly innocuous, Leclerc’s contact with Piastri looked worthy of a penalty. But Leclerc escaped punishment. 

That’s all good for Leclerc, so why is this subject in the “Bad” category? That’s easy. Because when Leclerc actually needed, more than ever, to push the boundaries to defend, the Ferrari wheelman didn’t. That was with 10 laps to go, when the race lead hung in the balance. Antonelli’s pass attempt was met with absolutely zero resistance from Leclerc, whose will to win disappeared faster than his lead.       

George Russell’s race in Belgium should only be described as “worst-case scenario.” Being stranded in the gravel trap before one lap is complete is a disaster in itself. When Russell’s teammate, championship leader, and main rival for the drivers championship, Antonelli, then goes on to win the race, your disaster is compounded immensely.  

Russell took a big fat zero while Antonelli maxed out with 25 points. If there’s any consolation for Russell, and there is probably not, it’s that none of this was Russell’s fault.

The Good

Can you say “escort service?” Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar can, as he was the definition of team player at Belgium, serving as Max Verstappen’s personal aerodynamic “escort” during Q3 qualifying on Saturday (July 18th) at the expense of Hadjar’s own qualifying effort. 

Facing a 30-place grid penalty for a number of engine component changes at Belgium, Hadjar had nothing to lose, while Verstappen had everything to gain in the Dutchman’s pursuit of pole. Twice in qualifying, Hadjar launched ahead of Verstappen and slowed to give his teammate aero tows that significantly aided Verstappen’s runs. It worked, although not quite to perfection, as Verstappen took second, over 0.3 seconds back of Antonelli’s time. Suffice it to say Hadjar earned himself some brownie points from his teammate.  

On top of his service to Verstappen, Hadjar blasted his way 15 places up the grid in the race to finish sixth. If they didn’t already know it, Red Bull has found the perfect No. 2 driver to complement Verstappen. Let’s just hope Verstappen hangs around to continue to benefit from Hadjar’s presence.

Strange Radio Communication Of The Day

On lap 28, Verstappen radioed his team with the words, “Tires don’t work.” That may be the least-specific, non-detailed radio transmission ever. “Tires are graining.” “Tires are blistering.” Those words I’ve heard, and they are detailed.

But “Tires don’t work?” I didn’t hear Red Bull’s response to that, but I can only guess it was “They are still round, and they are still attached to the car. My opinion is they are still working.”

Verstappen followed his comment by almost immediately passing Lando Norris. Granted, Norris was on older tires, but by passing Norris, Verstappen verified that his tires were, in fact, working. 

F1 TV Broadcast Critique

F1 TV’s Tom Deacon took to the Spa-Francorchamps bleachers to immerse himself in the world of the “Orange Army,” Max Verstappen’s fan base, many of whom were at the track in the familiar orange of the Netherlands, Verstappen’s home country. 

Deacon shamelessly ingratiated himself with the “Orange Army” by urging members to start “Max Verstappen” chants. In the world of professional wrestling, that’s called getting a “cheap pop.” Deacon also donned the colors of the Dutch flag on his cheeks. Hey, I can’t fault Deacon for having a good time, but if you really want to sufficiently aura-farm yourself in that type of raucous setting, you have to crowd surf over and among the “Orange Army.” You can’t truly be one of the “Orange Army” until you put your safety in the hands of the “Orange Army.”

Deacon may have blown his chance to do that in Belgium, but the “Orange Army” will be out in full force at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 23rd. I urge him not to let the opportunity pass him by.   

The Driver

Leclerc almost put it all together at Belgium, racing from fourth on the grid to second on the first lap, then stalking Antonelli until a fortunate VSC boosted him to the lead. A win would have been the Ferrari driver’s second in a row. Ultimately, Antonelli’s pace was too much for Leclerc, but second place was more than a mere consolation prize for Leclerc — it’s sure-fire proof that he can challenge for wins. Of course, given Mercedes’ and Antonelli’s advantage, Leclerc won’t be able to win races on a regular basis, but his skill and Ferrari’s sudden newfound strategic acumen will put Leclerc in positions to win.

F1 Glossary Word Of The Day

*Porpoising: an aerodynamic phenomenon where cars bounce up and down on straightaways at high speed. When porpoising happens at low speed, you may be watching an old episode of “Pimp My Ride.”

The Results (Moët & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps)

Pos.No.DriverTeamLapsTime / RetiredPts.
112Kimi AntonelliMercedes441:24:42.47925
216Charles LeclercFerrari44+1.952s18
33Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing44+11.586s15
444Lewis HamiltonFerrari44+17.245s12
581Oscar PiastriMcLaren44+18.988s10
66Isack HadjarRed Bull Racing44+23.307s8
71Lando NorrisMcLaren44+24.014s6
85Gabriel BortoletoAudi44+49.140s4
941Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls44+50.406s2
1043Franco ColapintoAlpine44+76.037s1
1110Pierre GaslyAlpine44+76.991s0
1230Liam LawsonRacing Bulls44+77.523s0
1327Nico HulkenbergAudi44+78.348s0
1487Oliver BearmanHaas F1 Team44+94.465s0
1523Alexander AlbonWilliams44+104.684s0
1655Carlos SainzWilliams44+105.856s0
1731Esteban OconHaas F1 Team44+110.925s0
1877Valtteri BottasCadillac43+1 lap0
1914Fernando AlonsoAston Martin42+2 laps0
NC18Lance StrollAston Martin25DNF0
NC11Sergio PerezCadillac13DNF0
NC63George RussellMercedes0DNF0

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