Kimi Antonelli pipped Charles Leclerc to victory at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, as Mercedes teammate George Russell crashed out on Lap 1 after contact with Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli pulled off a late move past Leclerc and held on to secure his sixth win of the season by 1.9 seconds over the Monegasque, with Max Verstappen rounding out the podium in third.
The 44-lap race at Spa-Francorchamps was full of drama capped by a Safety Car intervention, two Virtual Safety Car periods and the race-defining crash.
When the lights went out, polesitter Kimi Antonelli made a good start but it was Max Verstappen who showed the most aggression with a daring move past the Mercedes as the field roared through the sweeping uphill complex of Eau Rouge and Raidillon.
Antonelli, however, responded immediately using the superior straight-line pace of his Mercedes to reclaim the lead down the fearsome Kemmel Straight.
While Antonelli and Verstappen were battling for the lead, George Russell ran out of battery power midway along the straight, before slowing dramatically at the entry to Les Combes.
Russell found himself side by side with Lewis Hamilton through Turn 6, but Hamilton’s Ferrari snapped to oversteer and the two made contact which sent Russell’s Mercedes spinning violently into the gravel trap.
A Safety Car was deployed immediately to recover the stricken Mercedes as the stewards slapped Hamilton with a five-second time penalty for the incident.
Isack Hadjar, having started from the back of the grid, pulled off a clever strategic gambit by pitting twice during the SC, meaning he would not need to stop for tyres again.
When racing resumed at the start of Lap 5, Antonelli led Leclerc and Verstappen, while Hamilton surged past Oscar Piastri’s McLaren heading into La Source, only for the Australian to reclaim the position on Lap 9.
Further back, Lando Norris had climbed up to sixth after passing the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad which were now locked in a three-way fight with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Verstappen eventually found his way past Leclerc’s Ferrari on Lap 10 and set his sights on Antonelli, who had already established a lead of around a second and a half.
New 2026 F1 Championship Standings after Belgian Grand Prix
F1 2026 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results: Full classification after 44 Laps
The first pit stop phase began to unfold on Lap 18 with Verstappen among the first into the pits, rejoining the race in sixth. Antonelli made his stop a lap later, while Leclerc stayed out, assuming the lead.
A Virtual Safety Car was called on Lap 20 to clear debris at the Blanchimont corner, and Ferrari opted to double-stack Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton who was set to serve his time penalty.
This handed the lead to off-strategy Lando Norris, who had not yet pitted, as Leclerc emerged from the pit lane ahead of Antonelli.
Leclerc cleared Norris on the Kemmel straight on Lap 23 for the lead and proceeded to eke out a three-second gap over Antonelli who followed up with a move past McLaren on Lap 26.
However, the tide turned on Lap 33 when Leclerc lost time behind the slow Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas through Turn 15, which saw Kimi Antonelli close in on the Ferrari before pouncing into the lead a lap later at Turn 5.
Over the final laps, Antonelli carefully maintained a buffer that was no more than a second after track limits warnings by the pit wall, ultimately crossing the finish line 1.9 seconds ahead of the Ferrari to claim F1 Belgian GP victory.
Max Verstappen completed the podium in third, while Lewis Hamilton took fourth place but faced a post-race investigation for an unsafe release in the pit lane where he had been cleared to exit his pit box with a mechanic still attempting to make a last-minute front wing adjustment.
The mechanic was struck but thankfully not seriously injured as the stewards ultimately handed Ferrari and Hamilton a financial fine rather than a further time penalty.
