SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Kimi Antonelli secured a victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, overcoming a strong challenge from Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s win marked his sixth triumph of the season and his first since the previous month’s Monaco Grand Prix. His teammate and rival for the Formula 1 title, George Russell, did not finish the race.
Antonelli began the race in pole position but lost his lead to Leclerc due to a virtual safety car slowdown. This allowed the Ferrari driver to gain time during a pit stop. However, Antonelli regained his lead from Leclerc with 10 laps remaining and maintained it to win the race. Over the team radio, Antonelli expressed his excitement: “Let’s go! Thank you so much, guys, thank you.”
Leclerc finished in second place, while Max Verstappen took third. Verstappen briefly led the race after overtaking Antonelli on the opening lap but was unable to maintain his position.
The win helped Antonelli extend his lead in the standings. Russell was involved in an incident on the first lap, ending up stuck in the gravel after being spun by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. This increased Antonelli’s lead to 45 points over Hamilton and 50 points over Russell.
Following the race, tensions at Mercedes were evident. Russell attributed the incident to a loss of speed in his car rather than blaming Hamilton. Russell claimed that without the speed issue, the incident would not have occurred as Hamilton would not have been in a position to overtake.
Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari, facing multiple challenges during the race. He received a five-second penalty for colliding with Russell, had disagreements with his team regarding strategy and setups, and accidentally knocked over a Ferrari mechanic in the pits. Hamilton immediately inquired about the mechanic’s health and was relieved to know he was unhurt but faced an investigation for an “unsafe release” from the pit stop.
Oscar Piastri finished fifth for McLaren, with a commendable sixth place for Isack Hadjar driving for Red Bull despite starting from the back due to a penalty. Lando Norris, also of McLaren, started in 13th place due to a grid penalty but climbed quickly and briefly led the race before a pit stop delay set him back to a seventh-place finish. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto took eighth, Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls finished ninth, and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto completed the top ten.
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