Antonelli Fights Back to Deny Leclerc at Belgian Grand Prix as Russell and Hamilton Clash on Lap One

Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, his sixth victory from the first ten rounds of 2026, retaking the race lead from Charles Leclerc with a clean move at the end of the Kemmel Straight on Lap 34 and holding it to the flag. George Russell’s race lasted one lap. He went around the outside of Lewis Hamilton at Turn 6 and the two made contact. Russell was left stranded in the gravel while Hamilton carried on and was later handed a five-second penalty for the collision. Ferrari were fined €30,000, with €10,000 suspended, after an unsafe release of Hamilton’s car in the pit lane, though the stewards found the driver himself was not at fault. Leclerc crossed the line second, Verstappen completed the podium in third after a race that also cost Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll their afternoons early.

Key Points: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

• Winner: Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), his sixth win of the season from the first ten races.
• Russell retires on Lap 1 after contact with Hamilton at Turn 6. Hamilton handed a five-second penalty for the collision.
• Ferrari fined €30,000 (€10,000 suspended for 12 months) for an unsafe release of Hamilton’s car in the pit lane. The stewards found Hamilton was not at fault.
• Leclerc led for a spell in the middle of the race after a cheap Ferrari double stack under caution, before Antonelli retook the lead on Lap 34 and controlled the finish.
• Verstappen completes the podium in third. Hadjar recovers from the back of the grid to finish sixth.
• Perez and Stroll both retire, Perez with a rear spring or damper issue, Stroll with a clutch problem.

Race Recap: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

Lights Out: Verstappen’s Look, Russell’s Race Over

Antonelli got away cleanly from pole but Verstappen was straight onto him, taking a look into Turn 1 and getting ahead into Raidillon before Antonelli used the tow down the Kemmel Straight to reclaim the place. Leclerc found his way past Verstappen in the same opening exchanges. Further back, Russell went around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 6. The two made contact. Russell was pitched into the gravel and out of the race on the spot, while Hamilton continued. The stewards opened an investigation into the incident immediately and later handed Hamilton a five-second penalty for causing the collision, to be served at his stop. The Safety Car was deployed to recover Russell’s car.

Back to Green, Piastri and Leclerc Touch

Once the race restarted, Antonelli led from Verstappen with Leclerc and Hamilton fighting behind him, Hamilton still needing to serve his five-second penalty. Piastri had a look down the outside of Leclerc and the two made contact, debris coming off the back of the Ferrari. Leclerc held the position and the stewards noted the incident before clearing it with no further action. Norris, starting 13th, began working his way through the order in the opening laps.

The Pit Window and Leclerc’s Cheap Stop

A Virtual Safety Car for debris changed the shape of the middle of the race. Verstappen pitted for hards just before it, and Antonelli came in as the VSC was called, rejoining still ahead of the Red Bull. Ferrari then double stacked Leclerc and Hamilton under a second caution period, Leclerc emerging ahead of Antonelli thanks to the time gained under caution. That put Leclerc in the lead. The same stop caused a separate problem for Ferrari: Hamilton got the green light before his crew had finished a front wing adjustment, and a mechanic making that adjustment was clipped by the car on the way out. The mechanic fell but was not injured. The stewards later fined Ferrari €30,000, with €10,000 suspended for 12 months, for the unsafe release, and found Hamilton himself was not at fault, having stopped the car as soon as he realised what had happened.

Leclerc Leads, Antonelli Bides His Time

Leclerc controlled the race from the front for the best part of a dozen laps. The gap to Antonelli never fully settled, holding between one and two and a half seconds through most of the stint before coming down to 1.4 seconds by Lap 32. Antonelli kept closing from there. Further back, Norris continued to climb after a slow stop cost him time, working his way past cars that had pitted earlier to run in the points.

Lap 34: Antonelli Retakes the Lead

Antonelli closed to within seven tenths of Leclerc and made his move at the end of the Kemmel Straight on Lap 34, retaking the lead cleanly. From there he began to pull away, extending his advantage as the laps ran down. Leclerc held on to second without ever getting back into range, and Verstappen, unable to find the pace to trouble the two ahead of him, brought the Red Bull home safely in third. Norris, having recovered from 13th on the grid, set the fastest lap of the race on the final tour. Perez retired earlier in the race with a rear spring or damper issue, and Stroll came in with a clutch problem, ending both of their afternoons before the finish.

Final Classification: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

Provisional classification pending FIA confirmation. Lewis Hamilton’s classified position and gap reflect his five-second time penalty for the Turn 6 collision with George Russell, served at his pit stop. Ferrari were separately fined €30,000 (€10,000 suspended for 12 months) for an unsafe release of Hamilton’s car; the stewards found no fault with the driver and there is no change to his classified position. Fastest lap: Lando Norris, 1:48.890 on Lap 44.

Championship Standings: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

Ferrari were fined for an unsafe release of Hamilton’s car in the pit lane; the stewards found no fault with the driver and there is no change to the standings. Top three shown, full standings at Formula1.com.

From the Podium: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

Tyres and Strategy: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

All three podium finishers started on the Medium compound before switching to the Hard, the tyre most of the field settled on to begin the race. Ferrari made the only real break from that pattern, extending Leclerc and Hamilton’s opening stint on Mediums while waiting for a caution period. When the Virtual Safety Car arrived, Ferrari used it to save time in the pit lane and fit Hard tyres to both cars on the same lap, the move that put Leclerc ahead of Antonelli.

Norris ran the longest opening stint of anyone near the front, starting on Hards and not pitting until Lap 30 for Mediums. Further back, Bottas completed 31 laps on the Hard before switching to Softs to finish, the longest anyone ran on that compound all weekend. Sainz made the most of the Soft, covering 14 laps on it after starting from the back of the grid, before switching to the Hard for the run to the flag.

Only Sainz and Bottas started the race on Softs, a call Pirelli felt could have worked for more of the midfield if paired with an early stop to exploit the undercut.

Rest of the Grid: F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 Race Report

Haas’s afternoon got complicated before it had properly started. Bearman and Ocon made light contact with each other on the opening lap, both picking up punctures and pitting for Hards before the lap was out. Ocon recovered to 17th after a second stop on Lap 16, while Bearman came in as a brief Virtual Safety Car period ended on Lap 20, working his way past Albon to finish 14th.

Further up, Racing Bulls had a story about what might have been. Lindblad started seventh and brought it home ninth, though the team felt eighth was there for the taking had Audi not used the Virtual Safety Car to leapfrog him in the pit cycle. Lawson never matched the pace of his best start of the season, sliding from ninth on the grid to 12th at the flag.

That Virtual Safety Car call worked out well for Audi. Bortoleto’s 2.1-second stop, followed immediately by a 2.7-second double stack for Hulkenberg, jumped Bortoleto ahead of the Racing Bulls at exactly the right moment, and he held on for eighth. Hulkenberg lost ground at the start and never got it back, finishing 13th despite pace the team felt was competitive.

Williams had two different recoveries going on. Sainz started 19th after a grid penalty for changing his ESME, then picked up front wing damage in the Turn 1 scramble on Lap 1. A wing change at his stop turned his afternoon around, and he fought back to 16th. Albon ran a clean weekend but lacked the pace to trouble the midfield in the race itself, finishing 15th.

Alpine’s day came down to one overtake. Colapinto picked off two cars in a single move to secure tenth and the point, while Gasly lost ground at the start and an attempted undercut on the Racing Bulls backfired when his out lap landed in traffic, leaving him 11th and just outside the points.

Cadillac’s afternoon ended in mixed fashion. Perez was running in touch with Ocon’s Haas before a rear suspension failure retired him on Lap 13. Bottas completed the distance in 18th, giving the team a finish to build on.

Aston Martin’s weekend brought no such storylines. Alonso finished 19th, two laps down, and Stroll retired with a clutch problem. Honda’s focus is already on the upgrades arriving over the next two rounds.

Coffee Corner Take

Six wins from ten races. Antonelli isn’t just leading the championship anymore, he’s building a case to win it. Ferrari’s Virtual Safety Car stop took the lead away from him through timing rather than pace. He answered it on track instead, closing Leclerc down and passing him clean at the end of the Kemmel Straight on Lap 34. No fuss about it either. Straight back to the front and gone.

Leclerc will know exactly how that lead came to him. The double stack under the Virtual Safety Car put him in front, Ferrari making the right call at the right moment. But it never felt like a position he could hold. Antonelli always looked likely to catch him. The only question was how long Leclerc could hold him back. He hung in well and made Antonelli work for it. But Mercedes had more pace than Ferrari today, and Leclerc was just delaying what was coming.

Russell’s race ended on Lap 1 in a clash with Hamilton. He went around the outside at Turn 6 and the two touched. He was stuck in the gravel while Hamilton carried on. Hamilton’s five-second penalty made the stewards’ view of the collision clear, but that won’t put Russell back in the car. Another afternoon over before Russell had any chance to influence it.

Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, still had the tougher weekend even once the stewards sorted through it properly. He picked up the penalty for the Russell collision fairly. But the unsafe release was Ferrari’s mess, not his. The stewards fined the team €30,000 and made clear Hamilton did nothing wrong, he even stopped the car himself the moment he realised what had happened. Fourth on the road, and it’s Ferrari with procedures to fix before the next one.

Verstappen brought Red Bull their 300th podium finish in Formula One today. The win was no longer realistic once the race settled into its shape, but third at Spa, a circuit that’s given this team some of its biggest days, is exactly the kind of result a 300th podium deserves. Nothing quiet about that.

Further down the order, Hadjar recovering from the back of the grid to sixth is the standout drive of the afternoon outside the top three. Norris, starting 13th, worked his own way into the points too, and took the fastest lap on the final tour for good measure. Spa rewards patience as much as pace, and both of them found some.