Belgian Grand Prix 2025 – Race Report | Coffee Corner Motorsport
There wasn’t much to celebrate for Mercedes in Spa. George Russell brought home P5 in what he called a “lonely race”, while Kimi Antonelli finished 16th after early promise faded once the track dried.
It’s the kind of weekend that never really comes alive. Russell scored ten points. Antonelli got stuck in traffic. And the team left Belgium with more questions than answers.
The Start: Delays, Intermediates, and a Glimpse of Progress
Rain hit the circuit just before lights out, delaying the start for over an hour. The race eventually began behind the Safety Car on Intermediates, with Russell lining up P6 and Antonelli from P19.
Both drivers made early progress. Russell passed Albon and settled into P5 before the switch to slicks. Antonelli climbed to P14 during the damp opening phase, running a wet-focused setup that suited the early conditions.
The team called both cars in for Mediums as the dry line developed. From that point, the two races unfolded very differently.
Russell: Isolated in P5 with No Real Fight
Once the track dried, Russell found himself stuck in no man’s land. He didn’t have the pace to challenge the top four, but wasn’t under threat from behind either. The result was a clean, measured run to P5 that felt more like a ceiling than a launchpad.
“We couldn’t fight today. The pace just wasn’t there compared to the cars we’re usually racing. It was frustrating, but that’s where we were this weekend.”
It wasn’t a bad drive. The team didn’t make mistakes. But when P5 is the absolute maximum on a day where others were struggling, it reinforces where Mercedes are in the current order.
Antonelli: Wet Setup, Dry Frustration
For Antonelli, Spa was a story of two races. The first few laps looked promising. He had grip, confidence, and made progress in traffic.
But as soon as the circuit dried, the trade-off for that early pace became clear. Running a higher downforce rear wing, Antonelli struggled on the straights and couldn’t clear the Haas of Esteban Ocon, even with fresher tyres after a second stop.
“We went aggressive on setup because we expected more rain. Early on, it helped. But when it dried, I couldn’t make the passes stick. We went for the two-stop, but it didn’t change the outcome.”
He came home 16th. The effort was there, but the conditions shifted and the car didn’t shift with them.
Technical Overview: Still Too Sharp, Still Too Narrow
Mercedes didn’t leave Spa with many positives. The drivers executed clean races. The strategy calls were good. The pit stops were efficient. But the car once again looked fragile when the grip dropped.
Team Principal Toto Wolff called it a weekend of “damage limitation”, noting the lack of performance relative to their usual targets. Andrew Shovlin said Kimi’s pace was respectable in the wet, but not competitive in the dry due to straight-line loss. Russell said they already had ideas on what went wrong and where the deficit came from, particularly compared to Ferrari and McLaren.
There’s a growing pattern. When the car is in its window, it’s competitive. But the window’s still too small. And mixed conditions like Spa just make that more obvious.
Next: Budapest and One Last Shot Before the Break
The Hungaroring offers a very different test. High downforce, low-speed corners, and minimal straight-line exposure. If the W16 works anywhere, it should be there.
But that’s been said before.
Spa was a weekend that offered chances for anyone who got it right. Mercedes didn’t. Russell rescued some points. Antonelli showed glimpses, but nothing stuck. There’s one more chance to reset before the shutdown. The baseline has to be better from Friday. The midfield fight isn’t slowing down.