The 2026 Belgian F1 Grand Prix ends with a victory for Antonelli and Russell out of the race after a collision with Hamilton

Leclerc finished second, Verstappen third, and Colapinto claimed the final point in the closing stages

Antonelli pulls ahead in the championship after winning at Spa and Russell's retirement on the first lap

The 2026 Belgian F1 Grand Prix ends with a victory for Antonelli and Russell out of the race after a collision with Hamilton

Leclerc finished second, Verstappen third, and Colapinto claimed the final point in the closing stages

Photos: -
Written by: Carlos Castillo Sansabas
Carlos Castillo Sansabas
Spa-Francorchamps
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Kimi Antonelli scored his sixth victory of the 2026 F1 season at the Belgian Grand Prix, his first since the Monaco Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc finished second, 1.9 seconds behind, and Max Verstappen third, 11.5 seconds back. George Russell's race ended before completing the first lap. A battery problem exiting La Source left him without top speed on the Kemmel straight, the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton passed him, and under braking at Les Combes, Hamilton suffered oversteer that caused contact between the two. Russell ended up in the gravel and out of the race.

The stewards handed Hamilton a five‑second penalty for the incident, a sanction he served during his pit stop and that did not prevent him from finishing fourth. Hamilton was also investigated for an unsafe release in which he ran over a mechanic during his stop. Antonelli also had a poor start: Verstappen passed him through Eau Rouge on the opening lap and momentarily took the lead, but the Italian reclaimed it on the Kemmel straight and controlled the race until a Virtual Safety Car on lap 20 due to debris from a car at Blanchimont reshuffled the order.

Ferrari pitted both Leclerc and Hamilton under the reduced cost of the neutralisation, and Leclerc rejoined ahead of the Mercedes. Antonelli passed him at Turn 5 a few laps later and retook the lead. Verstappen, who had started second, complained about a lack of grip on the hard tyres and could not match the pace of the two ahead. Oscar Piastri finished fifth in the McLaren, ahead of Isack Hadjar, who produced the best comeback of the day by finishing sixth after starting from the back of the grid due to a twenty‑place penalty.

Lando Norris, who was also penalised and started 13th, finished seventh in the other McLaren. Gabriel Bortoleto scored four points for Audi with eighth place, and Arvid Lindblad was ninth for Racing Bulls. Franco Colapinto closed out the points zone in 10th place after passing Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson on the Kemmel straight in the final laps. Lance Stroll retired on lap 25 with mechanical issues, and Sergio Pérez retired on lap 13 for the same reason. Antonelli arrived at Spa as the championship leader and leaves with 204 points, a 45‑point lead over Hamilton and 50 over Russell, who left Belgium without scoring. The next round on the calendar is the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Belgian Grand Prix 

Pos. No. driver team time
1 #12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes -
2 #16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +1.952s
3 #3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +11.586s
4 #44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +17.245s
5 #81 Oscar Piastri McLaren +18.988s
6 #6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing +23.307s
7 #1 Lando Norris McLaren +24.014s
8 #5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +49.140s
9 #41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls +50.406s
10 #43 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1:16.037
11 #10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1:16.991
12 #30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1:17.523
13 #27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1:18.348
14 #87 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1:34.465
15 #23 Alexander Albon Williams +1:44.684
16 #55 Carlos Sainz Williams +1:45.856
17 #31 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1:50.925
18 #77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac +1 LAP
19 #14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +2 LAPS
DNF #18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin -
DNF #11 Sergio Perez Cadillac -
DNF #63 George Russell Mercedes -
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