Kimi Antonelli returned to the top step of the podium with a hard-fought victory at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, holding off Charles Leclerc by 1.952 seconds to claim his sixth win of the season — and first since Monaco — while stretching his advantage in the drivers' standings.
Starting from pole, the Mercedes driver lost the lead into Eau Rouge on the opening lap when Max Verstappen launched past, but he reclaimed the position down the Kemmel Straight and controlled the race from the front. Verstappen settled for third, 11.586s back, after a late charge, securing his third podium of the campaign.
The opening lap was defined by a collision between the two Mercedes drivers. George Russell dropped behind both Ferraris, darted across the track at Turn 6 and made contact with Lewis Hamilton, spinning into the gravel and bringing out the Safety Car. Russell's race ended on the spot, while Hamilton was later handed a five-second time penalty for the clash.
Leclerc, chasing back-to-back wins, kept Antonelli honest all afternoon and closed to within half a second at times, but could not find a way past. The Monegasque instead had to repel Verstappen for second, crossing the line 18 points behind the winner. Hamilton recovered to fourth ahead of Oscar Piastri, though his afternoon ended under investigation after he struck a Ferrari mechanic during an unsafe pit release — the mechanic was uninjured.
Further down the order, two drivers turned grid penalties into points. Isack Hadjar charged from the back of the grid to sixth for Red Bull, while Lando Norris — demoted to 13th by a power-unit penalty — fought back to seventh and claimed the fastest lap of the race. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto completed the top 10. Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Russell were the three retirements.
"It's great to be back on the top step after obviously a few difficult rounds," Antonelli said. "Was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with a VSC but then we managed to make our way back."
Full details in the [official F1 race report](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-beats-leclerc-to-belgian-grand-prix-win-to-extend-title-lead-as-russell-retires.MAqSJSgXvRP6dLbwiRbWI), with further analysis of the Hamilton penalty from [Crash.net](https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101493/1/why-lewis-hamilton-was-penalised-f1-belgian-gp-clash-and-why-charles-leclerc).
Sources
- Formula 1 — 2026 Belgian Grand Prix race report: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-beats-leclerc-to-belgian-grand-prix-win-to-extend-title-lead-as-russell-retires.MAqSJSgXvRP6dLbwiRbWI
- Crash.net — Why Lewis Hamilton was penalised for F1 Belgian GP clash: https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101493/1/why-lewis-hamilton-was-penalised-f1-belgian-gp-clash-and-why-charles-leclerc
