Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on July 19, 2026, securing his sixth victory in 10 races this season and extending his Formula One championship lead to between 45 and 50 points over teammate George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Antonelli, who had claimed pole position the day before, described the race as "a hard-fought race," saying, "It was great to be back on the top step after a few difficult rounds" [7, 8, 9, 10].
The 44-lap race featured a dramatic early exit for George Russell. Starting third, Russell dropped to sixth before his Mercedes spun into the gravel on the first lap after a collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton [1, 11, 5, 10]. Russell called it "a racing incident," adding he was "very, very disappointed" and blamed Mercedes' power issues on the straights for leaving him vulnerable [2, 5]. Mercedes principal Toto Wolff acknowledged a "lack of power out on the straights" hurt Russell and said, "George has 100% our support" [5, 12, 10].
Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for the collision but still finished fourth. He also faced further investigation for an unsafe release during a pitstop, when a Ferrari mechanic was knocked down but not injured, leading to a 30,000-euro fine for the team [3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 10].
Charles Leclerc finished second after benefiting from well-timed virtual safety car conditions, which gave him an advantage during his pitstop. Leclerc said, "Until the last moment I believed we could win," praising his car's pace despite the luck with the VSC [2, 6, 9, 10]. Max Verstappen took third and marked Red Bull’s 300th F1 podium [2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
Other points scorers included Oscar Piastri in fifth, Isack Hadjar sixth, Lando Norris seventh, Gabriel Bortoleto eighth, Arvid Lindblad ninth, and Franco Colapinto tenth [6, 9, 10].
Antonelli showed a marked improvement compared to his rookie Belgian GP last year, when he struggled in wet conditions [7, 8]. The team will next turn its focus to the upcoming championship rounds as Antonelli looks to build on his commanding points lead.
