At Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Kimi Antonelli achieved victory at the Belgian Grand Prix. He overcame a challenge from Charles Leclerc, while his main competitor for the Formula 1 title, George Russell, failed to complete the race.
Antonelli, who began in pole position, initially lost the lead to Leclerc. This occurred during a virtual safety car period that allowed Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, to gain time during his pit stop. However, Antonelli regained the lead from Leclerc with ten laps to go and maintained it to secure his sixth win of the season and his F1 career. His last victory was at the Monaco Grand Prix the previous month. Expressing his gratitude over the radio, Antonelli said, “Let’s go! Thank you so much, guys, thank you.”
Leclerc finished in second place, while Max Verstappen took third after briefly overtaking Antonelli at the start. Antonelli increased his lead in the standings as Russell ended up in the gravel on the first lap. This occurred following a spin caused by an encounter with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Before this race, Antonelli had a 25-point lead over Russell, although recent reliability concerns had reduced this margin. With this victory, Antonelli now holds a 45-point lead over Hamilton, who moved up to second in the standings, and a 50-point advantage over Russell.
The incident with Hamilton had Russell implying that his car’s slowdown on the straight led to the encounter with Hamilton, rather than blaming Hamilton directly. This issue contributed to the tension within the Mercedes team after a significant setback in Russell’s title aspirations.
Hamilton, who finished fourth for Ferrari, faced an eventful race. He received a five-second penalty for the collision with Russell and engaged in intense radio exchanges with Ferrari regarding strategy and car setups. Additionally, he knocked over a Ferrari mechanic during his pit exit. Hamilton checked on the team member’s condition immediately and was informed that he was fine. However, Hamilton may face an investigation for an “unsafe release” from the pit stop.
In other results, Oscar Piastri secured fifth place for McLaren. Isack Hadjar, despite starting from the back due to a penalty, managed a strong sixth-place finish for Red Bull. Lando Norris, who started in 13th due to a grid penalty, made an impressive charge through the field and briefly led the race. A pit stop delay, however, relegated him to seventh place.
Gabriel Bortoleto took eighth position for Audi, Arvid Lindblad finished ninth for Racing Bulls, and Franco Colapinto of Alpine claimed the final point in 10th place.
For more auto racing coverage, visit AP Auto Racing.