F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 recap: Kimi Antonelli returns to winning ways

Kimi Antonelli picked up his sixth career win at the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix, seeing off Charles Leclerc, who led the race for the most part. Max Verstappen, meanwhile, picked up his third podium of the season with a third-place finish.

For Mercedes, it was a mixed race, as while Antonelli finished on the top step of the podium, his teammate George Russell suffered a Lap 1 retirement after contact with Lewis Hamilton.

For Antonelli, this was not only his first win of the season since Monaco, but also a crucial one in terms of the title race, with Russell’s retirement giving him some breathing space. Ferrari, in comparison, had a strong outing, with Leclerc’s P2 and Hamilton’s P4 finishes helping them make up some ground in the Constructors’ Championship.

Kimi Antonelli led off the line as the lights went out, but it was Max Verstappen taking the lead momentarily going into Eau Rouge before Antonelli retook the lead on the Kemmel Straight just as Charles Leclerc stole P2 from Verstappen.

Behind the top three, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell came together, with the latter spinning at Les Combes and becoming the first retiree of the race, bringing out the Safety Car as his F1 W17 got beached in the gravel. Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision.

Racing resumed on Lap 5, and while the top three remained untouched, behind them Oscar Piastri and Hamilton were involved in a spectacular move that saw Hamilton go inside Piastri at La Source to take fourth place before Piastri stunningly came back heading into Eau Rouge to retake the spot.

After battling for a couple of laps, Hamilton stormed past Piastri on the Kemmel Straight on Lap 9 to take P4, with the Australian struggling following his contact with Leclerc a lap before. After seeing off Piastri, Hamilton was all over the back of his teammate as the two battled for the final podium place.

By Lap 15, Antonelli had built a gap of over two seconds to Verstappen, while Leclerc was a further second behind the Red Bull star. Most of the midfield and lower-grid drivers had got their opening pit stop out of the way by Lap 10, with Isack Hadjar being the only one in the top ten to have pitted.

Verstappen was the first of the frontrunners to pit on Lap 18, and he rejoined in sixth place ahead of his teammate. Race leader Antonelli came in for his stop on Lap 19 and rejoined in fifth place, just ahead of Verstappen. Leclerc, meanwhile, had taken the lead of the race, with Hamilton and Piastri behind him, all three yet to pit.

There was a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 20, with the marshals clearing debris from the track. Under the VSC, both Leclerc and Hamilton pitted; Leclerc came out in second place ahead of Antonelli, while Hamilton came out in sixth. Lando Norris took the lead of the race but was yet to pit.

Leclerc, now on fresher tyres, eased past Norris on Lap 22. Norris then lost second place to Antonelli a couple of laps later. By Lap 28, Norris was being charged by Verstappen, and the lead Red Bull driver soon went around the outside of his MCL40 at Les Combes to take third place.

Meanwhile, on the fringes of the points, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was making moves and put in a stunning double overtake moving into Les Combes, going past teammate Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson to move into P10.

Norris pitted on Lap 30, but a slow stop from the McLaren garage saw him come out in eighth, almost 20 seconds behind Hamilton in P5. Up ahead, Antonelli was getting closer to Leclerc and, on Lap 34, took back the lead of the race, sweeping past the Monégasque with ten laps to go. While Leclerc lost his place, his teammate Hamilton was making up places and passed Piastri on the outside at Les Combes to move into fourth.

As the race entered its final few laps, Antonelli kept a sufficient gap to Leclerc to eventually take the win, while Verstappen saw off Hamilton to finish on the podium. Piastri finished fifth ahead of Hadjar, followed by Norris, Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad, and Colapinto, who rounded out the points places in that order.

Antonelli’s win sees him extend his championship lead to 45 points, with Hamilton moving into second place in the Drivers’ standings, going past Russell, who is now 50 points behind his young Italian teammate.

Racing will be back next weekend for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which will be the final race before the grid heads for a month-long summer break.