Antonelli beats Leclerc to Belgian GP victory

Kimi Antonelli chased down Charles Leclerc to win the Belgian Grand Prix and stretch his championship lead to 45 points over Lewis Hamilton after teammate George Russell crashed out on the first lap.

Antonelli’s race almost came undone on the first lap when an ordinary exit from La Source gave front-row starter Max Verstappen a powerful slipstream down to Eau Rouge. The Dutchman’s momentum was unstoppable, and he took the lead as the pair swept through the circuit’s most famous corners up to Raidillon.

The move, however, left Verstappen vulnerable down the long Kemmel Straight to a car he already knew had greater top-speed potential. Antonelli realized those fears by easily sweeping through on the inside line to take back top spot into Les Combes.

Russell, starting third, attempted to make a move of his own into the same turn. The Briton was easily powered past by Leclerc and then Hamilton to his right – the team said his engine was unexpectedly not deploying correctly – but he attempted to hit back against the latter with a late-braking move from the outside line into Les Combes.

He swept around Hamilton’s left, pinning his former Mercedes teammate to the apex just as the Ferrari washed out slightly in the pack. They made contact, and Russell spun off the road and became beached in the gravel.

Hamilton was passed by Oscar Piastri in the aftermath but continued without significant damage, though the stewards handed him a 5s penalty for causing the collision.

The safety car was called to recover the stricken Mercedes, and when the race resumed on lap 5, Piastri – having been passed by Hamilton at La Source only to pass back boldly at Eau Rouge – set about chasing down Leclerc for third.

He reached the Ferrari on lap 7, and on the following tour he slipstreamed alongside Leclerc down the Kemmel Straight to take the outside line into Les Combes. The Monegasque, however, jinked to the left in the braking zone and caused a collision that left the McLaren with some minor bodywork damage behind its front-right wheel.

It ended Piastri’s pursuit, and Hamilton demoted him to fifth on the following lap. The stewards opened an investigation but opted against penalizing Leclerc.

Leclerc’s mind turned to the battle for the top two, where Verstappen was gamely clinging to Antonelli’s lead. His attempt at an undercut on lap 17 forced Mercedes to respond on the following lap to keep the net lead, but it allowed Leclerc to roll the dice on a longer stint to capitalize on a possible interruption.

He had to wait only one lap, with a virtual safety car triggered on lap 20 to clear debris from the circuit. He stopped to take advantage of the 7.5s time saving during the caution, and he emerged with the lead.

For the second consecutive round, Antonelli would have to chase Leclerc to win the race. After both passed the out-of-position Lando Norris on lap 26 of 44, Antonelli’s deficit stood at 3s. His pace, though, was irresistible, and he was within 1s on lap 32. Leclerc attempted to defend, but by lap 34 he was beaten with an easy slipstream down Kemmel that restored the pole-getter to top spot.

Leclerc shadowed him for the rest of the race but without the pace to try a move. Antonelli took the checkered flag a winner by 1.952s for his first victory since the Monaco Grand Prix in early June.

“It’s great to be back on the top step after obviously a few difficult rounds,” he said. “It was a hard-fought race.

“It was a tough win because Charles was quick and we had to hold onto that. I think the momentum as always there; it was just about getting the result.

“We’ve just got to keep performing, keep bringing in the results, then we’ll see what happens at the end of the year.”

Leclerc was surprised to be able to keep in touch with Antonelli, even if his bid for victory was based on the fortune of the virtual safety car.

“I believed in the win until the end,” he said. “We had a little bit of luck obviously with the VSC at the right time for us, but the pace was relatively strong.

“I felt better with the car. There’s still some work to do, but surely it’s a step forward.”

Leclerc’s gain demoted Verstappen to third at the flag, though the Dutchman found his car was less competitive on the hard tire in the second stint, leaving him almost 10s behind Antonelli.

“For us to be on the podium is very good,” he said. “I gave it everything I had, and I think actually P3 is good.”

Hamilton also took advantage of the VSC to neutralize his 5s penalty, though he was slow getting out of his box after colliding with one of his mechanics, for which he will be investigated after the race. It dropped him to fifth behind Piastri, but he recovered fourth with a straightforward move down Kemmel with four laps to go.

Piastri’s race was hamstrung by damage dealt by Leclerc, and though a front wing adjustment at his pit stop helped to rebalance the car, it gradually got away from him again as the tires wore towards the end of the stint.

Isack Hadjar recovered a remarkable 15 places to finish sixth, up from 21st, thanks to an ambitious and perfectly judged strategy that saw him pit twice behind the safety car to run effectively the entire race on a single set of hard tires.

Norris made good progress from 13th in the first stint but was unlucky with the timing of the VSC falling outside his pit window. A slow pit stop for a sticky rear-right further hurt his recovery, leaving him seventh at the flag.

Gabriel Bortoleto scored three points for eighth ahead of Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto, who secured the final point with a gutsy double pass on Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson for the place.

Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th ahead of Oliver Bearman, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso.

Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez joined Russell on the retirement list with clutch and suspension problems respectively.

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