Kimi Antonelli returned to his winning ways, claiming his sixth career victory after an eventful weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, the longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar. With teammate George Russell crashing out on the first lap, Antonelli further extended his lead in the World Drivers’ Championship standings heading into the final race before the summer break. Charles Leclerc continued his momentum from Silverstone to finish second, aided by a cheap pit stop during a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC). Max Verstappen, still in search of his first win of 2026, finished third place getting his third podium finish of the season. Both Red Bull and McLaren demonstrated excellent pace, closing the gap to the high-flying Mercedes. Ferrari, the only other team to win a race so far this season, struggled a bit with straight-line speed, yet was able to get a solid result out of the weekend. With many drivers facing issues with battery deployment and recharging, the race cast a dim light on the new engine regulations as the season approaches its halfway point.
Setting the Stage in Spa
Friday’s first practice session was topped by the half-Belgian Max Verstappen, followed by the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen continued to show strong pace, finishing third-fastest in both remaining practice sessions. Kimi Antonelli, who had endured a rough few weeks after his five-race winning streak, led the timing charts in FP2 and FP3, gaining some much-needed momentum ahead of qualifying. Lando Norris, who interestingly is also half-Belgian, finished second-fastest in both FP2 and FP3, showing real pace in his McLaren.
Multiple drivers faced impending grid drops for upgrades brought to the race weekend. Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, and Lando Norris received 10-place grid penalties for using additional power unit elements, while Fernando Alonso and Isack Hadjar received 20-place and 30-place grid penalties, respectively, for using multiple additional power units.
Q1 saw the usual eliminations of the Aston Martins and Cadillacs, joined by Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’s Esteban Ocon. Ollie Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, the Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, and Liam Lawson were knocked out in Q2. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto advanced to Q3, knocking Lawson out in P11. Notably, Lando Norris secured his 41st consecutive Q3 appearance, equaling Sebastian Vettel’s record and becoming one of only six drivers in history to achieve a run of 40 or more consecutive appearances in the final stage of qualifying.
Max Verstappen was the first to set a time during the opening flying laps of Q3, aided by a powerful slipstream from his teammate, whose sole purpose for making it to Q3 was to provide a minimum-drag tow, given the impending penalty he was facing. However, it wasn’t enough, as Antonelli immediately bettered it. Leclerc then managed to split the two to take provisional P2 on the grid. Norris produced a stellar lap to snatch provisional pole just before a red flag was deployed due to gravel on the tarmac. After the restart, Verstappen managed to better Norris’s lap and reclaim provisional pole with the help of an even stronger tow from his teammate. But Antonelli had the final say, laying down a monster lap to seal Pole Position with a three-tenth advantage over Verstappen in second. Norris qualified third-fastest but dropped to P13 due to his penalty, promoting George Russell (who qualified fourth) to P3 on the grid. Leclerc and Hamilton followed in P4 and P5, respectively, with Oscar Piastri in P6. Arvid Lindblad secured a career-best starting position of P7, with Gabriel Bortoleto lining up in P8.
Chaos off the Line
Antonelli got a great start off the line with Verstappen hot on his heels. The Dutchman managed to overtake Antonelli into Eau Rouge before falling back to third as a fiery Charles Leclerc blasted past both Russell and Verstappen to slot into second place. The major incident of the opening lap occurred shortly after, when a trailing George Russell hit the side of Hamilton’s Ferrari and careened off the track, putting an immediate end to his race. Hamilton, who also sustained damage, later received a five-second penalty for the collision—an incident Russell himself dismissed as a simple racing incident. Oscar Piastri took advantage of the chaos to jump into fourth place ahead of Hamilton just before the Safety Car was deployed. Liam Lawson also executed several overtakes, including passing his teammate, to move into sixth. Isack Hadjar utilized the Safety Car period to pit twice, switching from Hards to Mediums and back to Hards.
Following the restart, Hamilton overtook Piastri, only to be brilliantly re-passed by the Australian through Eau Rouge. Verstappen fought his way back, overtaking Leclerc, who was then put under immense pressure by Piastri. The two engaged in an intense battle that ended when Piastri’s front-right tyre colliding with Leclerc’s rear-left, damaging the McLaren’s front wing. Piastri was subsequently overtaken by Hamilton. Lando Norris, who started P13, carved his way through the field to P6 behind his teammate. Isack Hadjar was also executing a stellar recovery drive, carving from P21 to P7 with a series of brilliant overtakes.
Verstappen was the first of the frontrunners to pit, followed closely by Antonelli. A brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was then called, playing perfectly into the hands of Leclerc and Ferrari. Capitalizing on the reduced track speeds, Leclerc executed a cheap pit stop and emerged ahead of Antonelli to take the net lead of the race, sitting just behind Norris (who had yet to pit). Hamilton also used the VSC to pit and serve his five-second penalty, but he was released unsafely while a mechanic was still adjusting his front wing. The incident was investigated post-race, resulting in a financial fine for Ferrari.
The Fight for the Front
Once both Leclerc and Antonelli passed Norris—who was running a long first stint with 18 laps remaining—Leclerc held a three-second lead over Antonelli. However, Antonelli managed to reel in the Ferrari, regaining the lead on Lap 34. He brilliantly defended his position over the final 10 laps to secure a famous victory. Leclerc hung on within a second of Antonelli for a long time, trying to apply pressure, but couldn’t force a mistake and had to settle for second place. Verstappen faced early pressure from Piastri for the final podium spot, but the four-time world champion pulled away in the closing laps for a comfortable third-place finish.
Hamilton, who emerged behind Piastri after serving his penalty, initially struggled with his front wing balance on the Hard tyres. He eventually found his rhythm and overtook Piastri to finish fourth. Piastri settled for fifth, while Isack Hadjar successfully held off Norris to finish a brilliant sixth. Norris crossed the line in seventh, and Gabriel Bortoleto secured back-to-back P8 finishes, equaling his career-best result. Arvid Lindblad finished P9, and Franco Colapinto rounded out the points-paying positions, executing a brilliant double-overtake to finish P10.
Looking Ahead to the Hungaroring
With the high-speed thrill of Spa in the rearview mirror, all eyes now turn to the tight and twisty confines of Hungary next week for the final race before the summer break. The championship standings have seen a major shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton quietly but brilliantly climbing into second place to become Kimi Antonelli’s closest challenger, but Antonelli has got a strong hold with a lead stretching over 40 points. What started as a Mercedes runaway is quickly evolving into a spectacular multi-team dogfight. Ferrari is now virtually matched with the Silver Arrows on race pace, and both Red Bull and McLaren are rapidly erasing the remaining gap. As we head to the Hungaroring, the battle for supremacy is wider open than it has been all year.
Do stay tuned to Sri Lanka’s No. 1 Sports channel, ThePapare, to catch all the sports news all around the globe.
