Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his title lead with a hard-fought victory at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix.
Antonelli survived a brief opening-lap pass from Max Verstappen to hold the lead until he pitted on lap 19 but was jumped by Charles Leclerc two laps later under a Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
He however reclaimed the lead on lap 34 with a pass on Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight, and subsequently clung on for victory.
Verstappen settled for third ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto after the Argentinean fought off Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson in a fierce battle to the checkered flag for tenth after his double overtake on the pair on lap 30.
In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli extended his title lead to 45 points as Hamilton became his nearest challenger again with Russell just three points behind, having been spun out by Hamilton on the opening lap.
At lights out, Antonelli got a clean start but was passed by Verstappen into Eau Rouge yet repassed the four-time former champion on the Kemmel Straight with the slipstream effect for the lead, with Leclerc following through.
Russell however got spun out at Les Combes after he swept around the outside of the corner and chopped across the front of Hamilton’s Ferrari, who had no time to react to avoid clipping his ex Mercedes teammate into a race-ending spin with a hit on his right-rear tyre.
Hamilton subsequently received a five-second time penalty after a safety car period which ended on lap four, with the Brit diving up the inside of Piastri into La Source for fourth on the restart.
Piastri however repassed Hamilton into Eau Rouge and held position behind Verstappen who passed Leclerc on lap 6 for second, yet suffered front-wing damage after Leclerc skimmed off a part of his front wing with contact as he attempted to sweep around the outside of Les Combes on lap 8.
Up front, Antonelli held off Verstappen until the latter pitted on lap 18 to attempt an undercut which backfired as a VSC was deployed on that very lap to remove debris, which led Antonelli to pit on the next lap to cover off his undercut attempt.
Norris meanwhile worked his way up to third by the end of lap 19 as he cleared Piastri out of Blanchimont but was repassed on the Kemmel Straight on the next lap, before Piastri and the two Ferrari drivers pitted on lap 21 under a second VSC.
Hamilton however was accidentally released too early from his stop just as a mechanic approached to make a front wing tweak, which led him to be hit as the Brit exited his pit box with Ferrari subsequently fined €30,000 but €10,000 was suspended on condition of no repeat offence within the next year.
Leclerc consequently jumped Antonelli under the VSC for the net lead which duly became the actual lead on lap 23 when he passed Norris on the Kemmel Straight, with the reigning champion on the alternative strategy after he began on the hard tyres rather than medium tyres.
Antonelli subsequently passed Norris in the same spot on lap 26 followed by Verstappen three laps later, before Norris pitted on lap 31 but a slow left-rear tyre change dropped him to eighth.
Up front, Leclerc initially built a two-and-a-half second gap to Antonelli until gearshift issues between first and second gears surfaced on lap 31, which led the Italian to chase down the Ferrari driver and he found himself within one second of his rival by lap 33.
Antonelli though didn’t sit in Leclerc’s slipstream for too long as he swept past Leclerc on the Kemmel Straight to reclaim the lead and ultimately his sixth Grand Prix win of the season to extend his title lead.
Verstappen meanwhile settled for third which saw him achieve his 130th and Red Bull’s 300th podium finish in F1.
F1 now heads to the Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary next weekend for the Hungarian GP between 24-26 July before the summer break.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 44 | 1h 24m 42.479 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 44 | + 1.952 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 44 | + 11.586 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 44 | + 17.245 |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 44 | + 18.988 |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 44 | + 23.307 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 44 | + 24.014 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 44 | + 49.140 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 44 | + 50.406 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 44 | + 76.037 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 44 | + 76.991 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 44 | + 77.523 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 44 | + 78.348 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 44 | + 94.465 |
| 15 | Alex Albon | Williams | 44 | + 104.684 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 44 | + 105.856 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 44 | + 110.925 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 43 | + 1 Lap |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 42 | + 2 Laps |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 26 | Mechanical |
| RET | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 44 | Suspension |
| RET | George Russell | Mercedes | 44 | Collision |
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