The Mercedes driver took his sixth win of the 2026 GP after his championship rival and teammate George Russell crashed on the first lap.
Published July 19, 2026
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, extending his F1 lead over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to 45 points despite a difficult day for teammate George Russell.
Russell was the 19-year-old Italian’s closest rival before the start at Spa-Francorchamps, but the Briton spun into the gravel on the opening lap after contact with Hamilton, who was trying to regain his place at lights out.
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Thanks to a pit stop during the virtual safety car, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second in the 44-lap race, 1.952 seconds behind the leader, with Max Verstappen third, giving Red Bull their 300th podium in F1.
Hamilton finished fourth despite receiving a five-second penalty for contact with Russell, but remains under investigation after an unsafe exit from his pitstop dropped him to fifth and could have widened his lead over Antonelli.
It was Antonelli’s sixth win out of 10 races this season, and he now has a 50-point lead over Russell. Antonelli qualified first and Mercedes continued to dominate pole position this season.
“It’s great to be back on the top step again after some difficult rounds,” said Antonelli, who had drawn blanks in two of the past three rounds.
“It was a tough race. I lost first place in VSC, but I managed to come back.
“The momentum was always there. It was just a matter of getting results,” he added. “Today we were a little bit lucky with what happened regarding the championship, but we have seen how big the chances can be, so we have to take every chance.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fifth, while Red Bull’s Izak Hajar came from last on the grid to sixth. McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris finished 7th after starting 13th after being demoted 10 places on the grid.
Gabriel Bortleto took further points for Audi with eighth place, while Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad was ninth and Argentine Franco Colapinto scored for Renault-owned Alpine in 10th place.
