Kimi Antonelli wins the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Antonelli back on top
Following his recent run of bad performances, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli drove a great race to take home the win. Antonelli started on pole and, though involved in some battles with both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, suffered no real challenge for the win today. He now extends his championship lead to 50 points due to his teammate George Russell suffering yet another unfortunate DNF. Antonelli claims “today we were lucky with what happened in terms of the championship”, which, although he’s right in that it has aided his championship campaign, he seems to be a little too celebratory of his teammate’s recurring misfortune.
Heartbreak for Russell
Time and time again things just continue to go wrong for George Russell, and today in Spa was no different as Russell was forced to retire on lap 1 of the race due to an incident involving himself and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. Russell was in position to battle for the lead into turn one, however once they got through Eau Rouge and onto the straight, Russell’s battery power just depleted and left him vulnerable to the Ferraris behind. As a result of this, when going into the next corner, Russell and Hamilton made unfortunate contact, causing the Mercedes to spin off into the gravel with his race ruined.
While this will have obviously been very frustrating for the British driver, during an interview that took place while the race was still happening Russell, though naturally very disheartened, was nothing but gracious. Russell often gets the reputation of being someone to complain and blame everyone but himself, and yet he never once placed blame on his former teammate. Russell believed the incident wouldn’t have happened if he’d had more speed down the straight, a problem he’s had all weekend and yet Mercedes never found even an ounce of a solution.
Given that his teammate Antonelli isn’t having the same problems with his car that Russell is suffering from, Russell’s hopes for the championship continue to slip further and further away as what was a 25 point gap becomes 50, and he now drops down to P3 in the championship standings.
Mixed results for Ferrari
Charles Leclerc started the race in P4 and, after a very positive outing for the Monegasque driver, came home to finish in P2 on the podium. Leclerc looked as though he could be on for the win at times, however he simply lacked the pace to truly challenge Antonelli.
His teammate Lewis Hamilton finished the race in P4. Hamilton suffered a 5 second penalty for his part in the collision with George Russell, however to make matters worse his position in the race is still up in the air as we await the news of a potential post race penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane. Hamilton served his pit stop, yet once the green light appeared a mechanic realised they hadn’t adjusted Hamilton’s front wing to match the new tyres and got in the way of Hamilton setting off.
A mediocre day for McLaren
McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished the race in P5 and P7 respectively after a race full of anything but smooth sailing for the two drivers. Norris started the race in P13 after taking a 10 place grid penalty for changing his power unit coming into the weekend. He showed great pace throughout the race and at one point it even seemed possible for him to find himself on the podium, however when he came in for his pitstop the team took nearly 8 seconds to complete it and thus cost Norris his chance for a better result.
Piastri on the other hand came into very close contact with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who nearly caused a collision with him. Piastri sustained some damage to his car from this while Leclerc got off without a penalty, and so Piastri’s chances were sadly hindered.
Strong outing for Red Bull
Max Verstappen found himself back on the podium for the third time this season, coming home in P3 after starting in P2. Verstappen took the lead of the race at the beginning, however he lacked the pace to hold onto it and soon found himself overtaken by not only Antonelli but Leclerc as well.
Isack Hadjar drove a great race after starting in P21 due to penalties and making up 15 positions to finish in P6. It seems as though this season Hadjar is certainly proving that he won’t allow himself to be bested by the infamous second seat curse at Red Bull that has seen many of Verstappen’s former teammates struggle.
The rest of the grid
Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez joined George Russell as the ones to retire from today’s race as the two of them both suffered from car issues.
Meanwhile Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto all did well to finish in the points in P8, P9 and P10 respectively.
Unfortunately VCARB’s long-standing run of consistent double points comes to an end as Liam Lawson only managed P12 in a car without the upgrades that his teammate has.
Feature image courtesy of Formula 1