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Formula OneThe cat-and-mouse 2026 Formula 1 title fight took another twist in Belgium as Kimi Antonelli found victory again while Mercedes teammate George Russell retired on Lap 1. Antonelli, the unfortunate party in the last Grand Prix, now boasts a 50-point lead over Russell, with Lewis Hamilton leapfrogging to P2 some 45 points adrift. While Russell's bad luck made an unwelcome return in Belgium, there were reasons for neutral fans to cheer as Ferrari maintained their form, showing that this title race is still not over. It proved a stop-start 44 laps around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, with an opening lap Safety Car deployment to recover Russell's car. Antonelli kept his lead from pole to Turn 1, but Max Verstappen powered by into Eau Rouge to briefly steal P1. A mixture of power deployment saw the lead six cars battling down the Kemmel Straight, with Verstappen sliding back immediately, losing places to Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. Behind that trio was the major talking point, though, as Russell stayed outside of Hamilton into Les Combes. The old teammates tangled, despite Hamilton's best efforts, sending Russell spinning into the gravel and out of the race. The contact let Oscar Piastri up to P4 as Hamilton lost ground. A contentious five-second penalty for the contact also added to Hamilton's misery on a day the seven-time champ will seek to forget.
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The resulting Safety Car slowdown was cause for delight for Isack Hadjar. Red Bull's decision to change multiple components on his car had the Frenchman starting from the back of the grid on Hard Pirelli tyres. The team took the chance of two 'free' pit stops at the reduced speed. Sacrificing track position for the stop kept Hadjar behind, but without needing to stop again. Lando Norris, on the other hand, kept his hard tyres equipped from a P13 start. Like Hadjar, the reigning champion was hit with a grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation, but was further up the order. This alternate Pirelli strategy tyre fight proved a fascinating subplot to the main event. Busy battles followed the race resumption on Lap 4, with Hamilton and Piastri switching places out of La Source, then swapping back at Eau Rouge, and Verstappen speeding by Leclerc to take P2. Leclerc and Piastri were the next to go wheel-to-wheel fighting, and things got too close for comfort in the braking zone at the end of the Kemmel Straight.
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Leclerc had covered the inside line for Les Combes to force the McLaren over to the left. The Ferrari drifted left, however, when Piastri got alongside, and the left-rear tyre of Leclerc's car hit and damaged Piastri's bodywork. Unlike Hamilton, though, the stewards handed down no penalty for this incident. Piastri's podium hopes ended with the carbon fibre over the road as his pace disappeared, and Hamilton soon passed, too. Things settled down a little after this frantic start. Norris and Hadjar continued marching up the order with a flurry of overtakes on the midfielders, but it was the pit stops that provided the next drama. While Norris reached the sister McLaren on the road, gravel at the Stavelot corner triggered two Virtual Safety Cars. While no one benefited from the first, Ferrari pulled their two drivers in for Pirelli Medium tyres at the second. With the other frontrunners having stopped, this proved critical for the race. Leclerc emerged ahead of Antonelli thanks to the significantly reduced time loss under the VSC. It wasn't so beneficial for Hamilton, though. Serving his five-second penalty in this Ferrari double-stack added complication for the pit crew. A green light after his tyre switch had the Briton pushing out of his pit box, but he hit a mechanic preparing to alter his front wing angle. The team received a penalty for the unsafe release, and the mechanic was unharmed, but the trouble summed up Hamilton's Sunday drive.
Although this shuffled the order for the race's second half, Antonelli's incredible pace kept him close. Norris, who was still to stop, could not keep Leclerc or Antonelli behind, and the Mercedes had a three-second lead to close down. The incremental gains made it seem inevitable that the positions would switch back, but Leclerc kept his lead until Lap 34. A run down the Kemmel Straight was all Antonelli needed to return to P1, with Leclerc having no answer.
Elsewhere, the Norris-Hadjar fight took a turn in Red Bull's favour. Norris' eventual Lap 30 stop for Medium Pirelli tyres was slowed by a slow left-rear wheel fitting, costing him time. Although the tyre advantage helped him in the closing laps, he ultimately finished 0.7s away from Hadjar over the line in P7. Piastri, too, lost out in the latter laps, with Hamilton passing at Les Combes for P4 on a long day for the McLaren team.
Despite it all, Antonelli kept his cool to bring home win number six of his stellar season. The Italian will head into the summer break after this weekend's Hungarian GP as the championship leader, no matter the result. It's been an electric start to the year for the Mercedes man, but spare a thought for the other side of the garage, with Russell suffering yet more bad luck. F1 returns in Budapest on Sunday.