Kimi Antonelli secured his sixth victory of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix, significantly strengthening his position in the title fight. This win took place at the Spa circuit, while George Russell retired from the race on the very first lap.
Kimi Antonelli secured his sixth victory of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix, significantly strengthening his position in the title fight. This win took place at the Spa circuit, while George Russell retired from the race on the very first lap.
The 19-year-old Italian driver finished 1.952 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Leclerc briefly took the lead during a pit stop under a virtual safety car. Max Verstappen finished third, securing Red Bull's three-hundredth podium finish in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth after receiving a five-second penalty for contact with Russell on the first lap.
According to The Guardian, Russell started third but lost position after the first corner. The incident occurred at La Source, when the front-left wheel of the Ferrari made contact with the rear-right wheel of Russell, sending the British driver into the gravel. As a result, Antonelli increased his lead to 45 points over Hamilton and maintained a 50-point advantage over Russell.
After the race, Antonelli noted: 'It's great to be back on the podium after several difficult stages. It was a tense race. We lost first place due to the VSC, but then we were able to get back.' Russell was less pleased with the result, stating: 'I was simply completely absorbed on the straight.' He added that he lost three positions at the fifth corner, calling it a racing incident, and expressed strong disappointment.
The other participants also delivered respectable results: Oscar Piastri finished fifth for McLaren, Isaac Hajar sixth for Red Bull, starting from the back, and Lando Norris finished seventh despite starting 13th due to a 10-place grid drop. Gabriel Bortoleto finished eighth for Audi, Arvid Lindblad ninth for Racing Bulls, and Franco Colapinto completed the top ten for Alpine. Hamilton received no additional penalties for an unsafe exit from the pits, but Ferrari was penalized after Hamilton hit a mechanic who avoided injury.
The Italian driver for the Mercedes team, Kimi Antonelli, secured pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix during the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps. He managed to overtake four-time Red Bull champion Max Verstappen in the final seconds of qualifying.
The 19-year-old Italian driver set a magnificent best lap time of one minute and 44.361 seconds, surpassing the Dutchman by 0.317 seconds. Lando Norris from McLaren finished third. However, Norris received a 10-place penalty for Sunday's race after installing a new engine.
This pole position marks Antonelli's sixth this season and extends Mercedes' streak to ten consecutive poles. His success was marked by the largest gap of the season. During a radio communication with the team, Antonelli exclaimed: 'Let's go man,' and added a birthday greeting to his father Marco.
George Russell secured fourth place for Mercedes, ahead of Charles Leclerc from Ferrari and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who had previously been involved in an accident that day. Oscar Piastri from the second McLaren car took seventh place. Racing Bull newcomer Arvid Lindblad placed eighth before Gabriel Bortoleto from Audi and Isaac Hajjar, who drove the second Red Bull car, which also faced sanctions and will start from the back of the grid.
Max Verstappen admitted that his pace required to be in the top two was aided by assistance from teammate Hajjar, who provided him with slipstreaming on his laps. The Dutchman noted: 'I wouldn't be here without it. It was a certain help for me. If not for that, I would have been around P6. Today, knowing he would start from the back, Isaac did an excellent job giving me slipstream.'
In the first segment of qualifying (Q1), Bottas was the first to take to the track for Cadillac in dry conditions while the other drivers were lining up. Among them was Hamilton, who collided with barriers on his Ferrari late in the final free practice. Verstappen, among the leaders, first attempted a fast lap with a time of 1:45.930, which was an impressive start and preceded an immediate response from Antonelli. Then Lindblad and Hajjar took second place before Norris set a record with a time of 1:45.865.
The three fastest drivers missed the second run, when Hamilton improved his position to fourth place in his Ferrari after 'recovery.' Two Aston Martin cars, as well as the Cadillac and Alex Albon's car from Williams', were excluded from qualifying. The second segment of qualifying began with Franco Colapinto, but after starting at maximum speed, Antonelli once again demonstrated excellent pace. The session concluded with Liam Lawson from Racing Bulls, both Alpine cars, Nico Hülkenberg from Audi, who encountered a hydraulic leak, Carlos Sainz from Williams', and Oliver Bearman from Haas being excluded.
Kimi Antonelli, a driver for the Mercedes team, secured the fastest time in the second free practice session before the Belgian Grand Prix. He overtook defending champion Lando Norris of McLaren.
The 19-year-old Italian driver set the best lap time of 1 minute 45.944 seconds. This allowed him to pass Norris by 0.190 seconds. Max Verstappen, driving for Red Bull, finished third.
The four-time champion trailed the leader by 0.472 seconds after the team started using the traditional rear wing instead of the 'Macarena' wing, which was criticized and which Verstappen called dangerous. He had previously been involved in accidents at the Austrian and British Grands Prix but managed to return to action and post the best time in the first session on Friday.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Isaac Hajar. Oscar Piastri from McLaren participated in the second Red Bull session, while Franco Colapinto took seventh place for Alpine.
George Russell placed eighth in the second Mercedes session, more than 1.2 seconds behind Antonelli. He was overtaken by Racing Bulls newcomer Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson, who dropped Charles Leclerc's position to eleventh in the second Ferrari session.
The practice session concluded after a lengthy stoppage due to a red flag when Pierre Gasly hit the barriers with his Alpine but remained unharmed. After light rain between sessions, Antonelli once again set the pace, posting 1:46.911, while Verstappen tried to close the gap to his time. A brief delay followed due to a red flag to clear gravel from the track.
After the session resumed, several drivers switched from soft tires to medium tires. Piastri rejoined the race after repairing his hydraulic system during qualifying simulation laps. Hajar quickly moved into first place on soft tires ahead of Verstappen, after which Antonelli regained the initiative, recording 1:45.944 and pulling away from his rivals by almost half a second.
Ferrari showed good results, as both drivers set the best times in the first and second parts of the lap. However, Hamilton finished third behind Verstappen and ahead of Hajar, trailing Antonelli by 0.747 seconds. Russell, who is 25 points behind his teammate in the title fight, attempted a lap on soft tires but was 1.285 seconds slower than the Italian flyer and finished sixth.
Like Russell, Piastri struggled to match his teammate, as Norris took second place with a time of 1:46.134, two tenths slower than the pace. The Australian driver, last year's winner, finished sixth, trailing by 0.982 seconds. With 15 minutes remaining, the session was suspended due to a red flag after Gasly lost control of his Alpine and hit the barriers at the Fangyi chicane. He was uninjured and exited the damaged car, which had lost its rear wing. The session was paused for 13 minutes, allowing the teams only two minutes of active action at the end of the session to complete the program and run several laps on the hilly grid.
