Spa-Francorchamps delivered another unforgettable chapter in the 2026 season, and Kimi Antonelli emerged victorious after a race packed with drama, changing fortunes and fierce battles at the front. The Mercedes driver converted pole position into his sixth victory of the year, overcoming an early setback to defeat Charles Leclerc and extend his championship lead after teammate George Russell retired in the opening stages.
Antonelli made a clean getaway from pole, but the race was immediately thrown into chaos. A Virtual Safety Car during the opening laps shuffled strategies and allowed Charles Leclerc to briefly inherit the lead after Ferrari timed its stop to perfection. Behind them, disaster struck for Mercedes when George Russell tangled with Lewis Hamilton at Les Combes. The contact sent Russell into the gravel and out of the race, ending what had looked like another strong points-scoring opportunity for the championship contender. Hamilton received a five-second penalty for the incident, while Ferrari was later investigated after an unsafe pit release during his stop.
Once the race settled into its rhythm, Antonelli began to showcase the pace that had earned him pole position on Saturday. Lap after lap, he chipped away at Leclerc’s advantage before finally making the decisive move with ten laps remaining. The Mercedes proved unstoppable in the closing stages, allowing the young Italian to pull clear while Max Verstappen secured third after spending much of the afternoon keeping Ferrari and McLaren at bay.
Further down the order, Oscar Piastri recovered to fifth despite early contact with Leclerc, while Isack Hadjar continued his remarkable rookie campaign by finishing sixth. Lando Norris mounted an impressive recovery from thirteenth on the grid after his qualifying penalty, climbing through the field to claim seventh place. Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto rounded out the points after another action-packed afternoon at Spa.
For Ferrari, the race was bittersweet. Leclerc extracted everything possible from his package to finish second, but he ultimately had no answer to Antonelli’s relentless pace in the final stint. Hamilton crossed the line in fourth after serving his penalty, although his afternoon remained under scrutiny because of the unsafe pit release that left one Ferrari mechanic injured. The incident became one of the major talking points of the race alongside the opening-lap clash with Russell.
As the chequered flag fell, Antonelli celebrated another landmark victory in what is rapidly becoming a championship-defining campaign. Winning at one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar while capitalising on his closest rival’s retirement allowed the Mercedes star to stretch his advantage to 45 points in the standings. Spa once again rewarded precision, courage and consistency, and on this occasion, no one combined those qualities better than Kimi Antonelli.
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