Kimi Antonelli returned to winning ways at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, extending his Formula One world championship lead with victory at Spa-Francorchamps.
The 19-year-old Italian started from pole and claimed his first win in three races after a run of six consecutive victories between 15 March and 7 June.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking third in the tenth round of the season.
Antonelli’s win lifts him to 204 points at the top of the championship standings. His Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who had been second on 154 points before the race, failed to score after retiring on the opening lap.
Lewis Hamilton has now moved ahead of Russell into second place in the standings after collecting 12 points over the weekend, leaving him five points clear of his fellow Briton. Leclerc is fourth on 126 points, ahead of reigning world champion Lando Norris of McLaren on 103.
In unusually bright sunshine at Spa, the race was disrupted almost immediately. A yellow flag was waved before the end of the first lap and the safety car was deployed after contact at Les Combes between Hamilton’s Ferrari and Russell’s Mercedes sent Russell into the gravel and out of the race.
The incident was reviewed by the stewards and could still earn Hamilton a five-second penalty.
Once the safety car returned to the pits, Antonelli soon lost the lead. By half-distance, Leclerc was out in front after Ferrari managed the pit stop phase better than Antonelli, who had dropped to third behind Norris, with the McLaren driver yet to stop for tires.
Antonelli gradually closed back in on Leclerc and made his move with ten laps remaining on the long run towards Les Combes.
The pair stayed close to each other until the finish, but Leclerc never got nearly enough to attempt a serious move. Antonelli then edged clear in the closing laps to seal his first victory at the Ardennes circuit.
Behind them, Verstappen drove a largely uneventful race to secure third, too far behind the front two but comfortably clear of the chasing pack.
Hamilton fought his way up to fourth, passing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on Lap 40 and holding the position to the flag.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar finished sixth, followed by Norris, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Racing Bulls driver Lindblad and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who completed the top ten and scored points.
The Formula 1 season continues next weekend with the Hungarian Grand Prix before a break of almost a month until the Dutch Grand Prix on 21-23 August.
