Kimi Antonelli overcame an unfortunately-timed Virtual Safety Car to overtake Charles Leclerc and win the Belgian Grand Prix on a day team-mate George Russell’s title hopes suffered a major fresh blow.
Antonelli doubled his in-house advantage over Russell to 50 points after the Briton was spun out into the gravel at the fifth corner of the first lap in a collision that stewards judged Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton had been at fault for.
Hamilton was given a five-second penalty, which he served at his sole pit stop, and eventually finished fourth after overtaking McLaren’s Oscar Piastri late on.
But Hamilton is under a post-race investigation for an alleged unsafe Ferrari release at the same pit stop after he was given the signal to leave the box and knocked over a mechanic who was still trying to work on his car’s front wing.
The mechanic was struck by the Ferrari’s front-right tyre and was briefly knocked to his knees before being helped back up to his feet before Hamilton fully exited the pit box.
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The Ferrari pit crew were unable to attach Lewis Hamilton’s front wing as the British driver also knocked over a mechanic after being given the green light
Hamilton moves back ahead of Russell in second to Antonelli in the standings – 45 points behind the Italian, with one race to go in Hungary this coming week before F1’s summer break.
Max Verstappen, who briefly took the lead from Antonelli on the first lap out of Eau Rouge before the Mercedes almost-immediately blasted back past, took third after he was also jumped by Leclerc during the VSC.
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Drama at the start of the Belgium GP as George Russell’s title hopes take a huge blow
Isack Hadjar took sixth in the second Red Bull, just holding off Lando Norris on fresher tyres after the McLaren had run all the way to lap 30 on hard tyres having started a penalised 13th on the grid.
Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth for Audi ahead of Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
More to follow…
Formula 1 heads straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with every session live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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