Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes with a cool, assured drive but his title rival and teammate George Russell was left distraught after his championship challenge suffered another serious blow when he was knocked out on the opening lap after a clash with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli was in control at the front and delivered a commanding drive including coming back at Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second, after the Monegasque driver had gained the lead through the pit stops. The win was assuredly deserved but the race was notable because of Russell’s retirement, for which the British driver took aim at his Mercedes team and what he sees as his car’s weakness.
The win has once more given Antonelli a huge lead in the world championship, with the 19-year-old now 50 points clear of Russell. For the title race at least the key moments had come in the opening seconds.
Antonelli held his lead from pole on the short dash into La Source but Max Verstappen, who finished third, took the place on the way down the hill into Eau Rouge, however just as Antonelli retook the lead going into Les Combes in his wake Russell clipped Hamilton at the corner and was spun off into the gravel, ending his race.
Russell, had started in third but had been swallowed up by the Ferraris on the Kemmel straight and had to go round the outside of Hamilton at Les Combes. The Ferrari driver appeared to have been unable to turn in, losing front-end grip because of his proximity to the car in front and his left front wheel slid into Russell’s right rear. It was investigated and Hamilton deemed to be at fault, was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision. Cold comfort to Russell who was denied the chance to score points.
Russell was emotional afterwards but said he believed it was a racing incident. However he pointedly noted that it was his lack of pace on the straight that left him powerless against the Ferrari and thus vying with Hamilton through the corner. He has been blunt all weekend that the lack of power on straights is an issue with the car and he once more squarely blamed it on causing the incident.
“I just got totally swallowed up down the straight,” he said. “I lost three positions down the straight into turn five and the incident was a racing incident. Maybe I could have gone a bit wider, maybe he could have braked a bit more. The incident shouldn’t have happened if I had the speed down the straight. Very, very disappointed. No words at the moment.
“I am numb to the disappointment. When it happens so often you just get used to it.”
The incident was another in what has been a season of no little ill-fortune for the British driver, including an electrical failure in Montreal when he was leading and then the unwarranted pit lane speeding penalty in Monaco which kept him out of the points.
After something of a resurgence in the last three rounds, including a win in Austria and during which Antonelli suffered his own poor luck, Russell had reduced the Italian’s lead from 64 to 25 points and might have felt better fortune was to follow. However he was left disconsolate in Spa, discovering, as Half Man Half Biscuit observed, that the light at the end of this tunnel, was the light of an oncoming train.
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He will be turning to his team for answers not least because Antonelli demonstrated with aplomb in Spa quite how comfortable he is with the car. The Italian has now taken six wins, after victories in China, Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco; a remarkable start in only his second year in the sport and in so doing reasserted his supremacy in the title race.
After the drama of the opening laps, Antonelli looked entirely in control until the only pitstops added some jeopardy. He pitted on lap 19 but the Ferraris stayed out and when a virtual safety car was called to clear debris both pitted and with a cheap stop taken, Leclerc came out in front of Antonelli.
Hamilton served his penalty during his stop but struck a glancing blow against one his mechanics, who was leaning over this right front appearing to be moving to adjust the front wing, when Hamilton was given the OK to pull away. The mechanic was unhurt but Hamilton is to be investigated for an unsafe release after the race.
Leclerc then enjoyed a 2.6sec advantage on Antonelli as he set off after him. Keeping calm, the Italian put in a sequence of quick laps and within 10 had caught and passed the Ferrari for the lead with relative ease, the Mercedes pace once more irresistible. Leclerc kept him honest to the flag but the race belonged to the teenager.
Lando Norris came back from 13th on the grid to seventh for McLaren with his teammate Oscar Piastri in fifth, while Hamilton was in fourth, subject to a potential penalty.
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