Race Report: Antonelli wins Belgian GP as Russell crashed out

Kimi Antonelli wins the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix as his teammate and rival George Russell crashes out on the first lap. Charles Leclerc continued his form from Silverstone taking P2 ahead of Max Verstappen in third.

Win

Big win for Kimi Antonelli who re-energized his championship bid with a win having suffered a DNF at Silverstone. He looked quick all weekend but Leclerc made the win an honest challenge.

A big win for Charles Lecerc who said he wasn’t sure if his new-found form in Silverstone was a one-off or a consistent recovery of form. I would say it was the latter. The VSC really helped Ferrari for sure.

Sure, P3 isn’t a win but given Red Bull’s recent struggles, they are making progress and a podium is a welcome sight. Max did throw everything and the kitchen sink at qualifying and the race and it paid off. Also, Isack Hadjar did a great job of making the most of good strategy to finish P6. The VSC was a bit of a bummer as Max may have had a shot at P2.

A huge win for Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto. Not sure why no one spoke about his P8 finish on the broadcast but a terrific job from the rookie!

Also, Kimi wasn’ the only teenager who had a good race, Arvid Linblad finished in P9. Franco Colapinto also had a good race claiming P10.

Fail

A fail for Lewis Hamilton who suffered a penalty for clashing with George Russell and taking him out of the race. At the time of writing this, Lewis is also facing an unsafe release having ran over his mechanic during the pit stop (not Lewis’s fault). Having said that, it’s great to see Lewis back on form, chippy and racing to win.

Tough race for Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson being beaten by their teammates. There’s was a real ding-dong battle between Arvid and Liam and an even better pass of both Liam and Pierre by Colapinto.

Tough race for Williams and Haas with Esteban Ocon getting hit by Carlos Sainz’s Williams. Also, Spa Francorchamps really exposed the Cadillac and Aston Martin deficits.

WTH

It wasn’t lost on me that the driver cool-down room feed quickly ended when the drivers began talking about how ridiculous these energy deployment engines are.

I find the narrative that George Russell has consistently explained about his lack of straight-line speed a very interesting element to team politics. After the race, the Sky F1 crew pressed Toto Wolff very hard on why George’s car seemed to drop anchor on Kemmel straight. Toto dodged the issue in a very statesman-like manner but in F1, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Not sure why McLaren left Lando Norris out as long as they did but from my seat, it seemed a lap or three too long.

Sadly refreshing to not see Eddie Everywhere on the podium these days.

Pirelli Report:

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

“All three compounds played a role in the Belgian Grand Prix strategies, with few variations between the teams and all broadly within the scenarios already anticipated yesterday.

“Tyre degradation was lower than in previous days because track temperatures, partly due to a few drops of rain, were cooler than those recorded earlier in the weekend. This allowed drivers to extend their stints.

“Only Ferrari opted to deviate slightly from the strategies of its direct rivals, extending the opening stint on Mediums while waiting for a neutralisation, which ultimately came. This enabled the team to save time during the pit stop and fit the Hard tyres to both drivers on the same lap.

“No one, with the exception of Sainz and Bottas, chose to start on Softs, a strategy which, in our view, could have offered some benefit to cars in the second half of the grid if combined with a slightly earlier stop to exploit the undercut. From a strategic standpoint, despite the presence of a Safety Car and a VSC, the race proved fairly straightforward.”

Belgian GP Results: