Antonelli beats Leclerc as Russell suffers crushing DNF in thrilling Belgian GP

The Belgian Grand Prix burst into life from the very first lap. Verstappen got the better launch to snatch the lead from Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver quickly hit back to reclaim first place, with Leclerc also taking advantage to move ahead. Behind them, Russell's afternoon lasted only a handful of corners after contact with Hamilton at Les Combes.

The Ferrari driver clipped the rear of Russell's Mercedes, pitching it into a spin before it came to rest in the gravel. With the Mercedes stranded, race control immediately deployed the safety car. The stewards judged Hamilton to be at fault after reviewing the collision, resulting in a five-second time penalty to be served at his next pit stop.

At the safety car restart, Verstappen swept past Leclerc to reclaim the position he had started in before setting off in pursuit of Antonelli. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc and Piastri made contact, with debris flying off one of the cars but no further consequences. On the following lap, Hamilton capitalised on the incident by overtaking the McLaren driver to slot in directly behind his teammate.

As for this clash clash, the stewards examined the available footage before deciding that the Monegasque driver bore no responsibility, with no penalty issued.

On lap 21, Ferrari took advantage of the Virtual Safety Car by executing a double pit stop, allowing Charles Leclerc to rejoin in the lead, while Hamilton emerged sixth after serving his five-second time penalty and accidentally striking a mechanic during the stop due to a misjudgement, fortunately without any serious consequences.

Behind Leclerc and Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris and Piastri battled for the final podium position. The Dutchman overtook the reigning world champion before later allowing his teammate through, then pitted a few laps later. Norris then endured a slow pit stop, costing him several seconds and dropping him to eighth after rejoining, while up front Antonelli continued to chip away at Leclerc's advantage.

With 10 laps remaining, Antonelli finally made his move, overtaking the Monegasque to reclaim the lead. From there, he began to pull away despite the Ferrari driver doing everything he could to stay within DRS range for as long as possible.

Antonelli crossed the line first to return to winning ways, with Leclerc finishing second and Max Verstappen completing the podium.