Kimi Antonelli secured a dominant victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, further extending his lead in the Formula 1 title race. This win marks his sixth of the season and his first since the Monaco Grand Prix last month. Antonelli started on pole position and, despite temporarily losing the lead to Charles Leclerc after a virtual safety car period, he regained control with 10 laps remaining to cruise to victory.
The Italian driver’s performance at Spa-Francorchamps helped him overcome a period where reliability issues had allowed his rival, George Russell, to reduce the points gap. Antonelli expressed that the momentum had always been present, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of the new cars and regulations. His win now places him joint-second all-time among Italian F1 drivers, behind Alberto Ascari.
Meanwhile, George Russell faced significant challenges during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, culminating in an early retirement from the race. Russell’s car experienced power issues throughout the weekend, which he believes left him vulnerable to an incident on the first lap. He collided with Lewis Hamilton, resulting in his retirement just five corners into the race.
The incident caused Russell to drop 50 points behind Antonelli in the championship standings. Prior to this race, Russell had managed to cut Antonelli’s lead from 68 points to 25 points over the previous three rounds, benefiting from two reliability problems on Antonelli’s car. Following the race, Russell stated on social media that he has been “knocked down” but will “get back up,” vowing to continue fighting in the championship.
Mercedes addresses car problems
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff addressed the power unit issues affecting Russell’s car. Wolff explained that two separate problems contributed to the difficult weekend for the British driver. One issue involved a deployment problem in sessions before race day, which compromised Russell’s speed in the final sector of the Spa-Francorchamps lap compared to Antonelli. Wolff noted the complexity of the new 2026 engines, which feature a near 50-50 split between electrical and traditional internal combustion output.
Wolff stated that Mercedes is working to resolve the mysterious straight-line speed issues. He mentioned that an engine problem meant Russell had less energy to deploy into Turn 18, accounting for a significant portion of the gap to Antonelli. This issue was identified as a “new” boost problem out of Turn One that affected all eight Mercedes-powered cars on the grid, though Russell’s experience was described as “more extreme.”
The boost problem meant Russell was an effective sitting duck on the Kemmel Straight, allowing two Ferraris to pass him before his collision with Hamilton. Wolff clarified that while all Mercedes engines had a lack of energy out of Turn One, it affected Russell more than Antonelli, who also experienced the issue to a certain degree. This resulted in Antonelli dropping from P3 to P5, before the accident with Hamilton.
Looking ahead to Hungary
Following the race, racing analyst Karun Chandhok suggested that Russell would need clear engineering explanations from Mercedes before the upcoming race in Hungary. Chandhok emphasized that Russell cannot compete with a four-tenth deficit in straight-line speed and that the team must analyze the data to find answers. He also suggested that changing the power unit and incurring a penalty might be necessary to alleviate any doubt for Russell.
Russell expressed feeling “numb to the disappointment” after encountering technical issues earlier in the season, including in China and Canada. Wolff acknowledged the emotional toll on drivers in such situations and affirmed the team’s commitment to helping Russell regain optimism and positivity. The team principal, who has known Russell for over a decade, stated that the team is 100 percent supportive.
The Formula 1 season now heads directly to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Source: formula1.com
