Kimi Antonelli passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with 10 laps remaining at Spa-Francorchamps to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Monte Carlo’s Leclerc, who won the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, finished 1.9 seconds behind the 19-year-old Italian in the 44-lap race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen of the Netherlands took third.
The win was Antonelli’s sixth of the season, but first since the Monaco Grand Prix on June 7. The victory, worth 25 points, pushed Antonelli’s lead in the standings to 45 points over Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli’s teammate, George Russell, had been second in the standings but fell to third after crashing on the opening lap Sunday.
“It’s great to be back on the top step after obviously a few difficult rounds,” Antonelli said. “It was a hard-fought race. We lost the first place with the VSC, but we made our way back. But it was a tough win because Charles was quick, and we had to hold on to that.”
England’s Hamilton, who placed fourth, was handed a 5-second penalty for colliding with Russell. Though his finish moved him up to second in the title standings, Hamilton faces a post-race investigation into Ferrari’s unsafe release. The driver ran over his mechanic in the pit lane after he was mistakenly given the green light to rejoin the race following the crash.
Reports indicated the mechanic did not suffer serious injury.
Antonelli led the race early, with the Safety Car utilized until lap five. He remained out front until Leclerc took advantage of a round of pit stops, followed by a Safety Car deployment for debris, to take the lead.
Leclerc remained in control until Antonelli overcame the Ferrari on the Kemmel Straight on the 34th lap and sped on to claim the checkered flag.
“Was just about getting the result, and today, we were a bit lucky in terms of what happened with the championship,” Antonelli said. “But that’s why you’ve got to take every opportunity.”
Australia’s Oscar Piastri benefitted from Russell’s mechanical issues to get an early jump and finished fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were France’s Isack Hadjar, England’s Lando Norris, Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto, England’s Arvid Lindblad and Argentina’s Franco Colapinto.
–Field Level Media
