​Motorsport photoOne week on from Kimi Antonelli hitting trouble and George Russell being brought back into the fight, the tables turned once more in the Ardennes hills. Meanwhile, some of Mercedes’ closest rivals all turned up with improved performance to add a little zest to the 2026 season.
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F1 Belgian GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sixth 2026 win as George Russell crashes out
Winner: Kimi AntonelliHe’s really untouchable, isn’t he? No matter what F1 2026 throws at him, young Antonelli always seems to have an answer. Antonelli’s start wasn’t quite as dramatically poor as team-mate Russell’s, but Antonelli also faced significant pressure as he saw four-time world champion Max Verstappen swoop past through Eau Rouge.Had Verstappen overplayed his hand, burning up too much precious battery power to grab the lead in front of legions of partisan fans? Perhaps so, but Antonelli made short work of reclaiming the lead, just like it felt inevitable that he was going to be cleanly picking off Charles Leclerc to secure his sixth grand prix win of the season. If his pole lap was outstanding, his Sunday performance was less flashy but just veteran-like. At 19 years of age, that’s every bit as impressive.Loser: George RussellGeorge Russell, MercedesGeorge Russell, MercedesJust when Russell was handed a lifeline through Antonelli’s Silverstone woes, the Briton copped another uppercut in Spa. It was a double blow rather than one fell swoop, really, as Russell cut a frustrated figure after qualifying when his power unit’s deployment algorithm cost him straight line speed compared to Antonelli.On Sunday his power unit then decided against regenerating energy at Turn 1, leaving Russell a sitting duck on the straight before getting tagged by Lewis Hamilton. Russell wasn’t even that upset with Hamilton’s touch, but with being put in the line of fire to begin with following the latest Mercedes power unit glitch.
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Sunday was all on Mercedes, but the truth is that Antonelli has also been extremely difficult for Russell to keep up with. And that will have to happen sooner rather than later if he wants to stay in the hunt.Winner: FerrariSunday was anything but a clean day for Ferrari. Leclerc got away with squeezing Oscar Piastri early on, and benefitted from a neatly timed virtual safety car. Meanwhile Hamilton was pinged for understeering into a luckless Russell, suffered damage and subsequently hit more trouble during the pitstop as a mechanic got hit on his way out of the pit box.So for Leclerc and Hamilton to come away with second and fourth, on a power hungry circuit that was expected to expose Ferrari’s deployment weakness, is an enormous win for Ferrari, and just the type of consistency that underpins a potential championship run. On performance, Mercedes is still a step ahead, but Ferrari has shown to be a much more reliable force so far.Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, O