F1 standings and results for the Belgian Grand Prix 2026

Kimi Antonelli took a huge step towards a first Formula 1 world championship with victory in a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix that saw Mercedes teammate George Russell retire on lap one.

The Italian dealt with the threat from Charles Leclerc and numerous safety car/virtual safety car periods to take his sixth win of the campaign, with the Monegasque second ahead of Max Verstappen.

But Russell was hit by former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on the first lap and now sits 50 points behind Antonelli in the race for the title.

Drama as title race takes another twist

Antonelli made the best start and held position into La Source, but then the energy deployment games began.

Verstappen rushed to the lead into Eau Rouge, but Antonelli hit back with the Red Bull clipping down the Kemmel Straight, allowing the Italian and Leclerc through into Les Combes.

But as the field converged into the chicane, Russell tried to get around the outside Hamilton, the former teammates tangling and sending the Mercedes driver into the gravel and out of the race.

It was a blow to Russell's championship challenge and, with his car needing recovery, the safety car was deployed, allowing those at the back - including Isack Hadjar - to make an early cheap pitstop. The Frenchman pitted again at the end of lap two to switch to the hard tires, aiming to promote him up the order.

Another in trouble was Esteban Ocon, who picked up a puncture having hit teammate Oliver Bearman at Fagnes, forcing a trip through the gravel before recovering to the pits.

Green flag racing resumed at the start of lap five with Hamilton immediately diving to the inside of Oscar Piastri into La Source, only to be repassed into Eau Rouge.

A lap later, Verstappen had latched onto the back of Leclerc, boosting his way past down the Kemmel Straight for second.

It was clear early on that the Ferrari race pace wasn't where either driver would have liked, proven by Piastri climbing over Leclerc for third on lap eight. The Australian pulled alongside the Ferrari into Les Combes, but the Monegasque squeezed the McLaren in the braking zone.

Contact was made with debris flying from Piastri's car, though both continued in position.

A lap later, Hamilton had more battery left than Piastri in the same section of the circuit to make his way past the McLaren driver and into fourth. It wasn't all rosy for the seven-time champion, though, as the stewards awarded him a five-second penalty for his part in the clash with Russell on lap one.

Both Ferraris had clearly warmed to the task by lap 10, though, with Leclerc and Hamilton closing to Verstappen's rear wing and dropping Piastri, all the while Antonelli was stretching his advantage out front.

Other than the leader, Hamilton was now the fastest on track and hassling his teammate, albeit without being able to make his way past.

The race was moving towards a one-stop strategy for the front-runners, but Hadjar's early strategic move provided somewhat of a headache for teams to deal with - the Red Bull sitting just inside the pit window for the top five by lap 16 but potentially not needing to pit again.

Verstappen was the first to pull the trigger on lap 17 and was able to feed out just in front of his teammate, covering off any potential undercut from the Ferrari duo.

But the Dutchman was unable to pound a fast outlap as a virtual safety car was deployed briefly to clear debris from the track, with Antonelli stopping as soon as the green flags were thrown.

Piastri's damage was beginning to show later in the first stint as teammate Lando Norris began homing in on the back of the sister McLaren. With hard tires on the world champion's car, the Briton got through on the exit of Blanchimont.

But if that was supposed to be an orchestrated move, it was undone on the Kemmel Straight as the Australian breezed past with battery, just before another virtual safety car was thrown with marshals on the track on the exit of Stavelot.

That neutralization gave Ferrari the chance to double-stack with Leclerc and Hamilton - the former returning to the track in front of Antonelli.

Hamilton served his penalty and dropped behind Piastri, who also pitted, having hit a mechanic on exit, while Norris, on his hards from the start of the race, stayed on track to take the lead.

Just after half race distance, Leclerc took the lead from Norris with an easy move down the Kemmel Straight, with Antonelli some two seconds off the Ferraris back under racing speed.

Crucially in the race for the lead, the reigning champion held on to second ahead of Antonelli despite an attack from the Mercedes two laps later. The Italian finally got through on lap 26, by which time Leclerc was three seconds to the good.

Verstappen was next to go past Norris, though he had to wait for lap 29 before getting past the McLaren. The gap between this battle and the leader had grown to 7.5s, leaving Leclerc and Antonelli in a race of their own.

Norris finally pitted at the end of lap 30, releasing teammate Piastri to go and chase Verstappen down. But a sticky left-rear meant the Briton was stuck in the pits for much longer than required, losing out to Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and rejoining eighth.

Fresh mediums helped Norris get through on the exit of Raidillon and up into seventh, 12 seconds down on Hadjar.

The gap between the top two was reducing and by lap 33, Antonelli was back within a second of the leader.

And on lap 34, the move came, Antonelli using the overtake boost to fly past into Les Combes with Leclerc defenseless.

To Leclerc's credit, he didn't fall off the back of Antonelli, at least providing Ferrari with hope of a late challenge as the race entered its final quarter.

Teammate Hamilton had shaken off balance issues on the hards to get back on the tail of Piastri, looking to the outside at Les Combes on lap 39. The McLaren held firm to hold onto fourth, with Verstappen now three seconds clear of this squabble in third.

Round two came a lap later, this time Hamilton pulling off the same move successfully and turning his sights to old foe Verstappen ahead.

But up front, Antonelli was not to be caught as he stretched his championship lead to over 40 points from Hamilton and Russell.

Leclerc and Verstappen rounded out the podium, with Hamilton fourth - though facing a post-race investigation for an unsafe release.

Piastri was fifth ahead of Hadjar and Norris, with Bortoleto an impressive eighth for Audi.

Arvid Lindblad was ninth and Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10 for Alpine, just ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly.

Liam Lawson was 12th from Nico Hulkenberg and Bearman, while the Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were next.

Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso were the only other finishers.

F1 Results for the Belgian Grand Prix

F1 Standings after the Belgian Grand Prix (Drivers)

F1 Standings after the Belgian Grand Prix (Constructors)

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/racing/f1briefings as F1 Standings and Results for the Belgian Grand Prix 2026.