Belgian Grand Prix
Antonelli wins from pole; Leclerc P2, Hamilton P4 after a lap-1 clash that spun out Russell.
Race conditions · AIR 18°C · TRACK 31.1°C · HUM 49% · WIND 1.8 m/s · DRY
Il Circuito
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
▮Racing line traced from real OpenF1 GPS telemetry: fastest lap of the 2025 qualifying, car #4, 1:40.562
Lap length
7.004
kilometres
Corners
19
medium downforce spec
Race laps
44
308 km race distance
Overtake zones
2
manual-override aid zones
Signature
7.004 km
the longest lap in Formula 1
Race-day conditions, measured
Air
18 °C
Track
31.1 °C
Humidity
49%
Wind
1.8 m/s
Circuit character
Seven kilometres through the Ardennes with 100 metres of elevation change and a climate all of its own: rain on one sector, sunshine on another. Eau Rouge–Raidillon into the Kemmel Straight is still the sport's definitive compromise between wing and bravery.
Where the passes happen
- ▸Les Combes (T7) after the Kemmel Straight
- ▸Bus Stop chicane (T18–19)
- ▸the Eau Rouge–Raidillon tow
P1
Kimi ANTONELLI
Mercedes · 1:24:42.479
P2
Charles LECLERC
Ferrari · +1.952s
P3
Max VERSTAPPEN
Red Bull Racing · +11.586s
Analisi
The Ferrari read
01
Leclerc turned P5 on the grid into the lead when Ferrari pitted both cars under a lap-20 virtual safety car, taking the cheaper stop the leaders had already paid full price for and cycling out front on the hard tyre. He built a small cushion, but Antonelli's straight-line speed retook the lead at Les Combes on lap 34 and pulled clear; Leclerc came home P2, 1.952s back, his best Sunday since the Silverstone win.
02
Hamilton recovered to P4 from P6 despite a five-second penalty for tipping Russell into the gravel at Les Combes on the opening lap, judged his fault by the stewards and served at his lap-20 stop: a 32.2s lane time against Leclerc's 23.2s. His only mechanical drama was an unsafe-release investigation at that same stop.
03
Thirty points (Leclerc 18, Hamilton 12) cut the constructors' gap to Mercedes from 78 to 73 and stretched the buffer over McLaren to 90. Russell's retirement lifted Hamilton back above him to P2 in the drivers' standings, 45 behind Antonelli, with Leclerc P4 and out-qualifying his team-mate P5 to P6 for the sixth time in ten rounds.
Strategia
Ferrari race data
Lap times (dashed lines mark pit stops)
LEC best lap
1:49.333
σ 0.708s over 37 clean laps
HAM best lap
1:49.454
σ 0.815s over 37 clean laps
LEC top speed
305
km/h, speed trap
HAM top speed
307
km/h, speed trap
Leclerc pit stops
| Stop | Lap | Pit lane time |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | L20 | 23.2s |
Hamilton pit stops
| Stop | Lap | Pit lane time |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | L20 | 32.2s |
Analisi Profonda
The deep read
The pivot was a lap-20 virtual safety car for debris at Blanchimont, and Ferrari read it a beat faster than the leaders. Both cars ran mediums to lap 20 and hards to the flag, a straight one-stop, but where Verstappen (lap 17) and Antonelli (lap 18) had already stopped at full cost, Ferrari took the cheaper VSC stop and cycled Leclerc from P5 on the grid into the net lead. Conditions were cool and dry: air around 18 °C, a track falling from 35.9 °C to 30.7 °C, no rain. On fresh hards in clear air Leclerc built a small cushion after clearing Norris.
But Spa is a power circuit, and the qualifying sheet had already said so: Ferrari's best, Leclerc, was 0.532s off Antonelli's pole, the widest gap since Barcelona and more than triple Silverstone's 0.175s, the Kemmel straight reopening the engine deficit cool Silverstone had hidden. It decided the race too. Antonelli closed up, was handed a lap when Leclerc was baulked by Bottas' Cadillac at Turn 15, and used his straight-line speed to retake the lead at Les Combes on lap 34; Leclerc could not answer and finished 1.952s down, setting Ferrari's fastest lap (a 1:49.3 on lap 23) but never within striking range again. Hamilton's afternoon was self-inflicted: a lap-1 snap of oversteer at Les Combes spun Russell out for a five-second penalty, served in his 32.2s lap-20 stop against Leclerc's 23.2s, and he recovered to P4, 17.245s back.
What went right
- ▲The VSC call was nailed. Pitting both cars on lap 20 for hards at minimal cost cycled Leclerc to the net lead ahead of the leaders who had already paid full price: a pit wall reading the race a beat quicker than Mercedes and Red Bull.
- ▲Race pace on the hard was genuinely there. Leclerc ran Antonelli to 1.952s and set the fastest Ferrari lap of the day, the SF-26 competitive on a Sunday at a power track it was never expected to shine on.
- ▲Both cars scored heavily: P2 and P4 for 30 points, Ferrari's second-biggest single-race haul of 2026 behind Silverstone's 40, and the constructors' gap to Mercedes fell to 73 while the buffer over McLaren grew to 90.
What went wrong
- ▼Qualifying regressed exactly where the power shows. Ferrari's 0.532s to pole was the widest since Barcelona and more than three times Silverstone's 0.175s, the Kemmel straight laying the engine deficit bare as the shortfall read had warned it would.
- ▼Leclerc could not hold the lead the VSC handed him. Once Antonelli closed up, the straight-line deficit settled it at Les Combes, and a Bottas backmarker at Turn 15 cost the one clean lap Leclerc needed to respond.
- ▼Hamilton's clash with Russell was a needless flashpoint: a five-second penalty and an unsafe-release investigation on the same afternoon. It removed a direct title rival, but from a P6 start a self-inflicted incident is not the way Ferrari wants its lead scorer taking points.
Was it a bad result? · Overachieved at a bad-fit track
A good Sunday at a circuit built to hurt this car. Spa's straights are the SF-26's worst-case, yet Leclerc led on merit-plus-strategy and pushed the champion-elect to under two seconds, Hamilton salvaged P4 from his own mess, and 30 points cut the gap to Mercedes and stretched the lead over McLaren. The honest caveats are real: the VSC-timed stop handed Leclerc the lead, Russell's exit flattered the day, and the straight-line deficit that reopened here still cost the win. But the question is whether this was a bad result, and it plainly was not: banking a near-win and a double-points haul at a power track is exactly the damage-limitation the title-poor half of the season needs.
Positive outcomes
- ▸Thirty points at Spa, a circuit the car's power deficit makes a poor fit, cut the constructors' gap to Mercedes from 78 to 73 and stretched the buffer over McLaren to 90.
- ▸Hamilton's P4 restored him to P2 in the drivers' championship on 159, back above the retired Russell and 45 behind Antonelli, keeping Ferrari's best title hope where it belongs.
- ▸Leclerc's P2, his best result since the Silverstone win, plus out-qualifying Hamilton P5 to P6, pushed the intra-team qualifying head-to-head to 6-4 in his favour and cut Hamilton's points lead over him to 33.
Negative outcomes
- ▸No win from a race Leclerc briefly led: the straight-line deficit, reopened at Spa after cool Silverstone hid it, cost the lead at Les Combes and blew the qualifying gap out to 0.532s.
- ▸Hamilton caused the Russell collision and carries a five-second penalty and an unsafe-release investigation into the record, a costly loss of composure even as it removed a rival.
- ▸Ferrari gained on Mercedes largely because Russell retired; Antonelli's serene win means the drivers' title is, in practice, drifting out of reach.
The title fight from here
The drivers' title is Antonelli's to lose: 204 points, 45 clear of Hamilton on 159 and 50 clear of the third-placed Russell on 154. Ferrari's realistic hope remains Hamilton, and it still runs through Mercedes trouble rather than raw pace.
The constructors' fight is the live prize: Ferrari 285 to Mercedes 358, the gap down to 73 with the buffer over McLaren out to 90. Hungary is next, a maximum-downforce lap that should suit the car far better than Spa's straights did.
Two sprints remain (Zandvoort and Singapore) for cheap points, and the second ADUO engine token is still due after the summer break, the hardware step aimed squarely at the straight-line deficit Spa exposed.
Box Box
Ferrari team radio
Leclerc · race transmissions
14:04:45 UTC
14:30:38 UTC
14:32:40 UTC
Hamilton · race transmissions
13:08:52 UTC
13:30:12 UTC
13:39:50 UTC
13:42:55 UTC
13:45:56 UTC
13:52:02 UTC
14:32:09 UTC
14:32:40 UTC
14:32:40 UTC
▮Audio streamed from the official F1 live-timing archive via OpenF1
Classifica
Race classification
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi ANTONELLI #12 | Mercedes | 44 | WINNER | 25 |
| 2 | Charles LECLERC #16 | Ferrari | 44 | +1.952s | 18 |
| 3 | Max VERSTAPPEN #3 | Red Bull Racing | 44 | +11.586s | 15 |
| 4 | Lewis HAMILTON #44 | Ferrari | 44 | +17.245s | 12 |
| 5 | Oscar PIASTRI #81 | McLaren | 44 | +18.988s | 10 |
| 6 | Isack HADJAR #6 | Red Bull Racing | 44 | +23.307s | 8 |
| 7 | Lando NORRIS #1 | McLaren | 44 | +24.014s | 6 |
| 8 | Gabriel BORTOLETO #5 | Audi | 44 | +49.140s | 4 |
| 9 | Arvid LINDBLAD #41 | Racing Bulls | 44 | +50.406s | 2 |
| 10 | Franco COLAPINTO #43 | Alpine | 44 | +76.037s | 1 |
| 11 | Pierre GASLY #10 | Alpine | 44 | +76.991s | |
| 12 | Liam LAWSON #30 | Racing Bulls | 44 | +77.523s | |
| 13 | Nico HULKENBERG #27 | Audi | 44 | +78.348s | |
| 14 | Oliver BEARMAN #87 | Haas F1 Team | 44 | +94.465s | |
| 15 | Alexander ALBON #23 | Williams | 44 | +104.684s | |
| 16 | Carlos SAINZ #55 | Williams | 44 | +105.856s | |
| 17 | Esteban OCON #31 | Haas F1 Team | 44 | +110.925s | |
| 18 | Valtteri BOTTAS #77 | Cadillac | 43 | +1 LAP | |
| 19 | Fernando ALONSO #14 | Aston Martin | 42 | +2 LAPS | |
| — | Lance STROLL #18 | Aston Martin | 25 | DNF | |
| — | Sergio PEREZ #11 | Cadillac | 13 | DNF | |
| — | George RUSSELL #63 | Mercedes | 0 | DNF |
Sabato
Qualifying
| Pos | Driver | Best lap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi ANTONELLI Mercedes | 1:44.361 |
| 2 | Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing | 1:44.678 |
| 3 | Lando NORRIS McLaren | 1:44.801 |
| 4 | George RUSSELL Mercedes | 1:44.869 |
| 5 | Charles LECLERC Ferrari | 1:44.893 |
| 6 | Lewis HAMILTON Ferrari | 1:44.895 |
| 7 | Oscar PIASTRI McLaren | 1:45.016 |
| 8 | Arvid LINDBLAD Racing Bulls | 1:45.143 |
| 9 | Gabriel BORTOLETO Audi | 1:45.628 |
| 10 | Isack HADJAR Red Bull Racing | 1:45.823 |
Prove Libere
Free practice
FP1
Free Practice 1
| P | Driver | Best | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VER | 1:47.070 | — |
| 2 | HAM | 1:47.215 | +0.145 |
| 3 | LEC | 1:47.277 | +0.207 |
| 4 | HAD | 1:47.322 | +0.252 |
| 5 | PIA | 1:47.522 | +0.452 |
| 6 | ANT | 1:47.603 | +0.533 |
| 7 | NOR | 1:47.931 | +0.861 |
| 8 | RUS | 1:47.959 | +0.889 |
| 9 | LIN | 1:48.234 | +1.164 |
| 10 | BOR | 1:48.406 | +1.336 |
FP2
Free Practice 2
| P | Driver | Best | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANT | 1:45.944 | — |
| 2 | NOR | 1:46.134 | +0.190 |
| 3 | VER | 1:46.416 | +0.472 |
| 4 | HAM | 1:46.691 | +0.747 |
| 5 | HAD | 1:46.714 | +0.770 |
| 6 | PIA | 1:46.926 | +0.982 |
| 7 | COL | 1:47.147 | +1.203 |
| 8 | RUS | 1:47.229 | +1.285 |
| 9 | LIN | 1:47.294 | +1.350 |
| 10 | LAW | 1:47.434 | +1.490 |
| ··· | |||
| 11 | LEC | 1:47.468 | +1.524 |
FP3
Free Practice 3
| P | Driver | Best | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANT | 1:45.990 | — |
| 2 | NOR | 1:46.129 | +0.139 |
| 3 | VER | 1:46.138 | +0.148 |
| 4 | RUS | 1:46.357 | +0.367 |
| 5 | HAM | 1:46.382 | +0.392 |
| 6 | LEC | 1:46.750 | +0.760 |
| 7 | PIA | 1:46.785 | +0.795 |
| 8 | HUL | 1:46.924 | +0.934 |
| 9 | BOR | 1:47.049 | +1.059 |
| 10 | HAD | 1:47.096 | +1.106 |