Antonelli wins in Belgium. Russell's race lasted one corner.

· Belgian Grand Prix

Antonelli started on pole and Verstappen briefly took the lead into the first corner, but Antonelli had it back before the lap ended. Russell started well too, running third into the second corner, then lost ground fast and slipped back through the order.

Russell tried a move around the outside of Hamilton at one of the fast corners to salvage the position. They made contact, and Russell's race was over on lap 1. The stewards ruled Hamilton was at fault despite leaving Russell space, and gave him a 5 second penalty, reduced from the usual 10 because he tried to avoid the contact. Russell himself called it a racing incident, no blame on Hamilton.

5s penalty for Hamilton, found responsible for a collision. Needs 5+ second gap by finish or drops to P7.
Penalty confirmed Lap 9, and Hamilton already knows he needs a big enough gap by the finish, or it's seventh.

Leclerc had his own moment soon after, squeezing Piastri toward the edge of the track as Piastri tried to pass him around the outside. Piastri picked up damage but stayed in the race. Stewards called it no penalty, ruling Leclerc didn't force him off deliberately and Piastri was never close enough to complete the pass anyway.

A virtual safety car came out for track debris just after Verstappen made his pit stop. Everyone slows down while it's out, and that timing cost him time he couldn't recover. A second VSC arrived later at a moment that suited the cars still needing to stop, and Leclerc was one of the drivers who benefited.