20 July 2026 00:23
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli celebrated his Belgian Grand Prix victory with a public birthday message for his father, Marco.
Antonelli, who started from pole position, secured his sixth win of the season at Spa-Francorchamps after fending off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Following his post-race interview, the 19-year-old signed the bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne with the message, "Happy ...
19 July 2026 21:19
One 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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Formula 1F1 Belgian GP: Kimi Antonelli takes sixth 2026 win as George Russell crashes ...
19 July 2026 20:31
Bernie Collins and Karun Chandhok have praised Red Bull's Isack Hadjar after a stellar weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Sky Sports Formula 1 pundits applauded the French-Algerian driver for being the ultimate team player in qualifying and his charge from the back of the grid to finish sixth in the race.
Entering the 10th round of the 2026 season at Spa-Francorchamps, Hadjar faced a ...
19 July 2026 20:23
Negotiating traffic is a fact of life in Formula 1 racing, all the more so given the current pace differential between the front and back of the grid in a new regulatory era.
It was especially unfortunate for Charles Leclerc to be locked in a battle for the lead of the Belgian Grand Prix when he came up to lap one of the slowest cars on the grid – in a particularly awkward location on ...
19 July 2026 19:49
Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff revealed all Mercedes powered cars suffered with a lack of energy deployment at the Belgian Grand Prix start, with George Russell the biggest victim of an unknown battery glitch.
Russell started third at Spa-Francorchamps but soon fell back into the pack on the Kemmel straight as he lacked battery charge from Eau Rouge onwards, suffering a charging issue ...
19 July 2026 19:36
George Russell finds himself in "new territory" and must demand engineering answers to cure a severe straightline speed deficit, according to former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok.
Russell's Belgian Grand Prix ended on the second lap of the race at Spa-Francorchamps after a collision with seven-time champion and his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
While evaluating ...
19 July 2026 19:34
Red Bull's Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix weekend turned out slightly better than expected. After all the struggles at Silverstone, team principal Laurent Mekies had anticipated another difficult weekend at what he described as an "energy-starved circuit", but in reality it proved less problematic.
Max Verstappen made a strong start to the weekend on Friday and followed it up on Saturday by ...
19 July 2026 19:24
Oscar Piastri expressed his disapproval regarding Belgian Grand Prix stewards’ decision not to even give Charles Leclerc a warning following their collision in Sunday’s Formula 1 race.
Leclerc and Piastri were battling for third place on lap eight when the McLaren driver positioned his car on the outside of the Ferrari coming into the braking zone at Les Combes. However, Leclerc’s ...
19 July 2026 19:12
The mechanic hit by Lewis Hamilton during Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix pitstop escaped without injury, Ferrari confirmed, with the team fined 30,000 euro for an unsafe release.
Hamilton came in under a virtual safety car on lap 20 to serve his only pitstop as well as a five-second hold for his role in the first-lap contact with George Russell.
After changing the tyres, a mechanic ...
19 July 2026 19:00
Both Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari team boss, Frederic Vasseur, profoundly disagree with the five-second penalty he received for a collision with George Russell’s Mercedes on the opening lap of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
"I think it's mega harsh," said Vasseur after the race. "If you have a look on the corner, Russell had enough space on the left-hand side, it's not that he was ...
19 July 2026 18:10
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has been lauded for his maturity following a hard-fought victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, with former Formula 1 strategist and Sky Sports analyst Bernie Collins pointing to the vital role of his race engineer, Peter 'Bono' Bonnington.
Starting from pole position at Spa-Francorchamps, Antonelli delivered another strong performance to claim his sixth victory of ...
19 July 2026 17:48
Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff has commended Kimi Antonelli for a "solid and well-deserved" drive to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, while noting how entertaining it was to see Charles Leclerc keep the race winner on his toes.
Antonelli secured his sixth grand prix victory of the season at Spa-Francorchamps after starting from pole position and fending off Ferrari driver Leclerc ...
19 July 2026 17:12
Charles Leclerc avoided a penalty for a clash with Oscar Piastri during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix after the stewards judged the Ferrari driver didn’t deliberately instigate the contact.
On lap eight of the Spa-Francorchamps race, Leclerc and Piastri were battling for third place down the Kemmel Straight and into Les Combes. Under braking for the corner, Leclerc defended his position ...
19 July 2026 17:06
Ferrari has been summoned to visit the Formula 1 stewards' office following Lewis Hamilton's apparent unsafe release during the Belgian Grand Prix, in which he knocked down a mechanic as he left his pit box.
In his lap 20 pitstop under the virtual safety car, Hamilton had just served a five-second penalty as the stewards deemed him to be at fault for the first-lap contact with George Russell - ...
19 July 2026 17:02
Drivers' Championship
Position
Driver
Points
1
K. AntonelliMercedes
204
18/2
29
25/1
28
31
25/1
-
15/3
8
25/1
2
L. HamiltonFerrari
159
12/4
21
8/6
10
21
18/2
25/1
10/5
22
12/4
3
G ...
19 July 2026 17:02
Thanks to his victory at the 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli has once again extended his lead at the top of the championship, moving 45 points ahead of his closest rival.
Despite a race that was strewn with pitfalls, it is indeed Lewis Hamilton who regains this runner-up position since, after unintentionally causing George Russell's retirement, he took advantage of it to ...
19 July 2026 16:46
Kimi Antonelli put a pass on Charles Leclerc to secure victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, as his Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate George Russell retired on the opening lap after contact with Lewis Hamilton.
Aside from the briefest of stints in the lead from fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen, who took the lead on the exit of La Source, Antonelli found his way back past on the Kemmel Straight ...
19 July 2026 16:30
When it rains, it pours for George Russell
"Could be worse, could be much better," George Russell said about starting third in Spa, benefitting from Lando Norris' grid penalty but also being well behind team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who snared another pole at the Ardennes loop.
It certainly could have been better, as Russell continued suffering from his mystifying top ...
19 July 2026 16:01
George Russell suffered his latest gut punch in the 2026 Formula 1 season after contact with Lewis Hamilton ended his Belgian Grand Prix on lap 1. But the Briton was more "angry" due to the lack of battery charge that left him a sitting duck on the Kemmel straight than the contact with the Ferrari itself.
Russell started third at Spa-Francorchamps, but was swallowed by the chasing pack on the ...
19 July 2026 15:56
As expected, Red Bull will fill Gianpiero Lambiase's impending departure from within. Max Verstappen revealed a few weeks ago that he already had someone in mind within the team to succeed him, and that person has now emerged to be Tom Hart.
Following earlier reporting by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Red Bull has now confirmed to Motorsport.com that Hart will indeed take over Lambiase's role ...
19 July 2026 15:21
Mercedes' George Russell suffered his latest blow in the 2026 Formula 1 championship after opening lap contact with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton punted him out of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting from third, Russell was easily overtaken by Charles Leclerc in the Kemmel straight and also faced a challenge by the second Ferrari of Hamilton on the inside of Turn 5's Les Combes.
As the two Britons ...
19 July 2026 14:49
Mercedes’ junior driver programme boss Gwen Lagrue is set to join the Red Bull Formula 1 team in a similar role, Motorsport.com understands.
There is a side of F1 that rarely makes the headlines, where many of the people responsible for shaping its biggest success stories remain largely unknown. Lagrue is one of them.
Since 2016, Lagrue has headed Mercedes' junior driver programme ...
19 July 2026 13:28
Having outqualified Williams team-mate Alex Albon at Spa-Francorchamps, Carlos Sainz has been shuffled backwards by a 10-place grid penalty for taking on additional Formula 1 power unit components.
Limits on how many individual power units and various peripheral elements drivers can use through a season form a key pillar of Formula 1's cost-control structure. Until the 2000s, there were no such ...
19 July 2026 13:15
While Kimi Antonelli sailed to pole position at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, there are several changes further down the order as engine penalties shake up the grid.
Engine changes and new parts being fitted to several cars mean that Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso will all take grid penalties for today's race ...
19 July 2026 12:21
McLaren suspects Oscar Piastri's deficit to team-mate Lando Norris has "nothing to do with his driving", and everything with its Formula 1 power unit algorithms.
Piastri qualified two tenths behind Norris at Spa-Francorchamps, with virtually all of that deficit coming on the straight line between Stavelot and the Bus Stop Chicane, during the derating phase in which cars are running out of ...
19 July 2026 11:31
Carlos Sainz has praised Kimi Antonelli for spontaneously apologising after the Italian called the Spaniard an “idiot” over team radio at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
In the opening practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, Antonelli found a slow Sainz ahead of him at Stavelot. Annoyed, the Mercedes driver expressed his discontent on the track – aborting his attempt and staying close to ...
19 July 2026 09:06
After smashing up his car in Saturday's third free practice at the exit of Fagnes, Lewis Hamilton qualifying just 0.002s behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc could be seen as a successful exercise in damage limitation, but that's not how the seven-time Formula 1 world champion views it.
Leclerc and Hamilton qualified fifth and sixth at Spa-Francorchamps; a logical enough result on paper ...
19 July 2026 02:00
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has attributed Oscar Piastri’s current struggles to a driving style that’s incompatible with Formula 1’s new-for-2026 machinery.
It may seem remote, but just seventh months ago, Piastri was a contender for the world title in the Abu Dhabi finale. But F1 has since switched to smaller, nimbler cars with energy management now a key factor to achieve ...
18 July 2026 23:21
Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has once again drawn widespread praise from fans after footage of a wholesome interaction with one of his avid supporters during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend surfaced online.
The video, which recently gained traction on social media, shows the British driver taking time out to speak with a visibly emotional fan in the Spa-Francorchamps ...
18 July 2026 23:18
Williams team principal James Vowles has revealed that absolute transparency is the cornerstone of how he maintains trust with drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
Vowles was asked how he handles difficult conversations with his driver line-up amid a challenging rebuilding phase during a live recording of the Up To Speed podcast at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Sainz was the most ...
18 July 2026 22:20
F1 The Movie star Damson Idris has confirmed that "exciting conversations" are already taking place regarding a potential sequel for the Formula 1-based blockbuster.
During an appearance on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, the British actor, who portrayed rookie driver Joshua Pearce alongside Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, opened up about the impact that the project has had on his life and ...
18 July 2026 21:45
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has revealed his immense pride in Lando Norris following the British driver's Formula 1 championship victory.
The motorcycle champion reflected on the F1 driver's journey during a joint appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Norris, who has openly idolised the Italian since his childhood, secured his maiden championship at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ...
18 July 2026 21:07
There may be no concrete evidence that Max Verstappen is seriously considering joining McLaren for the 2027 Formula 1 season, but team principal Andrea Stella failed to unequivocally deny it on Saturday at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Reports of mere informal talks between Verstappen and McLaren emerged at the Austrian Grand Prix, which was acknowledged by the team, but the rumours have only swelled ...
18 July 2026 20:11
For the fifth time in the last six Formula 1 grands prix, Esteban Ocon failed to make it through Q1 in qualifying, setting the 18th-fastest time – penalties will see him start from 17th on the grid.
At the Belgian Grand Prix – the race that marked his Formula 1 debut just under 10 years ago, with the now-defunct Manor team – the Haas driver was once again soundly beaten in qualifying by ...
18 July 2026 19:43
Well, at least Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell no longer needs to engage the services of a professional art forger.
On Thursday at Spa, he described having to emulate his team-mate’s driving style, rather than follow his own instincts, in these terms: “It’s like if somebody asked you to draw the Mona Lisa and you’ve got the Mona Lisa next to you, do you think you could achieve ...
18 July 2026 19:20
Ahead of the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 1 race weekend, the Ardennes circuit was already expected to be one of the most demanding tracks in terms of energy management. According to many drivers on the grid, qualifying – which delivered pole position for Kimi Antonelli – confirmed exactly that.
Fernando Alonso had already explained that the main issue lies in the second sector, where drivers ...
18 July 2026 19:05
Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc was incorrectly shown a yellow flag at the end of Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, which cost him a place on the grid.
In the dying seconds of qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, Leclerc was 0.070s up on his first run when he entered the Bus Stop chicane.
But as qualifying had finished, a yellow flag was out on pitlane while parc ferme was being formed ...
18 July 2026 18:56
Carlos Sainz has delivered a withering assessment of the 2026 Formula 1 cars' performances at the Belgian Grand Prix, questioning how the rules could be accepted as-is from the simulations first produced a few seasons back.
Complaints about the energy management aspect of the current cars have not been in short supply over the season thus far. While the level of dissent had calmed a bit in the ...
18 July 2026 18:16
Max Verstappen praised Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar for delivering him "a tow and a half" in Formula 1 qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, which he credited with helping him towards his front-row start for tomorrow's race.
With Hadjar consigned to starting at the back of the grid on Sunday, having taken a series of new power unit components (primarily engine, turbo, and exhaust) outside of ...
18 July 2026 17:24
Kimi Antonelli clinched his sixth Formula 1 pole position of the year with the fastest lap in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, beating Max Verstappen by 0.317s.
The Italian continued Mercedes' lock-out of pole positions despite having to chase Verstappen's second lap, as the Dutchman made use of a "tow and a half" from Isack Hadjar - encumbered by a series of grid penalties for power unit changes ...
18 July 2026 17:14
After every F1 qualifying session, Motorsport publishes each team's qualifying record in terms of team-mate battles.
This record is based exclusively on qualifying results so that grid penalties don't alter the statistics.
When a driver can't put in a representative lap time due to a technical issue or an incident, this will be mentioned in the table.
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Formula 1F1 ...
18 July 2026 16:39
Lando Norris has spoken out against the intrusive nature of the paparazzi, detailing a recent incident in London where he was followed for 40 minutes, an experience the 2025 Formula 1 champion described as leaving him feeling "violated".
The Briton opened up about his shifting lifestyle, the challenges of maintaining privacy and the boundaries he expects others to respect while speaking with ...
18 July 2026 14:13
Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes that Aston Martin will need an absolute "miracle" for its impending upgrades to move it towards the front of the grid.
Steiner suggested that merely catching Williams is the Silverstone outfit's most realistic scenario.
During an appearance on The Red Flags Podcast ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the Italian offered ...
18 July 2026 13:46
Kimi Antonelli concluded the final Formula 1 practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix on top, as Lewis Hamilton crashed at the end of the session on the exit of Turn 13.
Antonelli had set a 1m45.990s with his opening soft-tyre run of the session, laying down the gauntlet for his challengers at the end of the first 30 minutes of the session - but it proved too difficult to beat.
Hamilton ...
18 July 2026 13:06
As it tried to make a splash as Formula 1's latest entrant, Cadillac made its debut with a bold black and white split design livery. But following the success of a series of one-off colour schemes, the US-owned team has now moved to a more conventional design.
Cadillac launched its first-ever livery during a Super Bowl halftime ad, adorning its MAC-26 with an asymmetric black and white ...
18 July 2026 12:40
Former IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe has pointed to the irony of Red Bull's current Formula 1 driver market predicament, noting that the Milton Keynes outfit has rapidly gone from having too few drivers in its pipeline to too many.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast alongside former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer and host Tom Clarkson, Hinchcliffe weighed in on the impressive form shown by ...
18 July 2026 12:02
Max Verstappen is completely justified in evaluating his Formula 1 options outside of Red Bull, according to Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff.
Speculation regarding Verstappen's long-term future at the Milton Keynes outfit remains a major talking point. The 28-year-old has repeatedly been linked to moves to Mercedes or McLaren, but he has remained tight-lipped on his future.
The rumours ...
18 July 2026 11:27
Aston Martin is counting the days until next week's arrival of its long-awaited B-spec Formula 1 car in Hungary. But before it heads to Budapest, the beleaguered Silverstone squad is having to grind through its toughest weekend yet at high-speed Spa-Francorchamps.
Having been well off the pace with both its car and its Honda power unit from day one, both parties have banked on saving their ...
18 July 2026 09:11
Lewis Hamilton has tipped Mercedes and McLaren to impress at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix, after Ferrari seemingly struggled in Friday practice at Spa-Francorchamps.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was fastest in 1m45.944s yesterday, leading McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by two tenths and half a second respectively.
The lead Ferrari, driven by Hamilton, was 0.747s ...
18 July 2026 01:26
British actor Damson Idris has likened seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton to basketball icon Michael Jordan.
Idris, who starred as rookie driver Joshua Pearce alongside Brad Pitt in F1 The Movie, recently appeared on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast. Having spent two years immersed in the grand prix paddock, the actor forged a close relationship with Hamilton, who served as an executive ...
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