Kimi Antonelli Wins Belgian Grand Prix, Extends F1 Championship Lead

Kimi Antonelli has extended his lead at the top of the F1 championship standings with victory in the Belgian Grand Prix, with George Russell crashing out in the first lap and Oscar Piastri overcoming an early knock to finish fifth.

Piastri suffered minor damage to his car in the incident which saw him collide with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who was cleared of wrongdoing by race officials and went on to claim second place.

And Piastri, who won this race last year, recovered well to ensure he finished in the scoring places behind Antonelli, with Max Verstappen third behind Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton was placed fourth, but his Ferrari team are under investigation for an unsafe release, so there could yet be a change of order.

The incident followed another early controversy when Russell was forced to retire on the first lap after a prang with fellow Briton Hamilton to deal a huge blow to the Mercedes man's title hopes.

Russell, who had started third on the grid was attempting to overtake Hamilton when his rear wheel was tagged by the Ferrari driver, sending him spinning into the gravel and forcing the arrival of the safety car.

Russell drops to third in the drivers' championship and was fuming with the outcome having lost further ground on title leader Antonelli, and was once again left baffled by a mystery engine issue causing a speed deficit.

"I just got totally swallowed up down the straight, I lost three positions down the straight, down into turn five, then the incident was a racing incident," Russell told the host broadcaster.

"Maybe I could have gone a bit wider, maybe he could've braked a bit more.

"The incident shouldn't have happened if I had the speed down the straight.

"Very, very disappointing … felt like I was in a position to fight for the lead after turn one and suddenly no power and it's all gone."

The victory was the sixth of the season for teenage driver Antonelli and the first since last month's Monaco Grand Prix, which leaves him 45 points clear of Russell in the championship.

"Let's go!" he screamed to the Mercedes team over the radio.

"Thank you so much, guys, thank you."

Piastri's McLaren team-mate, Lando Norris, started 13th due to a grid penalty but he still finished seventh after a pit-stop delay.

Frenchman Isack Hadjar finished sixth behind Piastri for Red Bull, despite starting at the back of the field because of a penalty.