Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. He secured his sixth victory of the season after a tight battle with Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen finished in third place. The race lasted 44 laps. Antonelli took the lead from Verstappen at Les Combes and maintained it against Leclerc. Leclerc finished just 1.952 seconds behind the Mercedes driver.
The race results placed Oscar Piastri in fifth position. He finished 18.988 seconds behind the winner. Lando Norris finished in seventh place. He recovered from a 13th place start to reach the points.
The Belgian Grand Prix battle
The race at Spa-Francorchamps provided significant drama. George Russell retired on the opening lap after contact with Lewis Hamilton. This incident caused a Safety Car. Hamilton later faced a five-second penalty for the same collision. He eventually recovered to finish fourth.
While the majority of the grid opted for the medium compound, Lando Norris chose to start the Belgian Grand Prix on the hard tyres, joined by Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Isack Hadjar, Fernando Alonso, and Ollie Bearman.
The field restarted on Lap 5. Hamilton attacked Piastri at La Source. Piastri regained the position shortly after. The battle continued at Les Combes where Leclerc and Piastri made contact. A piece of carbon fibre fell onto the circuit from the McLaren. Leclerc faced no repercussions for the contact.
Piastri finished fifth.
Lando Norris recovery from grid penalty
Lando Norris started the race from 13th on the grid. He took this position because of a grid penalty for an engine change. He used the durability of his hard tyres to climb into the top ten. He overtook Lindblad on Lap 6 to move into sixth.
You already know the intense pressure of a Belgian race weekend.
Norris moved into fourth place by Lap 20. He faced a pit stop on Lap 30. He rejoined in eighth place after the stop. He then fought to overtake Gabriel Bortoleto. Norris finished seventh. He took six championship points for the result. He was 7 seconds behind his teammate Piastri at one point.
Will the Mercedes momentum continue into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza?
The constructors’ championship standings
The 2026 constructors’ championship remains a fight between the top three teams. Mercedes leads the standings with 425 points. Ferrari holds second place with 338 points. McLaren sits in third place with 263 points. Red Bull follows in fourth with 186 points.
Racing Bulls has 66 points. Alpine has 63 points. Haas has 21 points. Audi holds 16 points. Williams has 11 points. Aston Martin has 3 points. Cadillac has 0 points.
The points gap between Mercedes and McLaren is 162 points. The gap between Ferrari and McLaren is 75 points.
Technical divergence in the MCL40
The McLaren MCL40 features the shortest permitted wheelbase allowed by the regulations. This design choice helped the team find weight savings. It reduced the total floor area available for adding strakes and slots to condition airflow.
Oscar Piastri struggles on low-grip tracks. His driving style generates spikes in the surface temperature of the rear tyres when they slide. His linear movements on the brake and throttle increase rear-end slide. These slides force him to use more electrical power to regain speed. This reduces his state of charge.
Lando Norris shows more adaptability. His style of overlapping the brake and throttle at a shallower trajectory helps the front wheels assist rear rotation. He maintains a better feel for lateral grip.
Piastri finished fifth.
The penalty point system and driver discipline
The FIA uses a penalty point system to monitor driver behavior. Points remain on a driver’s Super License for exactly 12 months. A driver faces a one-race suspension after collecting 12 points.
Oliver Bearman has 4 penalty points. His points expire on September 7, 2026. Alex Albon has 3 points. His points expire on September 21, 2026. Franco Colapinto has 3 points. His points expire on June 14, 2027. Lance Stroll has 3 points. His points expire on October 18, 2026.
Kimi Antonelli has 2 points. His points expire on September 7, 2026. Oscar Piastri has 2 points. His points expire on November 9, 2026.
Lando Norris has 0 penalty points. Max Verstappen has 0 penalty points.
Leadership and culture at McLaren
Andrea Stella leads the McLaren team. He took over as team principal in 2023. He previously worked with Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso. He transformed the team from low-midfield runners in early 2023 to constructors’ world champions in 2025.
The drivers follow his culture of equanimity. Piastri said the team wants to protect the people around them. He noted that putting oneself second is easy to do for the sake of the team. Norris agreed with this sentiment.
The team faces pressure as the season reaches its end. McLaren has not won a drivers’ title since 2008. Red Bull and Verstappen are experienced in high-pressure title battles.
The championship remains open.
The drivers’ championship race
The drivers’ championship standings show a battle at the top. Kimi Antonelli leads the championship with 242 points. Lewis Hamilton is second with 183 points. George Russell is also tied with 183 points.
Lando Norris is fourth with 159 points. Charles Leclerc is fifth with 155 points. Max Verstappen is sixth with 112 points. Oscar Piastri is seventh with 104 points.
Piastri has nine grand prix wins this season. He has six pole positions and nine fastest laps. Norris has won at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort. He also won the Miami sprint.
The points gap between Antonelli and Norris is 83 points.