Belgian Grand Prix Review: The first nail in George Russell’s championship coffin?
Contact with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari sent George Russell spinning on lap one, with Mercedes stable-mate Kimi Antonelli taking victory and increasing his championship lead.
Round 10 saw the Formula One circus roll into Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix, two weeks post Charles Leclerc’s unlikely victory in Silverstone.
It was a weekend dominated by the Mercedes, seemingly unstoppable through sectors One and Three. Antonelli took pole by an impressive margin of three tenths to Max Verstappen, despite receiving ample slipstream from Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar.
Antonelli made a decent start, but it was Verstappen who used his battery to squeeze ahead of the Mercedes driver by the start of the Kemmel straight. This proved to be a premature use of his electrical energy, however, with both Antonelli and a surging Leclerc overtaking the Dutchman before the braking zone for Les Combes.
This is where it all came undone for George Russell, who later blamed his battery for not recharging through Turn One. He was left exposed on the long run up to Les Combes, providing opportunity to Lewis Hamilton who drew alongside the Mercedes on corner entry. A moment of understeer from the Ferrari forced the contact that sent Russell pirouetting.
“I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. That’s why I’m most angry. The incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident.
“He didn’t do it on purpose. He was more to blame than me. But he didn’t do anything reckless. That was one of those things.”
The FIA seemed to view the incident slightly differently, handing Hamilton a five-second penalty following the contact.
Antonelli went on to win his first race since Monaco, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen rounding out the podium positions. Russell has been left with a mountain to climb, with the current gap between himself and his teammate stood at 55 points.
The teams will be in transit to the Hungaroring, just outside of Budapest, for the final round before the summer shutdown.
Reflecting on the first half of this season, you have to admit that Antonelli holds all the cards. His teammate must be looking forward to the second half of the season (which he has historically performed well in) and kissing the European leg goodbye. A resurgence to the summit of the Drivers’ table would herculean effort from the Briton.
Ferrari look like they have race-winning pace from time to time, but usually need to rely on a Mercedes mistake in order to win. However, victories for both Lewis and Charles and Lewis within the last five weeks has proved to both the Scuderia and the Tifosi that victories are still possible.
Despite the FIA declaring the Red Bull-Ford power unit as ‘the best’, it seems as if the car is rarely to Verstappen’s taste, with Spa only providing his third podium of the season. Rumours continue to loom over Verstappen’s future in the sport, let alone within the Milton Keynes outfit. Hadjar has had one of the best starts to a season in the ‘second’ Red Bull since 2018, only 30 points behind Max.
McLaren found some good pace in Spa but were hindered by damage to Piastri’s car due to a small collision early in the race, and reigning World Champion Lando Norris had a ten-place penalty to contend with after an engine change before qualifying.