Charles Leclerc produced one of his strongest drives of the season to finish second at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving the Monegasque his fourth podium of the year and Ferrari’s ninth in the opening 10 races of the Formula 1 season.
The result came after an aggressive opening lap, a well-timed Ferrari strategy call and a determined chase of race winner Kimi Antonelli over the closing stages at Spa-Francorchamps. Lewis Hamilton added to Ferrari’s haul by recovering from an early collision and a five-second penalty to finish fourth, lifting the Scuderia’s points tally for the weekend to 30.
Leclerc made an excellent start from fifth on the grid, overtaking both George Russell and Max Verstappen on the run through Eau Rouge and along the Kemmel Straight to move into second place behind Antonelli. Ferrari’s race strategy then came into play when the team delayed both drivers’ pit stops, allowing them to take advantage of a Virtual Safety Car on lap 19. The perfectly timed stop briefly handed Leclerc the lead after he passed Lando Norris, before Antonelli reclaimed first place in the closing laps.
Although unable to prevent the Mercedes driver from taking victory, Leclerc remained within two seconds of the leader at the finish to claim the 54th podium of his Formula 1 career and Ferrari’s 845th overall.
“It was really enjoyable to lead the race and fight for the win until the closing laps,” Leclerc said afterwards. “Overall, we had good pace, which is something we didn’t expect on a track such as Spa-Francorchamps. A big thank you to everyone at the track and back in Maranello for continuing to push so hard.”
Hamilton’s race was considerably more complicated. Contact with George Russell on the opening lap brought out the Safety Car and earned the Briton a five-second penalty, but the Ferrari driver recovered impressively to climb back through the field and finish fourth. The result moves Hamilton back into second place in the drivers’ championship ahead of next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Belgian Grand Prix was won by Antonelli ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen completing the podium. Hamilton finished fourth, followed by Oscar Piastri, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris, Gabriel Bortoleto, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto rounding out the top 10.
Formula 1 now heads directly to the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the sport’s summer break. Ferrari will arrive in Budapest encouraged by a weekend that demonstrated both the SF-26’s competitiveness and Leclerc’s ability to challenge for victories on circuits where the team had not expected to be among the frontrunners.
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Main photo source: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre