Antonelli wins to extend lead after Russell crashes out

Image source, EPA Image caption, Kimi Antonelli's victory in Belgium was his sixth grand prix win By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent at Spa-Francorchamps Published 3 minutes ago Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli re-established the comfortable championship lead that had been eroded in the past three races with victory in the Belgian Grand Prix while team-mate George Russell crashed out. The Italian fought back from a delay caused by a virtual safety-car period to catch and pass Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for his sixth win in 10 races this season. Russell, meanwhile, was taken out in a collision with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap and has dropped to third place in the standings, 50 points behind Antonelli. Hamilton was re-promoted to second place in the championship, three points ahead of Russell with a fourth-place finish. Red Bull's Max Verstappen took the final podium place. The key stories of a surprisingly compelling race were: More bad luck for Russell as the gains he had made in recent races were wiped out within seconds of the start The virtual safety car that gave Leclerc an unexpected shot at a second consecutive victory The VSC also affecting Lando Norris, who had been looking set for a podium challenge after a penalty left him 13th on the grid More to follow Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Mercedes' George Russell spins out of the race after colliding with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton What's next? It's the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring next weekend, the final race before Formula 1's four-week summer break. Related topics Formula 1 More on this story Andrew Benson Q&A: Send us your questions Published 1 day ago