Obvious but unavoidable. Never mind the role this win has played in reasserting Antonelli’s position at the top of the championship table. The error-free charge Antonelli put in as he caught and passed Charles Leclerc for the lead was yet another example of his clear championship potential.
Coming into this weekend 25 points adrift of his teammate, George Russell was in desperate need of a good result. A first-lap collision with Lewis Hamilton and resulting DNF was not what the Mercedes driver needed. Although blameless in what both drivers deemed a racing incident, Russell has been openly critical of the battery issues that plagued him all weekend. Not only is the championship deficit now double what it was before Spa, Russell is now looking like a driver in desperate need of a mental reset.
P6 from the 21st on the grid is a good recovery by nearly any metric. In this instance, Hadjar’s drive was made even more impressive by the extra stop he made under the safety car in order to complete one lap on the mediums before switching back to hard tyres. His race pace was comparable to the McLarens and his rise through the field was commendable. For the sixth race running, Hadjar has secured an important top five finish.
Blameless in that first-lap collision with Russell and unfortunate to be hit with a controversial five-second penalty. On the whole, this was a poorly executed weekend by Ferrari. An unsafe release in the pits caused Hamilton to hit a mechanic, and the team failed to make the front wing adjustments Hamilton had requested. Given all these issues, fourth place is a respectable result and with regards to his own performance, Hamilton has positives to take from this weekend.
Franco Colapinto has endured a barren run of qualifying form as of late. The Alpine driver has failed to reach Q3 for the last five consecutive races. However, Colapinto made up for it with an impressive drive in Belgium, during which he pulled off one of the moves of the season: a sublime double overtake on Liam Lawson and his teammate Pierre Gasly. After a difficult 2025 during which many raised questions over his future, a sixth points finish of the season is just the riposte Colapinto needed.
After another impressive RB performance that resulted in both cars making it to Q3, Lawson is likely to be disappointed not to have converted his P10 starting position into a points finish. The RB driver was not given the team’s sole upgrade for this weekend (it was instead awarded to his teammate on the basis of his outqualifying Lawson at the previous round at Silverstone) and after passing Arvid Lindblad during the early exchanges, Lawson simply lacked pace. He will be back on level terms with Lindblad at the next race in Hungary and will be keen to make up for his lacklustre race in Belgium.
Solid all weekend, Gabriel Bortoleto recorded another valuable points finish in the race. Untroubled and consistent, Bortoleto has now secured all ten of Audi’s points so far this season. The German constructor is now ninth in the constructors’ standings, just one point behind Williams. An impressive showing for a new team that is also manufacturing its own power units for the first time.
Hit by a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his power unit element quota, Carlos Sainz had an unedifying run to 16th. Contact with Ocon damaged his front wing, which, combined with a lengthy pitstop, ended any hopes of a good result. By Sainz’s own admission, he was “really quick” during his second stint and finished just 1.2s behind his teammate Alex Albon. A solid recovery but not enough to offset the dissatisfaction Sainz has been feeling as of late.
Formula 1 heads to Hungary this weekend for one final round before the summer break. Widely referred to as ‘Monaco without the walls’, the Hungaroring is a twisty, technical venue. Hamilton is by far the most successful driver at the circuit with a staggering eight victories; it was also the scene of his most recent pole position in 2023. However, given the composure and confidence with which Antonelli tamed the streets of Monaco earlier this year, few would bet against the championship leader.
