Radio Rewind | 2026 Belgian Grand Prix

Putting me in traffic! Listen mate, focus on getting past him though. Ah, what the f*** man, what are they doing? I got stuck in traffic. You're in front. And the Belgian Grand Prix is underway! Max Verstappen has the power! Max Verstappen has the lead! Into Eau Rouge corner, can he hold it now? And look at the speed from Charles Leclerc to take second position! And Russell and Lewis Hamilton make contact! Car crossed over in front of me. I was right behind another car, so I had no front end. I'm on the ice. I'm out! I don't know if I have damage. And car looks good to Lewis. I got stuck in soft gear in front. One show. Copy, so box, box. Safety car, safety car. Can you get out of the ground hole? Okay, so box now. George Russell is out of the Belgian Grand Prix. Another dramatic moment. Check my front wing, a little bit of contact. Yeah, checking now. Car pressures are good. The bad news for Lewis Hamilton is he has a five second penalty for causing a collision. Armour drove into the side of me a little bit, so check this right side of the floor. We are checking. Small race, small race. I guess Leroy put me out of the track. Yeah, Gabi, it was Colapinto who went off track in Turn 5 and just rejoined in front of you instead of letting you pass. I mean, he can't brake super... We saw it, we saw it, we have reported it. Yeah, just let me explain. Like, if he needs a little bit of help or they listen. He just braked super late and obviously he was going to stay ahead. He stayed out of the track. Yeah, I think that's what we understood as well. And we are checking with the race control now. Green flag flies once again at the Belgian Grand Prix. On to the Kemmel straight, Red Bull chasing Ferrari. Max Verstappen with the chance. Does he have the speed? The answer is going to be yes. And he reclaims second position in the Grand Prix. Okay, Ollie, you should get overtake, end of this lap. Just stay in mode race. Sainz was weak. Sainz is weak, looks quite dangerous for you. Hanging on. Good use of the buttons. Keep it up. It's Limblad and Lawson ahead. It's just up on Bal for entry stability. Up on Bal for entry stability. Piastri trying to improve to the podium place. It hasn't been on the podium since the Miami Grand Prix. Oh, contact between McLaren and Ferrari. I can't believe it. No space. That could have been a massive crash. Restore. Check their pressure. Pressures are fine. Car is fine. No further action. Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri for the collision. He's moving at the point of no luck. Going across. That was pretty nasty. In mode X, if you think you can overtake. Lewis Hamilton has the speed. Lewis Hamilton has the place. And he's up to fourth. In mode A. The overtaking highlight is real. Philando Norris continues. He's up to P7. The lift in 17 is bad. Best is anti. I'm happy to try and build a gap to call up into behind. This is what I got. Philando Norris has cleared Arvid Lindblad. He is now P6. I think I've had a puncture or something. Or the suspension broke or something like that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Suspension is broken. Copy. Box, box. Box, box. Which corner? Which side is it? Problem? I think the suspension broke on the left-hand side. I mean three wheels. Here's Lewis Hamilton on the back straight. Causing trouble for his teammate. I'm quicker than Charles. I've got more pace. P5 is closed. P5, P4. P3. P2. Just available. Well done. Good job. Straight mode reminder. Close to Ocon on exit. What the f*** was that? Putting me in traffic! School for all, mate! Focus on getting past him, then press and hold available. It's too far! Stop putting me on the right-hand condition, for f***'s sake! Head down, focus. Yeah, I'll do my thing now. Kaja, clearing Bortoletto. He's making light work of this right now. He's having a good run through the field. We need management, 7 and 10-11. The Red Bull team go to work. You're aiming for 2 seconds. And Verstappen, 2.5. What lap are we on? We are lap 18. Why the hell? I told you what strategy I wanted to do. You just put me out with everyone else now. We are on Plan B. And we are opening the gap to Piastri. And we need to serve a 5-second penalty, that's why. Another one. We will box, box. Strap mode 7. Box, box. Good stop for Mercedes, under the pressure of holding on to the race lead, 2.6. So, white line and press and hold boost. Into 5 or into 3? Now. Verstappen, 3 behind. Oh, ----'s awful. Really awful, down and up. OK, stand by. You got this, let's keep going. That was f***ing dangerous, what they did to you. OK, man, so we're looking at that now. Good job, though. Let's keep the pressure on him. Virtual safety car is out, race is neutralised. There are marshals on the track at turn 15, that's Stavelo. FBSC, you come in. Box, box, box, box. Copy, box. Flap will be no change, same flap. Box, Charles, box. We'll be close with them tonight. We are serving 5-second penalty. Is it OK? It went green. These are all OK, all OK. There's the control line and Charles Leclerc is out ahead of Kimi Antonelli. Ah, what the f***, man, what are they doing? What was on track? So, FBSC ending, FBSC ending. So, strat 7 and then it'll be push and hold, so stay on your delta. Push, push, push. Lindblad behind you. We are currently P8, we are currently P8. Everybody has split it. There's 15 to go. Look at that 3-wide, unbelievable. Unbelievable. Karl Lampinto has got past Gasly and Liam Lawson. That was absolutely epic. Yes, mate, come on, let's go. And Frimfa Leclerc has been squeezing cars outside of turn 5 when trying to pass. Let's keep our pressure up. And no boost out of turn 1. What about now? You can boost now, you can boost now. Yeah, but it's too late, way too late. OK, good job. Now head down and push up. Are you f***ing kidding me? Gap at point 6. Antonelli, wait a bit. Antonelli trying to win Grand Prix number 6 in Formula 1. Ferrari in the way, Charles Leclerc tries to defend. Will there be any answer? No! Antonelli gets ahead, takes the lead. Nice work, Kimi, let's break this gap. We gain half a second to pass 36 tenths once. That gap's pretty big. You can't lose it, 11 laps to go. Just more progressive inputs laterally, turn 5, turn 8, stabilise the entry. The car is very smooth on the throttle. Copy. Gap at 1.1, 6 laps remaining, remember track limits. How many do I have? Two, you have two already, so we don't want any more. Max, try a standard throttle application, please, 15. Oscar Piastri has his mirrors full of Hamilton. Hamilton around the outside, he gets past the McLaren. How many laps, sir? Four laps to go. And what there is, Max, 50.3. Just looking at this, Max, it seems to affect our deployment down to turn 5 in a good way, so maybe the reduced management turn 15 is helping sector 1 as well. Well, I mean, I trust you for watching the laptop, so tell me. Yeah, I think the lap time speaks for itself. No management, turn 15. Kimi Antonelli will see the chequered flag first. Kimi Antonelli wins the Belgian Grand Prix. Nice work, Kimi. Well done there, mate. So you're going to be coming down the pit lane the wrong way, so nice wide line around turn 1, please. Let's go! Good effort, mate. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you. Yeah, it was a busy race, that one, but well done. Good job, mate. That was really well managed towards the end there. Good job. Good recovery. Damage limitation. Good pace today as well, mate. Good pace. Yeah, nothing I could do wrong, I'd say. So well done. So it's frustrating because, yeah, I could be on this podium, so... Yeah, carburetor's there. Unfortunately, there's a penalty. You did what you could today. Good man. And from the back to P6. Your best race with us. Well done. Yeah, thanks. Okay, mate. That's P8. P8. More than. What a race you have driven, Gabi. What a race. Unbelievable. I go backwards? Yes. I go backwards? Yes. Coming to the pits. Drive slowly. Mate, what a race. Amazing driving. Mega job. Oh my god! Mega job. Mega quality. Thank you very much. Again, fantastic job. Really well deserved. You did... To put out a fight. Unbelievable fight out there. And great job for the team on the pit stop. Double stack getting you and Nico in a good chance for double points. Yeah, thanks everyone. What a weekend. Amazing. Thank you. What a fight you put out there today. Really well deserved P8. Fantastic job, mate. And the team and the guys in the pit stop did a fantastic job as well. Fantastic. Great job. Okay, well done, mate. P10. Nice. Thank you, mate. Good job. Alonso with all the burnouts. Maybe letting out some frustration at the back of the field. It's the rest of the field who are looking around and thinking how they're going to stop Italy having their first world champion since Alberto Ascari.