SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS — Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli ended a three-race winless streak on Sunday to extend his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship with a solid fighting victory for Mercedes in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old Mercedes driver came home 1.952 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with four-time champion Max Verstappen finishing third for Red Bull.

Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who began the race in second place in the championship, just 25 points behind the Italian, crashed out of the race on the opening lap after tangling with Hamilton.

Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari after an incident-filled race in which he hit a mechanic during a pit-stop. The incident was referred to the stewards. While the seven-time champion escaped additional punishment, his Ferrari team were handed a fine.

Isack Hadjar, who began at the back of the grid, did superbly to work his Red Bull up to sixth, just holding off reigning world champion Lando Norris, who started 13th, in the second McLaren.

It was Antonelli’s sixth win of the season and came from his sixth pole of the year, the first driver to win from pole in Belgium since 2021.

It lifts him to 204 points in the championship, 45 clear of Hamilton with Russell third on 154.

“It feels very nice to be back on the top step,” said Antonelli.

“We just have to keep performing, keep bringing the results and then we will see what will happen at the end of the year.”