Kimi Antonelli reveals ‘powerless’ realisation that made him doubt his Belgian Grand Prix win

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli has revealed that he “didn’t believe” he would win the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix until the final lap due to what he realised in the three prior rounds.

The 19-year-old continued his incredible run of form so far this season at Spa last week, as Mercedes watched their teenage titan score his sixth pole position and his sixth win of the campaign. He even leads the F1 drivers’ standings with 204 points from the first 10 rounds.

Antonelli dominated qualifying at Spa last Saturday as he sealed pole by 0.317 seconds over Red Bull rival Max Verstappen with a 1:44.361 lap in Q3. While Verstappen stole the lead on the run to Eau Rouge in the race, Antonelli even struck straight back and also later overtook Charles Leclerc of Ferrari to claim P1 back after falling down the order through the pit stops.

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Kimi Antonelli’s recent woes have made him realise he is ‘powerless’ to avoid problems

Leclerc moved into the lead of the Belgian GP when Ferrari pitted the Monegasque during the second virtual safety car (VSC) period on Lap 20 of 44. Antonelli had already made his stop on Lap 18, yet easily caught and passed Leclerc, before nursing a 1.952s lead to win.

READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli overtakes Charles Leclerc to win the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix

But after Antonelli’s recent struggles and the misfortune some of his rivals encountered in Barcelona, Austria and Britain, the Italian did not believe that he would win the Belgian GP until the last lap as he realised that drivers are sometimes “powerless” to avoid any issues.

Antonelli said, via quotes by Blick: “It’s crazy. Before my victory at Spa, I realised over three races that in this sport, you are powerless against mechanical problems or bad luck. That’s why I didn’t believe in [the] victory in Belgium until the finish line!”

The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in May marked the end of Antonelli’s run of five wins in succession, as he suffered a race-ending battery failure shortly after taking second place off teammate George Russell. Without the issue, he may have caught Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari to win the Barcelona-Catalunya GP and add another 25 points to his tally atop the standings.

After winning the F1 Sprint at Silverstone in the round before heading to Spa, Antonelli only finished P15 in the British Grand Prix after plummeting down the order due to a 5s penalty for exceeding track limits that was caused in part due to his front-left wheel shield breaking.

Were it not for his wheel shield breaking, Antonelli may have had the pace to fight Leclerc for the win in the British GP. Instead, he dropped at least another 18 points that could otherwise put the Bologna boy on 247 points ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix this week in Budapest.