Kimi Antonelli was thrilled to move on from a "few difficult races" at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, earning a victory he described as "hard-fought".

Antonelli claimed his first race win since the Monaco Grand Prix in June with a fine display, taking the chequered flag ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. 

The Italian fought back from a delay caused by a virtual safety-car period to overtake the Ferrari of Leclerc and claim his sixth win of the season, in just 10 races. 

Over the previous three races, Antonelli had seen his lead in the drivers' championship cut to 25 points, but he is now 45 clear of Lewis Hamilton in second. 

Antonelli earned more points with his victory in Belgium (25) than he had across his last three outings (23), though he acknowledged luck was on his side during the race. 

"It is great to be back at the top after a few difficult races," Antonelli said. "It was a hard-fought race.

"We lost first place with the virtual safety car, and then we managed to make our way back, and it was a tough win because Charles was quick, and we had to tell ourselves that. 

"I think the momentum was always there, it was just about getting the result, and today we were a bit lucky with what happened in terms of the championship.

"But that is why you have to take every opportunity, because we saw that it can really swing the situation.

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

Grande Kimi, grande! pic.twitter.com/2gBASLpEor

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 19, 2026

Antonelli's comments about his luck pointed towards team-mate George Russell, who had been 25 points behind the 19-year-old coming into the race in Belgium. 

But Russell's championship hopes took another hit on the opening lap of the race, when he was involved in an incident with Hamilton and crashed out. 

It was Russell's second retirement of the season, after Canada, with this result coming off the back of his first-ever home podium at the British Grand Prix. 

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff did, however, attribute Russell's collision down to an error made by the team and not the driver. 

"George has our 100% support," Wolff said. "George tried the outside, late braking, and it should have been his corner, but that's a racing incident.

"These things can happen whether you are at the front, middle or back of the pack. George had a difficult weekend.

"Probably half of it will be attributed to the power unit that wasn't as good as it should have been on his side, and the other side maybe on the driving.

"But we are in this together. We all make mistakes. Today it was a mistake that the team made, another day it will be a mistake by the driver.

"We just need to minimise it and support each other."

The Formula One calendar continues next week in Hungary, a race Mercedes have not won since 2020, when Hamilton finished ahead of Verstappen.