Formula 1 Focus: Antonelli puts one hand on title after another nightmare for Russell

[p]Taking place on the same day as the climax of golf's British Open and the small matter of the World Cup final, the Belgian Grand Prix would have to be a thriller to seal a place at the top of fine websites like Flashscore. Unfortunately, it wasn't.[/p][p]One of the best circuits in the world, Spa usually delivers, but was massively hamstrung by the new regulations this year, which prevented drivers from going full speed and contesting thrilling battles through some of F1's greatest sections, and deprived us of some of F1's greatest sights. I'm more positive on the new electricity-heavy power units than many, but it was undeniably a damning weekend for them.[/p][p]Even the most disappointing F1 races have plenty of talking points, though, and this was no exception.[/p][h2]No repeat of 2025 on the cards[/h2][embed guid="dc870e8f-4b48-4123-b410-6cf1d3b3a564" url="https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2079151667509887152" social-type="twitter" /][p]I've been wary of suggesting this year's title fight is over after doing so last year, only for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a] to overturn a 34-point deficit to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a]. However, I'm going to risk making a fool of myself again and say it: this year's title fight is over. Probably.[/p][p]Once again, it was a tale of two Mercedes, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] claiming yet another convincing victory and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] failing to score points for the third time in six races after colliding with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] on the opening lap. That leaves Russell 50 points behind his teammate, and I really can't see him pulling off the same kind of comeback that Norris did last season.[/p][p]When Norris was trailing Piastri in 2025, it still felt like he was a stronger driver than his teammate, but was just lacking consistency and a bit of luck. Russell is also lacking those things, but I'm pretty confident in saying that he wouldn't be beating Antonelli even if he produced his best level and had no misfortune to contend with.[/p][p]Maybe I'm wrong, and he's really just being hampered by the apparent technical issue that he keeps blaming his struggles on, but I struggle to believe there's a problem so serious that a team like Mercedes have been unable to identify and address for weeks. It might be partially to blame, but in the words of team boss Toto Wolff, "half of it is to be attributed to the power unit that wasn’t as good as it should have been and the other half may be on the driving."[/p][p]Indeed, Wolff confirmed that Antonelli also had power-unit issues in Belgium, but he was once again much faster than his teammate all weekend. Maybe he's simply a better driver, or maybe he just has a better handle on these regulations, on when is the best time to conserve and deploy the electrical power, but either way, he's much stronger than Russell.[/p][embed guid="913cf176-3822-43af-8281-c121758f29c6" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2078873403419697183" social-type="twitter" /][p]To be fair to the Brit, he has undeniably had a lot of things out of his control go against him this season, and it was impossible not to feel sorry for him when he spoke to the press with tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat in Belgium. Hopefully, he can clear his head over the summer break and come back to produce a second half of the season he can be proud of.[/p][p]However, regrouping and reeling in his younger teammate to become a world champion as Norris did last year isn't something I'd put money on.[/p][h2]Leclerc back on track[/h2][p]One driver who has managed to regroup is [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a]. Just over three weeks ago, I wrote in this column that he was looking out of sorts and a long way from his best, but the Ferrari man has since produced two of his best performances in a long time.[/p][p]After winning the British Grand Prix, the Monegasque wasn't far off claiming another victory. Granted, it was a well-timed Virtual Safety Car that gave him the lead of the race, but he'd produced a strong drive to be in a position to benefit, and had enough to stay impressively close to Antonelli after being passed, as well as comfortably ahead of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] and Lewis Hamilton.[/p][embed guid="f395bcaa-3050-47d6-9e38-68edc7f70a8b" url="https://x.com/ScuderiaFerrari/status/2078880935613809043" social-type="twitter" /][p]Things could have been very different had Hamilton not been handed a harsh five-second penalty and Leclerc had been given one that he probably deserved for a collision with Piastri, but he was nevertheless the stronger of the two Ferrari drivers across the weekend. He out-qualified the Brit, albeit by the slimmest of margins, and had much better race pace.[/p][p]Tantalisingly, this is probably the first time since they became teammates that both drivers are performing to the best of their abilities, and if that remains the case, their intra-team battle will surely be one of the most exciting plots of the remainder of 2026.[/p][p]Leclerc's resurgence could also spark a thrilling battle for the Constructors' Championship. Ferrari are only 73 points behind Mercedes, but if they can improve their car, both of their drivers continue to deliver and Russell continues to struggle, things could get interesting.[/p][h2]Bortoleto beginning to shine[/h2][embed guid="233d7d48-9ab5-4110-81ad-46272f3e493f" url="https://x.com/audif1_/status/2078867460569047272/history" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bortoleto-gabriel/8zwcIVil/"]Gabriel Bortoleto[/a] has gone a bit under the radar since joining the grid last season, performing solidly but being overshadowed by fellow 2025 rookies Antonelli, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hadjar-isack/8SAk38Ui/"]Isack Hadjar[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bearman-oliver/tMI3u5xo/"]Ollie Bearman[/a]. Now though, the Brazilian is really starting to make his mark.[/p][p]With an improved Audi at his disposal, he's followed up strong qualifying performances with even better drives on race day to finish eighth and pick up a valuable four points in the last two rounds. His outright pace has been strong, with him being comfortably faster than teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hulkenberg-nico/GfW4SMu7/"]Nico Hulkenberg[/a], someone who has traditionally been something of a qualifying specialist, and his racecraft has been even better.[/p][p]In Belgium, he managed his tyres perfectly to pull off a long first stint, and then defended his position excellently when under pressure from the faster Racing Bull of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lindblad-arvid/bgk1rl5a/"]Arvid Lindblad[/a] for a good 25 laps or so. It was an impressively mature and composed drive from someone who's only 21 and is only in his second season in F1.[/p][p]He's scored all of Audi's 10 points this season, and while Hulkenberg has endured a lot of bad luck, Bortoleto has still been the stronger of the two on average. And while the German is 38 and perhaps starting to slow down, that's still an impressive feat from the Brazilian.[/p][p]One thing that F1 has lacked for a long time now is a top Brazilian driver who the nation's millions of passionate fans can get behind, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/massa-felipe/tj9OrBV4/"]Felipe Massa[/a] a decade ago the last to fight at the front of the field, but maybe they won't have to wait too much longer.[/p][infobox id="68274eb9-a292-466f-8d1c-279fe1b5c54c" /]