2026 Belgian GP Race Review
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What happened at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix and who were the hosts?
Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday.
Hello and a very warm welcome to the Late Breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry Ede, Sam Sage and me, Ben Hocking. Reviewing today, the Belgian Grand Prix won by Kimi Antonelli, returning to the top step after a short absence, Sam, but everything is back to normal now. He just wanted to make you wait for it. You know, when you get too much of a good thing, it kind of ruins it a little bit. He thought, I'll have a little break. Let someone else have a go. Bam, he's back again. Yeah, it was an interesting Grand Prix. Some highs, some quite dull lows, and some really painful downshifts in a straight line. But we'll get into it as we go. Harry, what did you make of it? It's good to have you back. We're a trio again.
Yeah, hi, guys. Yeah, we had a race, and it suddenly happened. Cheers, mate. And that's the end of the show. Thanks for stopping by. It was, yeah, it did have some good points, but do you know what I miss? It's just on boards, man. Like any on board would be good. I think it's worse that they'll go on board and then go, that's enough of that.
Nope.
We have done the lap that is okay to show, but bye now. Yeah. Yeah. I will confess that after Antonelli's pole lap yesterday, I went back and watched Lando Norris's pole lap from last year and Bad decision from me. My mind's lifting off through a rouge. Yeah. But as you say, there were plenty of bright moments in this Grand Prix as well. Coming up on today's episode, moment of the race, of course, we'll be giving out our driver of the day, worst driver of the day and our big brain strategy. Talks on the midfield, how Bortoletto and Lindblad managed to win out in that fight. Max Verstappen, third place, not quite enough to challenge for the race win, but another podium for him. But let's start with Kimi Antonelli and the way in which he was able to claim victory ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
Maybe not quite as simple as it is it could have been, the virtual safety car helping Ferrari and helping Charles Leclerc to ensure that Antonelli at least needed to get an overtake done on track in order to claim this win. Did so with about 10 laps to go, Sam, and whilst Leclerc maybe held on, Antonelli wasn't really under too much pressure from there on out. How impressed were you with what Antonelli was able to do, extending his championship margin again? Yeah, up to 50 points now to George Russell, who we'll get onto later on in the show. This looked so comfy. for Kimi Antonelli, which I think is one of the biggest compliments I could give someone of his experience level so far in Formula One.
Even when the start, maybe it did go to plan. Maybe it was always in his plan to let someone get in front of him, use their battery going down the hill after the source to then use his battery, of course, going up through the Campbell Strait. It was an interesting tactic. We saw Max Verstappen get in front early on. And I think in a different time where battery wasn't as important and being flat out was normal in a racing sport, you have maybe thought, oh, I can hold on to this or I can play a different game where I might do a little cheeky lift off at the top of Eau Rouge and Radeon and then allow the car to run out of momentum. We've seen it before with the likes of Hamilton and Vettel only a few years ago.
But Kimi Antonelli uses his battery perfectly. Sales pass Max Verstappen But to the point where Verstappen's got so little battery that the Ferrari, who was also further back, is also challenging. And at that point, it looks so comfortable for Antonelli, just sticking ahead, a couple of seconds in front, to the point where Bongo comes over and says, your tyres are good. If you want to actually go faster, you can. You can step on it if you want, mate. If you fancy it. He's going, oh, oh, too many fastest laps normally. Should I go? Fine, now I'll go faster. And he did go faster. He comes out in front. And then we've got the VFC, of course, that kind of ticks off.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix and who were the hosts?
0:00–7:48
2
How did Kimi Antonelli secure the win and what role did the virtual safety car play?
7:48–19:37
3
Why did Max Verstappen struggle with battery management and how did it affect his podium finish?
19:37–30:38
4
What caused George Russell’s retirement and how did it impact the championship gap?
30:38–36:08
5
How did Isaac Hadjar recover from the back of the grid to finish sixth?
36:08–47:34
6
What were the key performances of the Audi and midfield drivers like Bortoletto and Lindblad?
47:34–1:00:40
7
Who were the driver of the day and the worst driver of the day according to the panel?
1:00:40–1:05:27
8
What are the final takeaways, upcoming predictions, and how can listeners support the show?
1:05:27–1:09:19