After watching both Kimi and Max leave Silverstone with terrible results, Spa felt like the perfect place for them to fight back. Max loves this circuit, the Orange Army always turns up and I naturally expected something special from my favourite driver.
Before the racing, Pierre Gasly once again led the paddock around Spa to remember Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van ’t Hoff. Seeing drivers and team members wearing their Racing for Anthoine shirts was a beautiful moment. Spa gives us brilliant racing, but it also carries memories that should never be forgotten.
Kimi created a very different family memory. He surprised his father with a birthday cake, sang for him and then pushed a pie straight into his face. He managed to make the moment sweet and violent within a few seconds, lol. This boy can take pole position and still behave exactly like a 19-year-old.
Kimi was also completely confused when someone told him that Max and Lando were both half-Belgian. The expression on his face was hilarious. Apparently, winning races is easier than understanding the nationalities inside the F1 paddock.
Tom Holland was the biggest celebrity appearance of the weekend. Ocon showed him his Spider-Man-inspired helmet and even gave him a replica. Spider-Man meeting an F1 driver wearing a Spider-Man helmet – OHHH YESS.
Kimi started the race from pole with Max beside him. When the lights went out, Max made a fantastic start and passed Kimi heading into Eau Rouge.
YES MAX! This is what I had been waiting for.
Unfortunately, my celebration lasted only a few corners. Kimi used the speed of his Mercedes to pass Max again on the Kemmel Straight. Thanks Kimi, you couldn’t even allow me one complete lap of happiness.
Behind them, Russell lost power and dropped into the middle of the two Ferraris. He then made contact with Hamilton and ended up in the gravel on the opening lap. Lewis explained on the radio that he was directly behind another car and had “no front end,” but the stewards still gave him a five-second penalty.
Russell’s reaction after the race was simple: “It’s one thing after another.” Honestly, that described his entire weekend perfectly.
The Safety Car restart gave us more fighting. Hamilton passed Piastri, Piastri immediately passed him back, Max overtook Leclerc and suddenly everyone was attacking everyone. This was the Spa racing I wanted.
Piastri later made contact with Leclerc and complained that Charles “didn’t leave enough space” and could have caused “a massive crash.” Hamilton then joined the conversation by telling Ferrari that he was “quicker” and had “more pace” than Leclerc.
Lewis wanted Ferrari to move Charles out of the way, but Charles was busy fighting for the win. Sorry Lewis, Ferrari made the right decision this time.
Max’s pit-stop timing hurt his race. Red Bull brought him in just before a Virtual Safety Car appeared, but it ended too quickly to help him. Another Virtual Safety Car arrived later and gave Ferrari the perfect opportunity to stop Leclerc, allowing him to return ahead of Kimi.
For a while, it looked like Leclerc might win two races in a row. But Kimi slowly closed the gap and passed him with ten laps remaining. Leclerc stayed close and finished only 1.9 seconds behind, but Kimi remained calm and took his sixth victory of the season.
Max finished third and returned to the podium after his painful retirement at Silverstone. Obviously, I wanted more after watching him lead at Eau Rouge, but at least this weekend ended with him holding a trophy instead of sitting in the gravel.
Even the Cooldown Room had a special guest when Prince Philippe of Belgium joined Kimi, Leclerc and Max. Max told him that Spa was his favourite circuit on the calendar. Good choice, Max. It is difficult not to love a place that produces racing like this.
I rate the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix a solid A2W 9/10.
Max gave me hope at Eau Rouge, but Kimi took the lead back and made sure nobody touched it again.
aKi Malik
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