Prix

Mercedes driver won his sixth GP of 2026 as championship rival and teammate George Russell crashes out on first lap.

Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 45 points over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on a bleak day for teammate George Russell, his closest title rival heading into the race.

Russell had been the 19-year-old Italian’s closest rival before the start at Spa-Francorchamps, but the Briton spun off into the gravel on the opening lap after a collision with Hamilton while trying to make up places lost at lights out.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second in the 44-lap race, 1.952 seconds behind after leading, thanks to a pit stop while a virtual safety car was deployed, with Max Verstappen third to give Red Bull their 300th Formula One podium.

Hamilton finished fourth, despite serving a five-second penalty for the collision with Russell, but remained under investigation for an unsafe release from a pit stop that could drop him to fifth and further stretch Antonelli’s lead.

It was Antonelli’s sixth win in 10 rounds this season, leaving him 50 points clear of Russell. Antonelli was first in qualifying, continuing Mercedes’ clean sweep of pole positions this season.

“It’s great to be back on the top step after a few difficult rounds,” said Antonelli, who had drawn a blank in two of the past three rounds.

“It was a hard-fought race. We lost first place with the VSC but then we managed to make our way back.

“The momentum was always there. It was just about getting the results,” he added. “Today we were a bit lucky with what happened in terms of the championship but you have to take every opportunity because we saw how much it can swing.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fifth, with Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull from last on the grid. Reigning champion Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren after starting 13th due to a 10-place grid drop.

Gabriel Bortoleto brought more points for Audi in eighth place, with Arvid Lindblad ninth for Racing Bulls and Argentine Franco Colapinto completing the scoring in 10th place for Renault-owned Alpine.

Norris is one of a number of drivers who face a grid penalty this weekend, after exceeding his permitted number of batteries.

He is joined by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, fifth fastest overall behind Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

The championship gap has closed largely because of problems for Antonelli, who retired from second place in the Barcelona Grand Prix, and lost a probable victory at Silverstone last time out by a wheel fairing failure and then a penalty, which dropped him out of the points.

Russell also took an impressive win in Austria, just fending off Verstappen and Antonelli, for his first victory since the first grand prix of the season in Australia.

Behind the top six of Antonelli, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton and Hadjar, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Russell and the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completed the top 10 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen was complaining about gearshifts, as he so often does, but his pace was encouraging considering the team have had to shelve their ‘flip-flop’ rear wing after consecutive crashes for the Dutchman in high-speed corners in Austria and at Silverstone.

The failure was that the wing was closing too much, removing the so-called ‘slot gap’ between the main plane and flap, meaning the car had less downforce than the driver expected on corner entry.

Reverting to the standard wing, which opens like the old DRS overtaking aid, is said by insiders to cost around 0.2secs a lap.

Technical director Pierre Wache said: “It is a mechanical problem that we spot after the accident in Silverstone. We fixed it. It [the car] should be ready and bulletproof.

“I don’t want to be too precise on what we are doing because it is a performance benefit to use it. But we take it seriously, we discuss with the FIA because it is our duty to make the car safe and you will see the wing back soon.”

Red Bull hope to have a revised version of the new wing ready for the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend.

Racing Bulls have an upgrade on Lindblad’s car this weekend. The team decided to give it to the Briton rather than Lawson after an agreement that the driver who qualified ahead at the British Grand Prix would have the new parts for Spa.

Lawson will get the next upgrade later in the year, which is also expected only to be ready for one driver initially, team principal Alan Permane said.

McLaren have fallen to the back of the top four teams in recent races as rivals have introduced upgrades, but the hope is that the aerodynamic package to be brought in across the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix on either side of Formula 1’s summer break will return them to competitiveness.

They decided that it was better to take the grid penalty in Belgium, where they expect to be no more competitive than at the last race in Britain but where passing is relatively straightforward, than compromise Hungary, where the car should perform better and overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Norris said: “I have to wait and see really how the overtaking is. We probably have a small straight-line speed advantage, comparing to people a little bit further back. So comparing to them we should have a good chance.

“To just overtake in general could be pretty difficult here. But the slipstream is pretty big, and there’s still a few straights, but there’s no straight-line mode (through some of the flat-out sections), and therefore the slipstream is pretty large, and you can gain a good amount from that.

“But we know it’s better than Zandvoort, and better than Hungary taking penalties. I hope it’s not the end of my weekend before it started, but I’m still confident we can have a good race.”

Norris’ grid penalty comes after a troubled start to the season for the team that won a drivers’ and constructors’ championship double last year, in both performance and reliability terms.

Technically, the part replaced in Belgium is known as the ‘power electronics’, which is a control computer within the battery module.

Norris failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix in March after a terminal issue with his power electronics unit, and a second example of that part had to be withdrawn after suffering problems in practice at the following race in Japan.

The Japan unit was repaired but suffered a terminal problem in practice in Monaco.

A McLaren statement said: “While the power electronics unit we installed in Japan, and have used in every session since Miami, has worked reliably, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) has since introduced a series of reliability fixes to their new power electronics systems.

“However, in order to take advantage of these improvements, we must incur a 10-place grid penalty on Lando’s car in order to take a new unit.”

The statement added: “We now plan to use this fourth power electronics unit for the remainder of the season, in order to maximise reliability while minimising sporting penalties on Lando.”

McLaren will have a new rear wing design in Spa, which the team hopes will better suit the specific characteristics of the flowing high-speed track around the Ardennes forests.

This wing will have a conventional opening style in straight-line mode, rather than the somersaulting designs introduced this season by Ferrari and Red Bull.

Red Bull have had to revert to a conventional wing this weekend after Max Verstappen suffered high-speed crashes at the previous two races because of issues with the design.

Mercedes have had a series of engine-related reliability issues this year, not all to do with the battery.

Another has emerged with the engine used by championship leader Kimi Antonelli at the British Grand Prix.

That has had to go back to the HPP’s base in Brixworth for investigation and the Italian has a new engine as a result this weekend in Belgium. This is from within his allocation and therefore comes with no penalty.

Depending on the outcome of the investigations, Mercedes hope to be able to put Antonelli’s Silverstone unit back into the pool for use later in the year.

Red Bull are reverting to a conventional rear wing for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix following high-speed crashes for Max Verstappen in the previous two races.

The move has been confirmed to BBC Sport by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who said the team had discovered a problem with their previous wing in tests since the race at Silverstone.

Red Bull are reverting to a wing that opens for straight-line mode in standard fashion, Mekies said.

Verstappen said at Spa on Thursday: “It’s quite obvious why. We will go back on the old one and see whenever the new one is ready again to be used by us.”

Red Bull and Ferrari have this year pioneered a new design where the rear wing opens into straight-line mode by the top flap rotating more than 180 degrees.

This gives a bigger opening, greater drag reduction and therefore increased straight-line speed.

However, Verstappen’s crashes – one during the British Grand Prix and one in qualifying in Austria – were related to the way the wing closed on entry to two high-speed corners.

Leclerc now looked locked in for victory, but there was great doubt over second place.

Hamilton, who earlier had a five-second penalty for moving before the lights went out at the start, was 20 seconds back from his team-mate, but Verstappen was closing in and Russell was going with the Dutchman, having dropped back with a pit stop on lap 34 forced by a slow puncture.

But on lap 48, Verstappen spun off at Stowe. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said the rear wing did not close properly, meaning Verstappen had less downforce as he turned in, causing his loss of control.

Verstappen’s off brought out the safety car, and initially it looked as if there would be a short blast to the finish with the Ferrari drivers contesting victory on fresh tyres.

But Russell did not pit, so he would have taken any restart between them, which would have delayed Hamilton’s charge, even by a few seconds.

But Verstappen had crashed with only four laps to go, and there was doubt about whether the incident would be cleared in time.

As the cars came around to approach the start of the final lap, the timing screen initially said the safety car would pull in, but a few seconds later that message was replaced by another saying it would stay out.

The full post-race FIA statement said: “The safety-car period regulation states that one lap must be completed following the unlapping procedure.

“This process was followed by race operations. The ‘safety car in this lap’ message was displayed erroneously due to a software error.”

The safety-car finish guaranteed Leclerc’s first win since the 2024 US Grand Prix in Austin.

Russell’s podium was his first at his home race and he said: “Really pleased to be standing here, even though it was a very lucky race. I had the puncture but I was lucky to get the safety car at the end.”

Hamilton said: “I just didn’t have it today. I jumped the start, got a five-second penalty but Charles had the pace on me today. I struggled with the balance of the car. I gave it everything and I am grateful to be up here.”

Lando Norris took fourth for McLaren after a solid but quiet race as the world champions wait for upgrades due at the Hungarian Grand Prix this month.

Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was fifth, followed by the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and 18-year-old British rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri dropped to the back after being involved in a first-lap incident and recovered to 11th, behind the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.

Antonelli’s pole, from a driver looking comfortable and confident around the fast sweeps of Silverstone, dealt Russell another blow in their title fight.

He had already extended his championship lead with victory in the sprint and their starting positions give Russell an uphill struggle as he seeks to take his first win at his home race.

Leaving the pits for his final lap, Antonelli complained about being the first driver to run but he need not have worried.

He beat his previous time by nearly 0.3secs to put himself well out of reach of his rivals.

“I was a bit stressed because I never really like going first for the last run but the last lap was very tidy. It came all together,” Antonelli said.

“It was very tricky with the winds because it was very gusty, unpredictable, and to build the car to pole was very satisfying.”

Leclerc’s second place was the first time he had beaten Hamilton in qualifying since the Miami Grand Prix in early May, and brings to an end a run of races in which he has been struggling for confidence in the car.

“I am pleased,” Leclerc said. “It has been a few tough races when the feeling was not quite right, struggling to put everything together. There has been so much work behind the scenes to get back that feeling. This was the first time I had it back, I have struggled to be consistent but it is a good start.”

Hamilton, who was passed by Antonelli on the Mercedes driver’s run to victory in the sprint, said: “Of course I’m not satisfied. I’m third. Both these guys did a great job today.

“Charles has been doing good improvements and we just didn’t have the pace of the Mercedes but we are slowly closing the gap and to have both of us here is good for the team.”

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli caught and passed Lewis Hamilton to win an action-packed sprint race at the British Grand Prix.

While McLaren’s Lando Norris, Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen staged a frantic place-swapping scrap in the opening laps at Silverstone, Antonelli bided his time before homing in on Hamilton at the front.

The 19-year-old Italian let the race settle down before remorselessly homing in on the Ferrari and blasting past Hamilton on the Hangar Straight on lap eight after strategically saving his battery charge.

Hamilton hung on bravely but could do nothing to stop Antonelli extending his championship lead still further to 43 points over Russell.

Behind them, Norris drove an excellent race to blast up from sixth on the grid to fourth on the first lap before passing Russell on the second lap.

There were a few hectic laps as Norris, Russell and Verstappen swapped places before Norris managed to consolidate third place and move clear of the the battle behind him.

Russell managed to pass Verstappen on lap nine before the four-time champion fell back into the clutches of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who moved past the Red Bull a lap later.

Verstappen dropped back but managed to hold off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to take sixth.

Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson held off an attack from Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in the closing laps as they took the final points positions.

Qualifying for Sunday’s main grand prix is at 16:00 BST on Saturday.

More to follow

Gabriel Bortoleto – 6/10

A tidy race to lead Audi home and finish just outside the points.

Nico Hulkenberg – 5.5/10

Solid enough but finishing behind Bortoleto takes the shine off it. He gained places from his lowly starting position, however.

Pierre Gasly – 5/10

Slipped down the order so a disappointing Sunday for Alpine who just looked short on pace.

Ollie Bearman – 4.5/10

A clean but anonymous afternoon for Bearman. Haas didn’t have much to fight with.

Franco Colapinto – 4.5/10

Not spectacular but a steady finish for Colapinto, who kept his Alpine out of trouble.

Esteban Ocon – 4/10

Finished behind team-mate Ollie Bearman again, which made for a poor return. Lost ground at the start and never looked like a points contender.

Alex Albon – 4/10

Williams had a tough race and Alex Albon finished two laps down. Unlike this team-mate Carlos Sainz, he at least got to the flag.

Fernando Alonso – 4.5/10

The final classified finisher. He gained places largely through others retiring, however his five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane made this another race for Aston Martin to forget.

Lance Stroll – 3.5/10

Aston Martin driver retired after 45 laps, ending a difficult race from the back row.

Carlos Sainz – 4/10

Out after 23 laps when his car stopped on the pit straight. Led Williams once again in qualifying which is all that can be said.

Sergio Perez – 4/10

Only lasted a few laps for Cadillac. Out-qualified team-mate Valtteri Bottas but barely turned a wheel this weekend with several car issues in practice plaguing him during the race, too.

Valtteri Bottas – 3.5/10

The first retirement, after just two laps. There was almost no race to judge. Started behind his team-mate but Cadillac’s Sunday was over before it had begun.

George Russell’s victory over Max Verstappen further reduces teammate Kimi Antonelli’s lead in the drivers’ title race.

A thirsty George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to trim Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli’s Formula One championship lead to 40 points.

Max Verstappen finished 1.6 seconds adrift, after crashing in qualifying and starting fifth, at his Red Bull team’s home circuit with Antonelli third and 0.3 behind after a thrilling chase to the line at scenic Spielberg.

The win was Russell’s second of the season, after he took the opener in Australia, his career seventh and Mercedes’ seventh in eight rounds so far.

Antonelli has 171 points to Russell’s 131 with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, fifth on Sunday after running second and battling Verstappen wheel-to-wheel, dropping to third on 125.

In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes have 302 points to Ferrari’s 204.

“Incredible to be back on the top step. It’s been a little while, so I am definitely going to enjoy this one this evening,” said Russell, who can now head to his home British GP at Silverstone next weekend on a high.

He revealed over the radio after taking the chequered flag that his drinks system had failed during the race, the first of the season to be declared a “heat hazard”. “Nice race for it to do so, I’m a little bit thirsty,” he said.

Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Hamilton, with Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull.

Reigning champion Lando Norris, last year’s winner in Austria, was seventh with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc eighth and Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad completing the top 10.

“I was having to push every single lap and when you push those boundaries there’s bound to be a small mistake or two,” said Russell.

“I knew how quick the guys were behind. Kimi has been extraordinarily quick this whole season, so every lap I was looking at the timing board.”

Mercedes driver George Russell controversially stole pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with the last lap of the session.

The result came amid late drama as Russell set his lap, beating Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, despite passing yellow flags for a crash by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the penultimate corner.

Russell’s team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who was running just ahead of the Briton, also passed the Verstappen incident, but did not improve his time and will line up fourth.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and seventh behind Verstappen, who kept fifth despite his crash.

Russell insisted he had slowed sufficiently for the Verstappen incident, and claimed there was just a single yellow flag showing, rather than the double waved yellows which might have been expected for such a situation.

“I had a big lift,” Russell said. “I went into the corner 0.5secs up and I came out 0.25secs up. It was great to get that lap.

“I just spoke with Toto [Wolff, team principal] and he said everything is fine with the yellow flag. Big 100m lift before the corner. So that’s good to hear.”

The late drama was caused by a big crash for Verstappen, who lost control going into the high-speed downhill right-hander and spun across the gravel into the barrier.

Russell’s case was complicated because his fall down the order was precipitated by a cascading series of events.

He was given the penalty for pit-lane speeding – by just 0.1km/h – before a safety-car period caused by a crash for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Russell pitted to change tyres under the safety car but in the confusion, failed to serve the penalty.

When the safety car pulled in, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed, which led to the race being suspended under a red flag.

During the race stoppage, it was announced that Russell had been given a drive-through penalty for not serving the five-second penalty correctly. He pleaded with officials not to make him serve that penalty when the race resumed and to discuss it afterwards, because the number of penalties suggested something was wrong.

They rejected his argument, and when the race restarted, Russell came in again to serve the drive-through penalty, which is what dropped him out of third place.

Under F1’s rules, Mercedes were able to ask only for a review of the five-second penalty, which they did not actually serve, regardless of whether it was incorrectly awarded.

The drive-through penalty was correctly awarded – on the basis he did fail to serve a penalty. Mercedes have looked into the legal complications around this and concluded there is no remedy for that available to them.

The initial right of review request, lodged at last weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, was made to buy Mercedes time to analyse the situation, as the FIA rules dictate a limited time period for teams to make right of review requests.

There is then a longer period during which a party can decide whether to continue with them.

A Mercedes spokesperson said: “It was important for us to explore all available options to address the impact of George’s pit-lane speeding penalty on his race result.

“We had a limited time window in which to apply for the right of review during the race weekend in Barcelona, and did so in order to reserve our position in this regard.

”Our subsequent collaborative discussion with FIA and Formula 1 has shown their determination to review the unique circumstances arising from the Monaco Grand Prix and to proactively address the factors that caused them.

“In the face of this clear determination, we have concluded that further pursuit of our right of review application will not serve our team or the sport and thus we have withdrawn our submission.”

Lewis Hamilton took his first victory for Ferrari in a compelling Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix as championship leader Kimi Antonelli retired from second place with four laps to go.

It was a dramatic end to a gripping race that had tension and jeopardy throughout as Hamilton secured his first victory since the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, when he was still driving for Mercedes.

The win turned on a virtual safety-car period which allowed Hamilton, on a different pit-stop strategy to Mercedes, to pit and retain the lead.

Meanwhile, Antonelli had just passed Russell for second place with five laps to go after a race-long battle when his car ground to a halt with a technical problem.

Russell finished second and McLaren’s Lando Norris was third in the first all-British podium since the 1968 US Grand Prix.

The key stories of a momentous race were:

The city witnessed Carl Lewis win four Olympic gold medals, cheered Valerie Brisco-Hooks’ historic golden double and watched Edwin Moses extend his 400-meter hurdles unbeaten streak. L.A. has history with track and field.

Now when Ato Boldon, a UCLA Hall of Famer and four-time Olympic medalist for Trinidad and Tobago, looks to this weekend’s L.A. Grand Prix and the city’s future with the sport, he wonders what it holds.

“I’ve always felt like L.A. needs a signature event,” Boldon said, “and with the Olympics coming up in two years, you look at the quality of this event this weekend, and you’re like, yeah, this is the kind of meet they should have all the time.”

At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennium, the USA Track & Field event serves as an important checkpoint for the sport’s hope to break out of the four-year popularity cycle.

The two-day event, which begins Saturday with the women’s hammer throw at the South Bay Athletic Club, features 18 Olympic or world champions competing primarily at USC’s Allyson Felix Field. Sunday’s marquee competition beginning at 1 p.m. will be televised on NBC.

With USA Track & Field building toward a home Olympics, L.A. has been a critical but stubborn market to conquer. Last year’s L.A. Grand Prix, which would have been the third edition of the meet, was canceled in April. The decision, USA Track & Field Chief Executive Max Siegel said, came down to another meet scheduled in the same venue within the same month.

But that competing event, part of Michael Johnson’s upstart Grand Slam Track league, was canceled only weeks before it was set to take place at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, leaving L.A. without a major track competition last summer.

“We knew last year when we canceled the meet that we had every intention leading up to the Olympics to be present in the L.A. market,” Siegel said.

The city knows great track. UCLA boasts legends such as Rafer Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith-Joyner. USC, which boasts more Olympians than any other U.S. university, had athletes win nine Olympic medals in track and field at the 2024 Games in Paris, including double gold medals for Rai Benjamin in the 400-meter hurdles and 4×400-meter relay and a 4×100-meter relay championship for TeeTee Terry.

After Terry ran the second leg of the relay, Sha’Carri Richardson’s stare down at the end of her anchor leg became one of the iconic shots of the Paris Games, where 70,000 people packed Stade de France and millions more tuned in for one of the most-watched Olympics.

But the sport is back in the shadows like it always seems to be outside of Olympic years, said Boldon, now NBC Sports’ track and field analyst. There have been several attempts to penetrate the U.S. sports consciousness since the successful Paris Games. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian launched Athlos, a women’s track and field meet that began in New York City in 2024 and added a stop in London to its 2026 schedule. Grand Slam Track, founded by the Olympic legend Johnson and touting major names including Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, filed for bankruptcy last year, after completing only three of four planned events in its first season, and is only now emerging from it.

This year’s inaugural USATF Tour aims to organize the fragmented sport by streamlining the calendar and working with existing event coordinators to provide resources, including prize money and travel for top athletes, marketing and drug testing. The tour, which was in College Station, Texas, last week for the Lone Star Grand Prix, has 17 events in 10 states.

American Tara Davis-Woodhall after winning the women’s long jump at the 2025 world championships in Tokyo.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

“I feel like LA28 gives the country something to organize around,” said Siegel, who hopes track and field can rise to be among the five most popular sports in the United States. “People are paying more attention to athlete stories in anticipation of what’s going to happen on U.S. soil.”

There is no shortage of stories at the L.A. Grand Prix. Almost everyone who matters in American track and field will be there, Boldon said. Kenny Bednarek, the silver medalist in the 200 meters in Paris, will line up in the 100 meters against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who took gold in the 200 in 2024.

Tara Davis-Woodhall, the reigning Olympic long jump champion, will compete in her signature event and race in the 100-meter hurdles for just the second time in the last five years. Her husband, Hunter Woodhall, will race in the 400 meters on Saturday, when Para athletes will be among those competing in the L.A. Distance Classic at Allyson Felix Field.

Richardson will run her first 100-meter race of the season. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist could be in line to end a three-decade gold medal drought in 2028. No U.S. woman has stood atop an Olympic podium for the 100 since 1996, when Gail Devers won in Atlanta.

Such a stacked field outside of an Olympic year on U.S. soil could be a sign of a changing tide for track and field, Boldon said. The L.A. Grand Prix is a gold-level event on the World Athletics Continental Tour, the second-highest tier of single-day international competition. As athletes vie for world ranking points, the event could be a true Olympic preview two years before the Games begin at the Coliseum.

“This,” Boldon said, “is not a normal week in our sport.”

George Russell bounced back from the disappointments of the past few races to take pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Russell edged out Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by just 0.064 seconds as runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli could manage only third place in the other Mercedes.

McLaren’s Lando Norris took fourth from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, while Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc crashed on his first lap in the final session and will start 10th.

Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri was seventh, from Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.

More to follow

FORMULA One star Lewis Hamilton has gone Instagram official with Kim Kardashian after sharing his first photo of the reality star following the Monaco Grand Prix.

The snap quickly sent fans into a frenzy, with followers flooding the comments section as the pair confirmed their relationship.

Kim Kardashian appeared in Lewis Hamilton’s photo dump from the star-studded Monaco Grand Prix weekend attended by a host of celebrities and sporting icons.

Kim looked glamorous as ever, and many were quick to point out that it was the first time Lewis had shared a photo featuring Kim on his social media.

In the snap, Kim was seen holding Lewis’ racing helmet.

The reality star opted for a daring black sheer top, adding to the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

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The stylish photo immediately caught fans’ attention.

One commented: “Great pics Lewis and a fab weekend well done ❤️ And welcome to the family Kim kardashian ❤️”

Another added: “In his boyfriend era”.

A third penned: “YES!!!!!! Kim on the grid!”

A fourth said: “Omgggggg kimmmmmm😍”

A fifth wrote: “Omg Kim !! U guys are so cute”.

Kim made her F1 trackside debut to support her Ferrari driver boyfriend.

She arrived with her sister Khloe Kardashian as well as a huge entourage.

Kim wore a stunning cream one-shoulder maxi dress, while Khloe opted for a satin plunge midi dress also in cream.

Kim watched the race and Lewis narrowly miss out on winning.

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest winner at 19 years old. 

Despite the loss, Lewis appeared in high spirits as he blew Kim a kiss and sprayed her with champagne as he celebrated on the podium.

Kim and Lewis have been friends for over a decade.

They were first spotted getting cosy on New Year’s Eve in Aspen. 

They went public with their romance at the Super Bowl in February.

Just last week, they took a huge step in their relationship as he was seen with her four children for the first time.

A source previously said that the couple have an “intense” relationship and Kardashian’s family absolutely “adores” him.

HOLLY Willoughby has poked fun at the moment she appeared to be shoved aside by Kim Kardashian at the Monaco Grand Prix, sharing a series of behind-the-scenes snaps.

The TV favourite appeared to see the funny side of the viral moment as she gave fans a glimpse into her glamorous race weekend.

Holly shared a collection of videos from the star-studded event on Instagram, including several behind-the-scenes candid moments from the famous race.

She even addressed that awkward moment she got caught up in Kim Kardashian’s huge entourage during a live interview with pal Michael McIntyre.

They were being interviewed by Sky Sports presenter Natalie Pinkham when Holly said: “We are so lucky to be here.”

Shortly after, they were swept away by security guards.

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Michael said: “It’s a wave! It’s the Kardashians! I’m joining them!”

He followed them, leaving Holly behind. But then he returned, joking that he sustained an injury, saying: “We’ve got a live update. I’ve just been hit by like a wave.

“You know when you’re on holiday and a wave hits you and it’s like “that’s actually quite dangerous”. We’ve been Kardashian waved.”

Holly added: “That was ridiculous.”

Michael added: “My back’s gone. I think something belonging to Kim, I’m not mentioning anything, may have struck me in my lower back earlier. And I gotta tell you, it hurt!”

Referencing the now-viral encounter, the presenter jokingly hinted that she had survived the “wave” as fans flooded the comments with laughing emojis and support.

She captioned the post: What a weekend! Monaco you didn’t disappoint… @williamsf1team @jv.f1 thank you for having us, hard to pick a highlight, grid walks, hot laps (I will post this later, safe to say I wasn’t built for speed 😵‍💫) all topped off by getting caught up in a @kimkardashian fly past 🤣

“Also Barry and Daimo thankyou for your hospitality… that’s one weekend that I’ll never forget 🏎️🏁❤️ ✨“.

One fan commented: “Amazing!!!! Saw you and Michael McIntyre nearing taken out by the KimK team 😂. Looked incredible!”

Another added: “@michaelmcintyre on the grid walk with the Kardashians was a highlight 😂“.

A third penned: “@michaelmcintyre was mint!!!!! Surprised though he wasn’t tackled to the ground by her security! 😂“

A fourth said: “The kardashian wave was the funniest thing ive seen in a long time 😂 @hollywilloughby”.

For the glamorous weekend, Holly dressed to impress in a series of chic outfits, stepping out in a stylish blue playsuit on one day and a sleek black sleeveless dress on another.

The presenter completed both looks with understated accessories and effortless styling as she mingled with fellow celebrities and Formula One guests in Monaco.

Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian made her F1 trackside debut to support her Ferrari driver boyfriend Lewis Hamilton.

She arrived with her sister Khloe Kardashian as well as a huge entourage.

Kim wore a stunning cream one-shoulder maxi dress, while Khloe opted for a satin plunge midi dress also in cream.

Kim watched the race and Lewis narrowly miss out on winning.

Kimi Antonelli became the youngest winner at 19 years old. 

Despite the loss, Lewis appeared in high spirits as he blew Kim a kiss and sprayed her with champagne as he celebrated on the podium.

Kim and Lewis have been friends for over a decade.

They were first spotted getting cosy on New Year’s Eve in Aspen. 

They went public with their romance at the Super Bowl in February.

Just last week, they took a huge step in their relationship as he was seen with her four children for the first time.

A source previously said that the couple have an “intense” relationship and Kardashian’s family absolutely “adores” him.

Antonelli takes his fifth Grand Prix win in a row in race interrupted by crashes after asphalt breaks apart.

Formula One championship leader Kimi Antonelli stayed ice-cool to ⁠win a ⁠chaotic Monaco Grand Prix and extend his run of victories this season to five.

The 19-year-old Italian built a ⁠commanding lead on Sunday after starting from pole in his Mercedes but that evaporated after a late red flag to inspect a crumbling ⁠surface at the final corner following a crash that took out Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

After a delay of about 40 minutes while repairs were carried out, the race resumed with a standing start but Antonelli remained unfazed ‌as he became the youngest-ever winner of the iconic race.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was runner-up for the second successive Grand Prix with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar provisionally third, although he was one of a number of drivers under investigation for a variety of infringements.

Hamilton, who equalled the late Ayrton Senna’s eight Monaco podiums, ⁠moved above Antonelli’s teammate George Russell into ⁠second place in the standings, 66 points behind Antonelli.

“It’s been an incredible weekend and an incredible race,” said Antonelli, who was not even born the last time an ⁠Italian won the Monaco Grand Prix – Jarno Trulli in 2004.

“We had incredible pace and it all ⁠came so natural and that gave me ⁠the confidence to push.”

A year after finishing last on his F1 debut at Monaco, Antonelli showed incredible poise to shrug off the red flag drama that meant he effectively ‌had to win two races.

“I wasn’t super keen on re-starting but once the notification came out I just gathered my emotions and ‌re-focused ‌again. Once I got away and was P1 into the first corner I could enjoy the last few laps.”

Before long, what had been a soporific race turned into a surreal one.

First, Stroll crashed his Aston Martin at the final corner, causing a first safety car.

As the cars prepared to get going again, Leclerc crashed at the same place in the same way even before the race had restarted.

That led to a red flag as officials took a look at the track surface at the crumbling final corner, known as Antony Noghes.

And that meant another restart that Antonelli had to negotiate, this time with the fast-starting Ferrari alongside him.

But again he was perfect and the race surrendered to him.

Hadjar drove an excellent race battling power-unit problems and was helped by a masterstroke from Red Bull in not stopping under the first safety car, which gained him positions on Russell and Piastri.

Racing Bulls had a good day with Arvid Lindblad taking the best result of his rookie season with sixth place behind team-mate Liam Lawson.

Gasly was seventh ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon’s Haas.

And Sergio Perez took 10th for what could be the first point for the new Cadillac team, although he faces an investigation for being incorrectly positioned on the restart after the red flag.

If he is penalised, the final point will mark the first of the season for Aston Martin, for whom Fernando Alonso finished 11th.

And there may be questions as to why so many drivers – more than a quarter of the grid – ended up speeding in the pit lane.

A Monaco pole is a statement performance for any driver and one of the biggest prizes in Formula 1. To deliver in this fashion, at the age of 19, underlined his potential as the most likely world champion this year at this early stage.

He and Verstappen were separated by just 0.001secs after their first runs in the final session and Antonelli said he had produced a “magic lap” to beat the Dutchman.

Leclerc went out early for the final runs after missing his first lap with a lock-up at Mirabeau, and he put himself at the top with his first effort.

Verstappen then beat that mark by 0.257secs to take top spot, only for Antonelli to displace him.

Leclerc was not finished – he had given himself time to have one final lap as the last driver on track. But he went over the limit and slid wide on the entry to Tabac, crunching his right rear wheel against the wall and breaking his rear suspension.

Antonelli said: “I was able to put everything together. It was such a close qualifying session. The last lap was good.”

Verstappen said he was surprised to be able to compete for pole position.

“If you would have told me yesterday I would be on the front row, I would have taken it,” he said. “So heading into qualifying and being up there was extremely positive. Very happy with how qualifying went. I am happy to be on the front row.”

Ferrari had been quickest on Friday, first and second in both sessions, but Hamilton said the car felt different as soon as qualifying started.

“We were looking so good in practice and then the car was drastically different in qualifying,” Hamilton said, “so we have to take a look at that. But I was giving it everything. What a privilege it is to be one of the 22 drivers who gets to do this. I loved every second of it.”

Russell struggled for grip throughout the session and never looked likely to get into the fight for pole, and he ended up 0.394secs behind his team-mate.

KHLOE Kardashian has joined her sister Kim in Monaco as she supports her boyfriend Lewis Hamilton at the Grand Prix.

The A-list sisters looked effortlessly glam as they were spotted walking through the crowds in the South of France.

Both Khloe, 40, and Kim, 45, went for plunging black tops.

The younger sister paired her outfit with comfy black capri pants, which showed off her very slender legs.

While big sis Kim revealed her tiny waist and toned pins in blue jeans.

Both siblings wore dark shades and were flanked by their entourage.

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The pair were seen chatting happily as they headed towards a waiting boat.

Tomorrow, they will watch Kim’s boyfriend Lewis race in Monaco‘s Grand Prix.

The Sun revealed the couple were dating in February after they were spotted enjoying a romantic getaway in the UK.

The mum-of-four then went public with Lewis in April, when they were spotted kissing in Malibu, California.

They were seen splashing around together at the beach, looking every inch the smitten pair.

Kim and Lewis then went Instagram official as they filmed themselves taking a bike ride.

Kim, who was married to Kanye West, 48, from 2014 to 2022, said last October she could not imagine herself dating another famous man.

She told a podcast that the person “would have to be someone super- special” for her to start another relationship.

Kim explained: “I don’t know if I have the energy or whether I’ve met the right person that I would want to blend my family with.”

On whether she might date another musician or athlete, she added: “Neither. We’re going, like, lawyers and longevity scientists who would give me all their secrets.”

After splitting from Kanye, she dated comedian Pete Davidson and then NFL player Odell Beckham Jr until things fizzled out in April 2024.

While Lewis has not had a serious relationship since he split from Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger in 2015 after almost eight years.

Mercedes would also prefer for the new engines to be turbocharged but is not as trenchant on the idea as Audi.

Ben Sulayem said in an Instagram post this week that he wants V8s to return because they are “lighter, cheaper, safer and louder”.

His idea is effectively a return to the engine regulations F1 last had in 2013 before turbo hybrid engines made their debut in 2014.

The post said: “V8s are lighter, simpler and more cost-effective, while sustainable fuels mean they can remain aligned with our environmental ambitions. Most importantly, they bring back the unique, visceral sound that fans around the world associate with Formula 1.”

No significant research has been undertaken on the topic of whether audiences do want louder engines to return to F1.

An article on BBC Sport on the topic of F1’s future engines last month contained a poll that received 26,000 responses.

The single biggest vote was for a V8 or V6 turbo engine with 30% hybrid capacity, and there was a clear majority for a turbo engine with significant hybrid capability.

Audi has proposed to the FIA that F1 could use a V8 twin turbo engine with a so-called “hot V”, where the turbos are contained within the two cylinder banks.

This is exactly the engine used in a new hypercar Audi launched on Thursday in Antibes near Monaco. The Nuvolari has a four-litre twin turbo engine with 30% hybrid capacity.

Dollner said: “The Nuvolari has a V8 so we don’t have problems with V8 engines. You have to see that in the overall context. So to just pick one question of a regulation is not really answering the overall question, ‘where do you want to go with the regulation?'”

Asked whether there were any deal breakers with regard to the new rules that could threaten Audi’s participation in F1, Dollner said: “No, not right now. As I think and believe and trust that we will have a good discussion regarding the regulation and we will definitely have sustainable fuels.

“That’s not a topic under discussion and it’s more in some areas a philosophical question, but let’s see what the process brings.”

The FIA has the power to impose engine rules for 2031 because the contracts that bind the teams to F1 and the FIA expire after 2030.

But doing so would risk losing manufacturers at a time when the current hybrid rules – which everyone in the sport accepts are flawed and need refining – have attracted General Motors and Ford as well as Audi, and persuaded Honda to reverse a decision to leave.

The Canadian Grand Prix was the race in which the Formula 1 title battle finally came alive this year.

It was also, however, the race in which it took a potentially decisive turn, putting a huge dent in George Russell’s hopes of beating his 19-year-old Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to the championship.

Russell’s retirement from the race came after 30 laps of frenetic battling between the pair which lit up the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on a damp, gloomy day so cold it tempted world champions McLaren into a seemingly inexplicable decision to start the race on a dry track on wet-weather tyres.

Russell’s retirement handed the win to Antonelli, his fourth in a row, and the Italian now has a massive 43-point lead.

Doubtless there are many twists and turns to come in the remaining 17 races. Even so, that will take some recovering.

Afterwards, Russell was stoic but understandably downbeat.

“Right now it’s his to lose,” he said. “He is so many points ahead. It feels like the gods don’t want me to be in this fight, when I look at the safety-car timing in Japan, breaking down in China Q3, fighting for pole, breaking down from the lead here today.

“But, you know, the pressure’s off. Go out, enjoy every single race. Try to win every single race. And I’ve got nothing to lose.

“I don’t want to be stood here talking like that. It is, of course, frustrating, but I want to be in that fight. Hopefully, the luck will turn.”