Hamilton Penalised, Leclerc Walks Free | Belgian GP Review 2026

Lewis Hamilton got five seconds for a 50/50 first-lap incident. Charles Leclerc practically ran Oscar Piastri off the road at the end of the Kemmel Straight and got nothing. We're not sure the stewards watched the same race we did.

In this episode, Chris and Tom review the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, the last one at Spa for a couple of years. George Russell's afternoon ends before turn six and his frustration with his power unit boils over, Kimi Antonelli takes a sixth win of the season with a drive well beyond his years, Isack Hadjar carves from P21 to P6, and Franco Colapinto pulls off the move of the race that F1's TV direction somehow forgot to show us.

Plus: our Prediction League and Fantasy results, and a look ahead to Hungary where Aston Martin's B-spec car is going to change everything. Allegedly.

CHAPTERS0:00 Intro - Goodbye to Spa, for now1:45 Russell's first-lap retirement & deployment woes6:50 Should Mercedes have taken the engine penalty here?11:14 Antonelli wins again — the mature championship drive12:26 Ferrari's pace: Leclerc keeps it honest13:59 Leclerc crowds Piastri — and gets nothing17:31 The Hamilton/Russell penalty: policing the outcome21:41 Hamilton's race unravels: pit lane chaos & damage25:22 Verstappen's podium and a perfect Hadjar tow26:12 Hadjar P21 to P6 — drive of the weekend?29:28 Norris & McLaren's strategy miss33:06 Bortoleto's run continues, Hulkenberg's doesn't34:19 RB vs Alpine, and Haas' upgrade that wasn't35:27 Driver of the Day36:04 Move of the Day37:48 WTF Moment:v TV direction, Perez's halo passenger & Stroll's DRS45:49 Prediction League results47:19 Fantasy League standings (F1 Fantasy & Grid Rival)48:13 Hungary preview — the great Aston Martin hype53:43 Our Hungarian GP predictions57:46 Wrap up (and a very strange episode next week)

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Back of the Grid is a weekly Formula 1 podcast made by fans, for fans. New episodes every Tuesday during the season.

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