THE BIG PICTURE: Just when it looks like maybe Antonelli won't run away this season, it looks like Antonelli is going to run away this season.

EVENT: It wasn't all about Max fans this time around, as the Ferrari and Lando (his mother is Belgian) fans made their presence known as well.

TRACK: We get it, but Spa should be on the schedule every year. Not every other year, even if the latter is a saving grace. Spa is worth being greedy about.

QUALIFYING: Antonelli is even more unstoppable, Verstappen pulls another wow moment thanks to Hadjar's help, Norris likes the new engine, Russell salvages the session, Ferrari slots in, Lindblad takes full advantage of upgrades, and Bortoleto is the surprise of qualifying.

RACE: The VSC "saved" this race at the front. But in reality, even then it wasn't really in doubt, despite Leclerc initially pulling away. However, don't overlook the Ferraris ability to contend, Verstappen always being Max, and Russell can't possibly stay down forever.

START: The front row swaps positions back and forth as Antonelli ends up keeping point, Leclerc picks off cars to get to second, and then the big moment as Russell ends up in the gravel trap after clashing with Hamilton.

ANTONELLI: Kimi seems to approach his craft calmer and calmer every race. That's a scary thought.

RUSSELL: His slug of an engine put him in a spot to create the problem with Hamilton.

MERCEDES: The lack of power all weekend for Russell continues to display how inconsistent reliability is with their power units.

LECLERC: For a moment there...

HAMILTON: The crash in FP3 put Lewis on the back foot. The five second penalty just added to it. Hitting his mechanic was the final blow.

FERRARI: Thankfully, not as bad as when Kimi Raikkonen broke the leg of a Ferrari mechanic.

VERSTAPPEN: He knew he didn't have the speed.

HADJAR: To perfectly time the acceleration to hit top speed while your teammate is catching you to provide a tow in qualifying is quite difficult. Combine that with also timing the battery harvesting just right takes a lot of skill. Then, Isack went from the back row to sixth place in the race. He's the real deal.

RED BULL: To macarena or not to macarena.

MCLAREN: Bring us upgrades.

LINDBLAD: Showed the upgrades worked.

LAWSON: Looking forward to those upgrades in the next race.

COLAPINTO: Performed perhaps the pass of the season ... which nobody saw.

ASTON MARTIN: Well, Hungary is going to be put up or shut up time for this team. And for Adrian Newey. They don't need to be world beaters. But they do need to beat Cadillac handily.

FIA: When Russell says it's a racing incident and lays no blame on Hamilton. When Leclerc practically admitted in the cooldown room his move which led to a coming together against Piastri was "calculating." It all kind of makes the stewards look silly in their decisions.

F2: Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen withstood a last lap restart to win the sprint race. For the feature race, the strategy calls were upended by a red flag. Even though Brazilian Rafael Câmara won the feature race from pole leading the most laps, it was anything but easy, as he lost the lead twice, and had to continously hold off challengers.

F3: Seemingly less drivers did not get a penalty after a wild, chaotic qualifying session. When it was all over, Japanese Jin Nakamura won the reverse grid sprint race from fourth starting spot thanks to jumping to second at the start. Mexican Ernesto Rivera made a late race pass for the feature win after also starting fourth. Freddie Slater closed to within one point of Ugo Ugochukwu in the standings.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Alternate.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 2 -- The number of years we have to wait until Spa is back on the calendar.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time an Italian won the Belgian GP was in 1953. Naturally, it was Alberto Ascari in a Ferrari. Ascari's streak of five consecutive pole positions was broken by Juan Manuel Fangio (with a time of 4:30.0 on the old 8.774 mile configuration). However, when initial leader José Froilán González and then Fangio's engines failed, Ascari inherited the lead. He was followed by almost three minutes by his teammate Luigi Villoresi, the only other driver on the lead lap, and Maserati driver Onofre Marimón.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @LeSprintEdition:

"I'm out but damn, the battery in the straight ??? I had zero freaking battery !!!!!! in the straight! Guys, unacceptable... Freaking unacceptable, the whole damn weekend!"

George was more pissed off than ever at Mercedes.

#F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Isack Hadjar explaining how he pulled off the slipstream assistance for Verstappen, "Basically, he decides where he wants it delivered, and I handle the delivery. It's like Deliveroo."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Max Verstappen talking about driving these cars on a venerable track like Spa, and then concluding with, "I don't want to sit here and complain again because probably someone will shoot me outside the door."

SCHEDULE: The macarena wing will be back. Austin Martin will have major upgrades. The track should favor Ferrari. Hungary is looking to be more exciting than usual.

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