Why was Hamilton penalised but not Leclerc? - F1 Q&A

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to extend his lead at the top of the drivers' championship to 45 points.

Antonelli's team-mate George Russell retired from the race following an opening-lap collision with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

Russell has now dropped to third in the standings, with Hamilton replacing him in second place after finishing fourth.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was second behind Antonelli and Red Bull's Max Verstappen completed the podium in third.

BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions after the race at Spa-Francorchamps.

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If Lewis Hamilton received a five-second time penalty for what appeared to me to be a racing incident between himself and George Russell, then how did Charles Leclerc get away with the Oscar Piastri incident where he clearly didn't leave enough room for the McLaren driver? - John

The stewards' justifications for these two different incidents were based on a number of factors, many related to the Formula 1 drivers' guidelines.

In the case of the collision between Hamilton and Russell on the first lap, the decision stated that Russell had got his car far enough alongside Hamilton's Ferrari on the outside as they approached the corner to be making a legitimate overtaking attempt and therefore was "entitled to racing room".

They went on to say that the collision between the two cars was triggered by Hamilton's car sliding and that he hit Russell's car despite "applying corrective steering".

Russell "remained within the available racing room and the collision was caused by [Hamilton] being unable to maintain sufficient separation".

Hamilton was therefore "wholly at fault for the collision".

The normal penalty in these circumstances is 10 seconds. This was reduced to five in Hamilton's case because he "acknowledged the presence of [Russell], attempted to leave appropriate racing room and made a genuine attempt to avoid contact".

In addition, the incident was not caused by "an aggressive or deliberate manoeuvre", and it was on the opening lap, when more leeway is applied.

As for the incident between Leclerc and Piastri, again the racing rules were applied to the letter.

The stewards ruled that Piastri was not far enough alongside the Ferrari to be entitled to the same treatment as Russell.

This was because while he had "some overlap", Piastri's "front axle… was not ahead of the front axle [of Leclerc] and there was no possibility of completing an overtake from that position".

Objectively, it's hard to disagree with their conclusion up to that point.

The next part of the ruling was more subjective.

"[Leclerc] did not deliberately crowd [Piastri] off the edge of the track. [He] followed the racing line before the entry to Turn Five by moving slightly to the left… and side to side contact occurred between the two cars".

There was an interesting episode in the green room before the podium. , externalThis incident played out on the television while Leclerc was sitting watching with Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.

Leclerc's eyes widened and he sucked in a breath as he watched the contact, and he said: "This one was…"

Verstappen interrupted and said: "Was calculated." Leclerc looked at him, they both laughed and then Leclerc sat back looking sheepish and put his cap over his face.

It's clear he recognised the move was on the edge, and a case can be made that he did not comply with the rule that says a driver defending their position by changing line must leave a car's width on the outside if they move back to the racing line.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was asked for his view after the race.

He said he had not yet reviewed the stewards' reasoning, but added: "When the cars are staying alongside each other for such a long time, we should make sure that the car that is not on the racing line, because it's defending the inside, does leave enough space, because if there's a contact that is not controlled, then the crash is going to be very big."

I'm sure I read somewhere that this weekend was a record attendance for a Belgian Grand Prix. Given that, and the clear love that drivers and fans share for Spa, it seems ridiculous it won't be on the calendar every year, while far less popular circuits are remaining. Does the FIA care about the views of the fans and drivers or is it all about what races pay the most? - Tom