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

- Antonelli near-perfect but too much drama for Hamilton - driver ratings - Published1 day ago - Russell 'numb to disappointment' after bitter blow to title hopes - Published1 day ago 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.