Madrid winner Kimi Antonelli on Norris: “Lando deserved the win”

Kimi Antonelli is the first winner at the Madring! The Mercedes driver triumphed on the new Spanish Grand Prix circuit, securing his eighth victory of the season and his 250th overall with a Mercedes engine. The Italian has thus extended his lead in the World Championship standings – partly because George Russell could only manage fifth place.

Antonelli: “It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all. It wasn’t easy to manage the tyres. It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel that good because Lando deserved the win.” Lando Norris had started from pole but had unfortunately dropped back during the first pit stop phase (see summary below). Antonelli: “But of course we’ll take that. It was a good race; we were quick even on the hard tyres at the end.”

With his eighth win of the season, Kimi Antonelli has further extended his lead in the World Championship standings. Yet, despite holding an 81-point lead over his team-mate George Russell, he doesn’t want to think about the title just yet. Antonelli: “I want to take each race as it comes, always give my all and have fun. I’ll continue to give it my all in every race. And let’s see where we end up at the end of the season.”

How the Spanish Grand Prix unfolded:

At the start, pole-setter Lando Norris (McLaren) held his ground. Behind him, things got hectic: Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) surged from 4th to 3rd, whilst in the battle for position, Verstappen went off the track. As a precaution, his Red Bull Racing team advised the Dutchman to give the position back. That also meant letting Kimi Antonelli through. Verstappen complied. However, the incident is likely to spark further debate. Shortly afterwards, race control announced its decision: no further action would be taken against Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton complained of brake problems early on. From lap 4 to lap 6, he went off the track several times, veering into the run-off area at Turn 5 on one occasion. The Briton pulled into the pits – and parked his car due to brake problems. A bitter end to the Grand Prix for the Ferrari driver!

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VSC phase sends Norris tumbling down the order

A brief Virtual Safety Car period in lap 15, as Lance Stroll’s brakes also failed. His Aston Martin came to a standstill at Turn 20 and had to be towed away. Of the top drivers, all but Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) pitted, making him the new race leader. A bitter blow for Lando Norris: as the VSC phase had just ended, he didn’t come into the pits until later and therefore didn’t gain any time advantage. Furthermore, there was a problem with the front-right tyre change. His stop ultimately took seven seconds, and Norris dropped back to 5th place.

Carlos Sainz received a five-second penalty for a manoeuvre against his compatriot Fernando Alonso. On lap 33, Cadillac called Sergio Perez into the pits: they were bringing the car in. The race was over for Perez. Local hero Carlos Sainz also pulled into the garage.

There was little action in the second half of the race: Charles Leclerc continued to lead, but still had a pit stop to make. Had the race continued normally, he could have hoped for 4th place, but he was waiting for a safety car or a red flag – until lap 49. Leclerc (previously on hard tyres) switched to softs for the final laps and dropped back to 4th place. Consequently, Antonelli became the new leader, followed by Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Norris almost caught up with Verstappen again; on lap 56, the two engaged in a close battle, during which Verstappen went off the track. The incident was briefly investigated, but Verstappen was cleared of any wrongdoing shortly after the chequered flag. Pierre Gasly was handed a 5-second penalty shortly after the chequered flag.

Behind the podium, Charles Leclerc finished fourth, George Russell fifth and Liam Lawson sixth. Nico Hülkenberg picked up a point in tenth place.