Here’s how the pit stop that secured Kimi Antonelli’s Madrid victory unfolded

A few seconds and a touch of luck – or bad luck – can decide the outcome of a Formula 1 race. That was certainly the case on Sunday in Madrid at the Spanish Grand Prix. A pit stop phase changed everything for pole-sitter Lando Norris (McLaren) and his closest rival Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): during a virtual safety car period early in the race, Antonelli was lucky and got everything right – whilst Norris was unlucky, costing him the win.

3 decisive seconds

Mercedes reacted in a flash when an opportunity for a strategic masterstroke presented itself on lap 14/15. Everything ran smoothly, from the command centre – with team principal Toto Wolff, the strategy team and Antonelli’s race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington – right down to Antonelli in the car. Wolff said after the race: “I’m really pleased with how the move went. From the moment we gave the ‘Let’s go’ signal to Bono and then into Kimi’s ear, it was perhaps three seconds. That was very positive.”

Antonelli revealed after the race that he had already slowed down in the final third of the circuit to keep his options open for a pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car. Clever! Lance Stroll had been forced to stop at Turn 20 due to a brake problem. It was lap 14. Initially there were yellow flags, but it looked as though at least one Virtual Safety Car (VSC) would be needed on the narrow circuit to safely recover the Aston Martin. And that it would happen quickly. The calculated time loss for a pit stop under the VSC was minus 13 seconds for the Madring, rather than minus 20 seconds. Thanks to forward-thinking planning and swift communication, Mercedes secured the advantage: Antonelli slowed down to be in front of the pit lane entrance at the start of a VSC phase. And he made up that time in the end. He pitted with a time saving, whilst Lando Norris had just passed him and came away empty-handed.

Lucky to be second

However, the Stuttgart-based team also benefited from not being in the lead. Wolff: “This time, it was an advantage to be second on the track.” Lando Norris, who was in first place at that point, had just passed the pit lane entrance at the start of the VSC phase. Even if he’d slowed down, it probably wouldn’t have helped. Consequently, he didn’t pit until the end of the brief VSC phase and was the one left out in the cold. To make matters worse, there was a hiccup during his tyre change, leaving him in the pits for seven seconds instead of the usual two. That’s how Antonelli got past – and ultimately drove to victory.

The timing was bad luck for Norris and good luck for Antonelli. Wolff: “I somehow feel that we deserved it. There have been so many VSCs and safety cars this year that have gone against us, so this is the first time they’ve gone in our favour.” The racing gods were clearly on Mercedes’ side in Madrid.

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