ANTONELLI WINS IN MADRID AS VSC TIMING COSTS NORRIS THE VICTORY - Motorsportsclicks

Kimi Antonelli has won the Spanish Grand Prix, the first Formula 1 race ever held at the Madring in Madrid. The Mercedes driver crossed the line 4.4 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with pole-sitter Lando Norris third, in a race decided more by strategy and timing than by overtaking. It is Antonelli’s eighth win of the season, and he now leads team-mate George Russell by 81 points in the championship.

Teams chose very different tyres for the start. Norris and Antonelli, side by side on the front row, went for the medium tyre, while Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton started on the soft. Charles Leclerc, Russell and Oscar Piastri chose the hard. Oliver Bearman started from the pit lane after his heavy crash in final practice, while Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz started at the back because of grid penalties.

When the lights went out, Norris kept the lead. Antonelli tried to pass him twice, but both times he went off track at the first chicane and had to give the place back. Verstappen took advantage and moved into second, but Hamilton complained that the Red Bull driver had kept his position by cutting Turn 1. Red Bull told Verstappen to give the place back, and the Dutchman let both Antonelli and Hamilton through. Further back, Russell and Piastri touched on the opening lap, leaving the McLaren driver with a damaged front wing.

Hamilton’s race did not last long. The Ferrari driver was struggling with his brakes, with the pedal suddenly going long, and he quickly dropped behind Verstappen and Leclerc. Ferrari called him in to retire on lap 7, his first retirement of the 2026 season. Team principal Fred Vasseur said the team does not yet know the cause and will investigate.

At the front, Norris set a strong pace and built a lead of 4.5 seconds, while Antonelli lost time with an off-track moment and was struggling more with his tyres. Behind them, Russell asked his team for a different strategy to get past Leclerc. The two home drivers had a difficult afternoon: Fernando Alonso and Sainz collided at Turn 5, and the stewards gave Sainz a five-second penalty.

The key moment came when Stroll stopped his Aston Martin at Turn 20 with a brake failure. A Virtual Safety Car was called just after Norris had passed the pit entry, so Mercedes and Red Bull brought in Antonelli, Russell and Verstappen for a cheaper stop. The VSC was short, and Norris had to pit once the race was back to normal speed. A slow stop of around seven seconds made things worse, and he rejoined fifth, behind Leclerc, who had not stopped, Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell.

Ferrari then kept Leclerc out on the hard tyres he had used since the start, hoping for a Safety Car or red flag that would give him a cheaper stop. Antonelli stayed around two seconds behind the Ferrari and told his team that the steering felt strange, but Mercedes found no problem in the data and warned him about track limits. Norris got past Russell when Mercedes called the Briton in for a second stop, and then spent many laps stuck behind Verstappen.

With no interruption coming, Ferrari finally called Leclerc in at the end of lap 48, and he rejoined fourth on soft tyres. Antonelli then pushed hard and pulled away, despite brushing the wall in the closing laps. Norris had his best chance for second when Verstappen cut Turn 5, but although he drew alongside the Red Bull, he could not complete the move. The stewards noted Verstappen’s moment after the finish.

Leclerc struggled on the soft tyres but held on to fourth, just 0.7 seconds ahead of Russell. Liam Lawson finished sixth in his third weekend standing in for Isack Hadjar at Red Bull, ahead of Franco Colapinto, Alpine’s only scorer, and Piastri. Arvid Lindblad beat Nico Hülkenberg in a late fight for the last points, with Esteban Ocon just missing out in eleventh. Sergio Pérez retired with a suspected water system problem, and Sainz did not finish his home race.

After the race, Antonelli said it had been a difficult afternoon with a lot of tyre management, and admitted that he felt Norris deserved the win. Formula 1 now has a short break before the first triple-header of the season, which starts with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku from 24 to 26 September.