Kimi Antonelli won the first Spanish Grand Prix in more than 40 years on Sunday, finishing ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris after a short appearance by the virtual safety car bumped pole sitter Norris from the lead.
The victory gave Antonelli, 20, his eighth Formula 1 Grand Prix victory of the season — his second in a row after winning in his native Italy last week. He increased his lead in the drivers’ standings to 81 points over Mercedes teammate George Russell.
On Lap 14 of 57, Norris had a 6.2-second lead. But when the car of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll came to a stop at Turn 20 due to a braking issue, the virtual safety car was used to slow down the speed of the drivers. Antonelli, Russell and Verstappen chose to take pit stops, but Norris already had passed pit lane by the time the VSC was deployed.
Norris took his pit stop at the next available opportunity, but the VSC was no longer in use and the cars were back to full speed. Between that, and a relatively slow stop that took seven seconds, Norris was in fifth place by the time he returned to the race at the new Madring circuit in Madrid.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took over the lead and held it for 30 laps on hard tires. The team took a gamble by trying to wait for another VSC to pit but there never was one. He pitted for soft tires on Lap 49 and had fallen to fourth place.
Max Verstappen then was the leader, and when Verstappen’s brakes locked on Lap 55, it cost him any shot at the top spot on the podium.
Antonelli was first by 4.351 seconds over Verstappen and by 5.089 seconds ahead of Norris. Leclerc was a distant fourth, followed by Russell in fifth
After the race, Antonelli said the victory didn’t feel the same as others this season had.
“It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tires,” he said. “It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win. But overall, you know, we’ll take it. Other than that, it was a very strong race.”
Brake issues also forced Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who entered the day third in the drivers’ standings, to leave the circuit on Lap 9. He now trails Antonelli by 101 points.
Mercedes stretched its lead in the team standings over Ferrari to 145 points with 503 total points.
“There’s no stopping him or Mercedes this year,” Hamilton told Sky Sports in an interview. “They’ve done a phenomenal job, and they deserve it.”
The Spanish Grand Prix made its return this season after being taken off the calendar in 1981.
The season has nine remaining races, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next on Sept. 26.
–Field Level Media
