Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix at its new venue on the outskirts of Madrid on Sunday, benefiting from a badly timed Lando Norris pit stop to claim a race he never should have won. Max Verstappen finished second, with Norris a distant third.
Norris had converted a strong pole position into a lead of more than six seconds over the 20-year-old Antonelli inside the first 15 laps, driving more assuredly than the Mercedes driver, who ran off the track at least twice but was holding on to second place.
Fortune then swung Antonelli's way when Lance Stroll's Aston Martin crashed into the wall after his brakes appeared to fail, triggering a virtual safety car. Norris had already passed the pit-lane entrance by that point. Antonelli had not, and was called in for a cheap stop while the field was slowed.
Norris had to wait until the following lap for his tyre change, a decisive delay, and his stop lasted a lengthy 7.0 seconds. He emerged in fifth place, 13 seconds behind Antonelli, his chances of victory extinguished in an instant.
"We didn't do anything that made us lose it and I am not complaining," Norris said. "We were just insanely unlucky. I was the only one of the whole grid who didn't get a chance to do a pit stop. I felt like I deserved more."
Asked about the virtual safety car rules, Norris said: "It is a stupid rule and the issue has been brought up many times over the years by different drivers. Perhaps you shouldn't be able to pit for a lap or you block the pit entry. There are things that can be done or make it more simple and fairer, but it is part of a wider discussion. It is something all drivers would want. It is complicated, but I hope it doesn't happen to anyone again. It is not the way a race should be lost."
Antonelli closing in on record
Antonelli is now edging towards becoming Formula One's youngest world champion, on course to eclipse Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 when he first won the title. He is only in his second season in the sport. The win in Madrid was his eighth of the campaign, following victory at Monza a week earlier in front of his home crowd, where Ferrari's disappointing form meant much of the celebration fell to him instead.
Championship standings
Antonelli's lead over his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who finished fifth and has won twice this season, stands at 81 points with nine rounds remaining. Norris is 106 points behind. Lewis Hamilton, who retired after six laps with brake problems, trails by 101 points.
Hamilton and Verstappen clash
Hamilton and Verstappen collided on the opening lap, with Verstappen passing the Briton to move into second place. "He has to give the place back," Hamilton said. Verstappen countered: "He was out of control."
Red Bull instructed Verstappen to yield the position, prompting a furious response over the radio to his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase: "Mate, what the f*** are you guys going on about?" He eventually complied, handing the place back in a race with little other overtaking. Hamilton soon dropped down the order with his technical issue. "I hit the brake, the car started stopping and then the pedal took a step and, all of a sudden, the car didn't decelerate as fast as it would normally," he explained.
Leclerc and the finish
Charles Leclerc brought the second Ferrari home in fourth place, having led for a long period before a late pit stop. Antonelli resumed the lead and crossed the line 4.3 seconds ahead of runner-up Verstappen, with Norris just 0.7 seconds further back after chasing Verstappen to the flag to secure the final podium spot.
Antonelli's race engineer, Peter Bonnington, praised the performance afterwards. "Beautiful work, an absolute masterclass," he said. Bonnington, known as Bono, was previously Hamilton's race engineer during his title-winning years at Mercedes.
