Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix after a badly timed virtual safety car (VSC) denied McLaren’s Lando Norris a likely victory.
Norris had started from pole and was leading comfortably when the VSC was deployed on lap 15. However, the timing worked heavily against the world champion, who had already passed the pit entry when the caution was called.
Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were able to pit under the VSC and gain valuable time, while Norris had to complete another lap before he could make his stop.
When Norris eventually pitted, a slow stop dropped him to fifth and left him with a difficult recovery drive around the new Madring circuit in Madrid.
Overtaking proved extremely difficult on the new track, limiting Norris to third place at the chequered flag.
The victory was Antonelli’s eighth in 14 races this season and further strengthened his position at the top of the championship.
He now leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell by 81 points after Russell finished fifth following a difficult race and a strategy that failed to work in his favour.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, retired early with brake failure and is now 101 points behind Antonelli.
Antonelli admitted after the race that Norris had been unfortunate.
“It’s good to win but it doesn’t feel as good because Lando deserved to win,” he said.
Norris, who had been chasing his third victory of the season, accepted the result and remained optimistic about his chances later in the campaign.
“We’ll take it on the chin. There could be more wins this year,” he said.
The inaugural Madring race highlighted the importance of timing and track design.
Norris’ VSC misfortune transformed a dominant race into a fight for the podium, while Antonelli benefited from the same caution period and continued a remarkable run of form.
The race also exposed the limitations of the new circuit, which was designed from scratch but offered few obvious overtaking opportunities.
For Antonelli, however, the result was another major step towards championship glory, while Norris was left to wonder what might have been.
