Antonelli wins in Madrid as a mistimed VSC costs Norris the race

Kimi Antonelli won the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new Madring circuit, beating Max Verstappen by 4.3 seconds and Lando Norris by 5.0 seconds to extend his championship lead over teammate George Russell to 81 points. The result turned on a virtual safety car that struck at the worst possible moment for Norris, who had just passed the pit lane entry when it was called.

How the race was decided

Norris, who had taken pole by just 0.011 seconds over Antonelli, led the early stages of the race. The turning point came when Lance Stroll went off track, triggering a virtual safety car immediately after Norris passed the pit lane entrance. With no way to pit in time, the Briton was forced to complete an entire lap at reduced VSC speed before he could stop, by which point the race had already gone back to green.

Drivers who had already pitted during the VSC period gained a decisive time advantage. Antonelli, who stopped during the neutralisation, effectively took the real race lead at that point, based on elapsed time rather than track position. A slow pit stop for Norris made his situation even worse.

On track, however, Charles Leclerc remained in front for a long stretch, having chosen to stay out under the VSC on hard tyres in the hope of a full safety car that never came. Ferrari made its only stop late in the race, once it was clear no further interruptions were coming, and Leclerc slipped to fourth. Antonelli, having already secured the effective race lead, held on to the finish ahead of Verstappen, while Norris recovered to third in a race that was otherwise short on overtaking. George Russell finished fifth, less than a second behind Leclerc, unable to find a way past.

Further down the order

Behind the top five, Liam Lawson brought the second Red Bull home in sixth, ahead of Franco Colapinto and Oscar Piastri, the last driver to finish on the lead lap. British rookie Arvid Lindblad, just 19 years old, held off a fast finishing Nico Hülkenberg to take ninth for Racing Bulls, with the Audi driver rounding out the points in tenth.

Retirements

Lewis Hamilton, who had recovered as high as third, was forced out on lap seven with a brake failure, ending his run as the only driver to have completed every lap of the 2026 season so far. Lance Stroll, Sergio Pérez and home favourite Carlos Sainz also failed to finish, in an otherwise fairly uneventful debut for the Madring circuit.

Spanish Grand Prix result, Madring