Kimi Antonelli wins in Madrid after a VSC that ruins Norris's race

Kimi Antonelli wins the first Grand Prix held on the Madring ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the big loser of a virtual safety car.

Kimi Antonelli continues to impose his law on this 2026 season. The Mercedes driver won the first Spanish Grand Prix held on the new Madring circuit, notably benefiting from a virtual safety car that completely disrupted a race until then dominated by Lando Norris.

Starting from pole, the McLaren driver seemed to perfectly control the race before getting trapped at the time of the first stops. Antonelli then gained a decisive strategic advantage before resisting Verstappen and Norris in the final laps. Charles Leclerc finished fourth after leading for a long time thanks to an alternate strategy, while George Russell completed the top 5.

A completely chaotic start

Norris perfectly defended his pole at the lights out, but the first lap immediately caused several contentious situations. Antonelli and Verstappen notably cut some parts of the circuit amid a particularly confusing battle.

Antonelli quickly gave back the lead to Norris. Verstappen found himself second after overtaking the Mercedes driver, while Hamilton was in fourth place ahead of Leclerc. Ferrari immediately contested the Dutchman’s position, believing he had benefited from going off track during his duel with Hamilton.

Red Bull eventually asked Verstappen to give back the positions. Furious on the radio, the four-time world champion nevertheless complied on the fourth lap, letting Antonelli then Hamilton pass to drop back to fourth place.

Hamilton retires as early as the seventh lap

Hamilton did not benefit from the situation for long. After slightly touching a wall, the Briton quickly reported a much more worrying problem: his brakes were no longer responding properly.

The Ferrari driver first cut a chicane before letting Verstappen then Leclerc pass. A spin in a runoff area then confirmed the extent of his difficulties. Hamilton finally returned to the pits to retire on the seventh lap, ending his streak of finished races in 2026.

Up front, Norris had already pulled away. By the eighth lap, the Briton had about a four-second lead over Antonelli, while Verstappen was pushed back to nine seconds. Everything then seemed to indicate that McLaren had the fastest car.

The VSC turns Norris’s race upside down

The turning point of the Grand Prix came on lap 14 when Lance Stroll stopped in a runoff area, causing the deployment of the virtual safety car. Antonelli, Verstappen, Russell, and several other drivers immediately took advantage of the neutralization to make their stops at a lower cost.

Norris did not have this luck. The Briton could not pit immediately and the neutralization ended before his pit stop. His stop then went badly and he only emerged in fifth position, more than 17 seconds behind the leader.

Leclerc, who had not yet made his stop, then found himself in the lead ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen. In a few moments, Norris had gone from a race he was comfortably controlling to a long recovery operation.

Leclerc tries the gamble of a very late stop

Ferrari chose to extend Leclerc’s first stint as long as possible. With his aging hard tires, the Monegasque kept the lead for much of the race, while Antonelli managed his pace behind him.

The Mercedes driver even deliberately let the gap increase for a few laps to cool his brakes. A strange sensation in his steering also caused some concerns, but his team quickly reassured him.

Meanwhile, Norris gradually regained his impressive early race pace. After 35 laps, he was only four seconds behind Verstappen. A few laps later, the top four were grouped together, Leclerc gradually slowing with his worn tires.

Ferrari had long hoped that another neutralization would offer an ideal opportunity for its driver. But at the end of lap 48, Leclerc finally had to stop to avoid falling behind Russell. He emerged fourth with soft tires.

Antonelli resists Verstappen and Norris

With less than ten laps to go, the real battle for victory could finally begin. Antonelli had only seven tenths of a second lead over Verstappen, while Norris followed less than two seconds behind the leader.

The Mercedes driver did not falter. Despite some very close passages to the walls, Antonelli quickly managed to extend his lead beyond a second, depriving Verstappen of a real chance to attack. Behind, Norris put considerable pressure on the Red Bull without finding an opening.

The Briton had a last chance on the penultimate lap when the leading trio encountered backmarkers. Norris got very close to Verstappen, but the lack of overtaking opportunities on the Madring prevented him from turning this pressure into an attack.

Antonelli first winner in history at the Madring

Kimi Antonelli finally crossed the line as the winner and made history by becoming the first driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix on the Madring. The championship leader thus continues his impressive season and further extends his lead in the overall standings.

Verstappen finished second after a turbulent race, while Norris had to settle for third place. A necessarily frustrating result for the reigning world champion, who had dominated the early part of the race before being trapped by the timing of the virtual safety car deployment.

Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Russell, while Lawson secured a solid sixth place. Colapinto took seventh ahead of Piastri, Lindblad, and Hülkenberg, who completed the top 10.

For Norris, the result will inevitably leave regrets. For Antonelli, it is on the contrary another valuable victory in the title race, achieved with a Mercedes perfectly positioned to seize the opportunity when the Grand Prix turned.

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