In the right place at the right time
The first edition of the Spanish GP on the new Madrid circuit rewarded Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with his eighth win of the season. A victory that, unlike the previous ones, was this time dictated by luck for the young world championship leader, who jumped to the top of the race standings thanks to a decisive incident: following Lance Stroll’s retirement due to a brake problem, the Race Direction imposed the Virtual Safety Car regime on lap 14. At that very moment, however, Lando Norris was on the finish straight, while Antonelli and Verstappen seized the opportunity to pit and fit Hard tires, making a single stop. Consequently, when Norris returned to the pit lane, the McLaren Englishman slipped to 3rd place in the standings (also due to a problem during the tire change), wasting the chance for victory after pole position.
Read more 2026 Constructors’ Championship: the standings after the Spanish GP
The admission
With this victory Antonelli further extends his lead in the world championship standings over Russell and Hamilton, who was also forced to retire due to a brake problem, but the Bolognese showed less enthusiasm: “Surely this was not the way I wanted to win – he admitted to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 – I think today the result I deserved was 2nd. Norris deserved the win, and I felt sorry for him. On our side I think there was very good communication between me and Bono (Peter Bonnington, ed.), because he had warned me about the Virtual Safety Car. At that moment I tried to slow down a bit in the last sector to see if I could catch it just before entering the pit. It was perfect timing, the wheel obviously turns and this time it went well for us. It can happen that in the next races things might go the other way, so you have to try to maximize all the opportunities given to me and try to get the best possible result.”
Don’t talk about the world championship
Antonelli then added further considerations about the last laps of the race, during which he was in second position behind Leclerc, who was forced to pit for a tire change: “The last laps were not easy, especially all those behind Leclerc. I didn’t know whether to put pressure or save the tires. So it was a bit of a difficult situation, but I have to say I was very, very patient. When he pitted I had a clear track and I was able to do my pace.”
Read more Verstappen mocks Madring: “Keeping Norris behind? Just had to put the car in the middle”
A very important victory then for the developments of the world championship standings and for the leadership, but Antonelli does not think about the world championship at all: “I still don’t think about it – he concluded – there are still 8 or 9 races, so you have to keep doing your best because you never know how things might go, so it’s important to always try to do our best!”.
