Kimi Antonelli Wins First Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring After VSC Costs Norris

MADRID. Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, the first race at the new Madring, beating Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing by 4.351 seconds. Polesitter Lando Norris finished third for McLaren after a Virtual Safety Car came out at the wrong moment for him.

It was the Mercedes driver's eighth win of the season and his second in a row after Monza, and it pushed his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 81 points over teammate George Russell, who was fifth.

"It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres," Antonelli said. "It's good to win, but it doesn't feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win. But overall, you know, we'll take it."

The VSC swing

Norris took pole with what he called one of the best laps of his career, after Lewis Hamilton and then Antonelli had gone fastest. Norris held the lead at the start as Antonelli cut two corners trying to pass him. Antonelli did not need to pass on track. A Virtual Safety Car for Lance Stroll's stopped Aston Martin played into Mercedes' hands, Antonelli gained the net lead in the stops, and a slow stop for Norris dropped him behind both Antonelli and Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc did not stop under the VSC and led until he gave up hoping for a Safety Car and pitted after 48 laps. Antonelli took control from there despite worries about his steering and had strong pace on hard tyres at the end. Leclerc finished fourth.

The rest of the order

Liam Lawson was sixth in the second Red Bull, filling in for the injured Isack Hadjar. Franco Colapinto was seventh as Alpine's only scorer, ahead of Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls and Nico Hulkenberg of Audi. Yuki Tsunoda was 14th in his third weekend back with Racing Bulls.

Esteban Ocon just missed the points in 11th for Haas. Hamilton, who briefly held provisional pole on Saturday, retired early with a brake problem after a dispute with Verstappen over a position on the opening lap, and Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Stroll also did not finish. Several drivers crashed in practice on the new circuit, and Ollie Bearman started from the pit lane with a new chassis.

The win came a week after Antonelli's comeback victory at Monza.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 14 of the 2026 season. It came after Antonelli's win from 19th on the grid at Monza and before Russell's win in Baku. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Richard Pardon / Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team