Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli moved one step closer to a maiden world championship after profiting from a McLaren strategy error to take victory in the TAG Heuer Spanish Grand Prix (Sept.13).
Still riding on a high from a stellar comeback victory at Monza, Antonelli made a well-timed pit stop under the virtual safety car, enabling him to snatch the lead from polesitter Lando Norris. Norris missed the window to pit under the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), allowing Antonelli to take the net race lead and extend his lead in the championship.
“It’s good to win, and I think the pace at the end was good,” said Antonelli in the FIA post-race press conference. “But if I have to be realistic and honest, you know, today we didn’t deserve to win. Lando deserved to win today, and so I think our result was probably P2 or even P3.
“So, you know, I just didn’t do a good enough job at the start, being a bit too aggressive and then putting myself in a bad position. So yeah, definitely things to work on. But all in all, you know, today went well, and I’m happy with that. But yeah, we’re just going to try to be better in Baku.”
Max Verstappen returned to the podium with second ahead of a dejected Norris, who lost a third win of the year through no fault of his own. Charles Leclerc had a sojourn in the lead on course to fourth ahead of George Russell, who endured another demoralising day at the office.
Liam Lawson came home sixth for what is likely to be his final outing at Red Bull, with Franco Colapinto best of the midfield in seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg.
In the Drivers’ Championship, Antonelli leads Russell by 81 points, 292 to 211, with Lewis Hamilton over 100 points adrift in third after retiring through brake problems.
In the race for the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes are 145 points clear of Ferrari, 503 to 358, with McLaren way back in third on 306.
The race
From pole, Norris got a great launch off the line, only to find himself under attack from Antonelli, who ran out of room and had to straightline Turn 1. Antonelli ran wide later in the lap, putting Verstappen also under scrutiny for incidents with Hamilton at Turn 1, moving up to second.
All of this was good news to Norris, who pulled out a lead of over a second on Verstappen and Antonelli, with Hamilton leading his teammate Leclerc and Russell to complete a fairly clean opening lap of racing.
Despite his protestations, the threat of a penalty forced Verstappen to give up two spots to Antonelli and Hamilton. But Hamilton’s race fell to pieces through brake troubles, dropping him to last before calling it a day on Lap 7.
Norris was leading by over five seconds when the VSC was deployed on Lap 14 after Lance Stroll became the next to exit with brake issues. But McLaren missed the free pitstop window, and Norris stayed out while Antonelli and Verstappen pitted for a new set of hard tires.
Adding insult to injury, Norris pitted just as the VSC was ending and suffered a slow stop, dropping him down to fifth and promoting Leclerc into the lead ahead of Antonelli.
Norris’ frustrating afternoon saw him glued to the back of Russell’s gearbox in their fight for fourth, which ended when Russell stopped for a second time on Lap 29, rejoining sixth.
Ferrari’s strategy of waiting for a safety car wasn’t working, and with Antonelli closing the gap to Leclerc to just over a second, it was a matter of when, not if, the Italian would retake the lead. However, Antonelli couldn’t relax either, as Verstappen and Norris bore down on him and Leclerc.
Eventually Ferrari conceded defeat and pitted Leclerc for a fresh set of soft tires on Lap 48, freeing up Antonelli to pull away from Verstappen and an attacking Norris. Both drivers made mistakes at the Turn 5 chicane, with Verstappen noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on Lap 56.
But the stewards took no further action, and Verstappen was able to cruise home to finish second behind Antonelli, who cruised home to take career win number eight.
The bad
The previous weekend at Monza had been an abject disaster for Hamilton, as he found himself in the eye of a storm after he chastised Ferrari’s lack of rules in handing their two drivers. At Madrid, despite a solid opening day of practice, as well as the relationship between him and Leclerc fully repaired, Hamilton’s weekend started to unravel during final practice with a crash at Turn 22.
Hamilton attempted to drag his stricken Ferrari back into the pits while arguing with his team over fears that he could be penalised for not stopping a damaged car.
After avoiding a penalty, Hamilton repaid his mechanics’ efforts by out-qualifying Leclerc to take fourth, which he retained on the opening lap. But hopes of securing a Spanish double went out the window when brake problems caused Hamilton to drop to last before eventually retiring on Lap 7, sealing his first non-score of the year.
F1’s return to Madrid was particularly special for Carlos Sainz, who looked to end a wretched run of form by scoring points in his home town. Although the Williams, with its 1981-inspired special livery, looked fast, on-track it wasn’t, as Sainz found out when he was knocked out in Q1.
To make matters worse, Sainz was found to have blocked Valtteri Bottas in Q1, earning him a three-place grid drop, relegating him from 17th to 20th. After slamming into Yuki Tsunoda at the start, Sainz played bumper cars with his idol Fernando Alonso, culminating in him squeezing his compatriot into the wall, wrecking his front wing.
Sainz’s antics earned him a five-second time penalty from the stewards, dropping him to the tail of the field before eventually retiring on Lap 46, capping off a truly awful home weekend.
As for the Madring, despite concerns over potential carnage, the cream of Spanish society came to see a damp squib. The hard tyres proved indestructible, and with the circuit packed with tight corners, strategy blunders rather than individual brilliance decided the destiny of the race.
Even Miami, known for producing races so boring it makes fans doomscroll through food delivery apps, isn’t this bad.
The good
It appears Antonelli is getting quite accustomed to the taste of the winner’s champagne, even if he had to give second best to Norris in Madrid. Antonelli had a wild first lap with two trips across the run-off area, forcing him to regroup quickly.
However, Antonelli’s luck hadn’t decided to go on vacation, as his pitstop under the VSC helped him take the net race lead and, with it, control of proceedings. Once Leclerc was out of the way, Antonelli cruised home to deal another substantial blow to his title rivals, who appear powerless to stop the young Italian’s romp to the title.
But what could have been for Norris after a weekend where he shined brightest in the Spanish sunshine. Up until the final seconds of qualifying, Norris wasn’t a factor in the fight for pole, but after a storming final run, pole was his, much to the surprise of the reigning world champion.
Norris maintained his electric pace with a strong opening stint, building a huge gap over Antonelli and Verstappen, and looked poised to take victory. However, it wasn’t to be, as a slow and badly timed stop snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, a poor reward for a superb weekend.
Keeping Norris company in the final stint was an upbeat Verstappen, now armed with a Red Bull capable of fighting for podiums. The Dutchman appeared to be a good bet for pole position after a strong start to qualifying, only for a sluggish final sector to relegate him to row two.
While he was left ranting about ‘mickey mouse racing’ after being ordered to let both Antonelli and Hamilton past after shortcutting Turn 1, Verstappen calmed down and eventually retook third. The four-time world champion then put on a defensive driving clinic to seal second, giving Red Bull some hope heading into the latter stages of 2026.
Grid walk
With the Madring featuring a narrow grid, there was little room to hide from Mr. Brundle. His first catch was Verstappen, who talked briefly about the tyres before swooping in on tennis ace Rafa Nadal despite near contact with his Austrian counterpart.
As the circuit is located around Real Madrid’s training ground, it was inevitable Brundle would bump into the stars of one of Europe’s most successful football club. Vinicius Jr stopped briefly for a chat while Thibaut Courtois and Jude Bellingham stayed for longer.
Once the stars of Real Madrid departed, Brundle spoke with some familiar faces, including an excited Zak Brown, the Audi drivers and Ollie Bearman. But there was one more catch from the stars of Real Madrid. The special one, Jose Mourinho himself, a big F1 fan and hopeful of visiting Portimao when it returns to the F1 calendar in 2027.
The driver
While Antonelli took the honours, it was Norris who received the acclaim from his fellow rivals.
Few would have predicted Norris for pole after McLaren had a quiet opening day of practice where they looked behind the Mercedes’ and Ferraris. But Norris is a master of leaving it late to take pole, as he demonstrated in Madrid, pulling off a masterful final run to seal his third pole position in four races.
Norris’ first stint was mighty, and if it weren’t for a poorly timed VSC, the Brit could have won by even more.
But it wasn’t to be, and Norris had to settle for third after a weekend of what-ifs.
F1 Glossary word of the day
La Monumental: A fast corner with 500 metres of banking at 13:5 degrees where the drivers keep their foot to the floor. The party piece of the Madring, La Monumental was universally praised by the drivers, who attacked it with gusto during the weekend.
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