Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix after McLaren’s Lando Norris lost out because of the bad timing of a virtual safety car.
Norris was leading comfortably from pole position when the VSC was called on lap 15. The timing was terrible for the world champion – he had already passed the pit exit when the VSC was called.
That meant Antonelli and Verstappen were able to pit under the VSC, saving time, while the caution period ended before Norris could make it around to the pits again.
He did come in on the following lap but, to make matters worse, the stop was slow and he came out in fifth place.
Norris was able to recover only to third around this track where overtaking is next to impossible.
Antonelli’s eighth win in 14 races this year puts an even tighter stranglehold on the championship for the Italian.
He is now 81 points ahead of team-mate George Russell, who finished fifth after a difficult race on a confusing strategy, and 101 clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who retired early on with brake failure.
The key stories of the maiden race on the new Madring were:
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Norris’ terrible luck with the VSC depriving him of a likely third victory this year after a brilliant pole on Saturday
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Antonelli’s fortune in a season that is surrendering to him as well as him grabbing it by the throat with his performances
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The difficulty of overtaking on a new track designed from a clean sheet of paper, yet without obvious overtaking places
More to follow
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