Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new Madring circuit on Sunday, and the Mercedes driver was among the first to say he had not earned it.
“It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win,” Antonelli said after the race.
The race turned on lap 15. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped at Turn 20 with a brake problem and race control called a Virtual Safety Car. Lando Norris was leading from pole and had just passed the pit entry when the VSC came out. Everyone behind him, including Antonelli and Max Verstappen, took their pit stops at reduced speed. Norris had to complete a full lap and stop at full pace, losing around 20 seconds and dropping out of the lead.
Antonelli inherited the lead and held it. Verstappen finished 4.351s behind, Norris a further 0.738s adrift in third.
“There’s literally nothing I could do as a driver today to do a better job. Pole, led the race, and to lose it for nothing in my control is… I don’t think how a race should be won,” Norris told reporters.
Drivers had already flagged the rule
Norris said the drivers had raised the same VSC problem with race control before, and no change had followed.
“We spoke about it in the past in drivers’ briefings, saying they should leave it out at least for a lap, so it’s equal for everyone,” he said.
He also offered an alternative fix.
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“Or you just block the pit entry and no one can box, apart from if you have a puncture or something,” Norris said.
He kept the frustration in check.
“It is racing and it’s happened, so I can’t really complain about it. I can be upset about it, but I can’t really complain about it,” he said.
“I just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone again because it’s just not how you should lose a race.”
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The gap at the top widens
Antonelli’s win stretched his championship lead. The Mercedes driver now has 292 points, 81 clear of teammate George Russell. Lewis Hamilton is third on 191, with Norris fourth on 186, 106 points behind Antonelli with nine rounds still to run.
The season resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on the weekend of 24-26 September.
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