Kimi Antonelli won the first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring circuit on September 13, 2026, extending his Formula 1 world championship lead. The victory followed a poorly timed virtual safety car period that derailed pole-sitter Lando Norris’ dominant race and handed Mercedes another decisive win.
Kimi Antonelli secured his eighth victory of the 2026 season on September 13, navigating a chaotic street race to claim the first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring circuit in Madrid. The 20-year-old Italian driver capitalized on a race-altering virtual safety car period that reshuffled the front-running order, ultimately extending his drivers’ championship points lead over his Mercedes teammate George Russell from 66 points to 81.
How Lando Norris Lost Control of the Madrid Grand Prix
Lando Norris had converted his pole into the lead and controlled the opening phase of the race, building a 6.2-second lead on Lap 14 of 57. That command evaporated when Lance Stroll stopped at Turn 20, and the VSC was activated to slow the field.
Because Norris was too far around the circuit to reach the pit lane in time as soon as the stewards confirmed a VSC, he missed the chance to pit straight away and could not pit immediately. The rest of the front-running field behind him — Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell — took cheap pit stops under the reduced speeds. Norris did come in a lap later, just after the race had gone green again, and he then lost more time to a slow pit stop, emerging in fifth place with a long 7-second stop on lap 17. The sequence cost him a race he had firmly in hand.
“There was nothing I could do. Congrats to Kimi and Max. They drove a good race today. So just luck not on our side. And I gave it a good fight to try and catch up with Max, but difficult to pass. He didn’t really make any mistakes. And yeah, a tough race, one that just got away from us. I feel like we deserved it today, but that’s racing sometimes. So we’ll take it on the chin and try again next time.”
Lando Norris, McLaren driver
Norris was able to claw back a podium spot from what could’ve been an easy third win from pole for the McLaren driver, recovering to hound Verstappen through the closing stages and twice getting within a second of the Red Bull before finishing in third.
Ferrari’s Strategy Gamble and Charles Leclerc’s Long Stint
With the front-runners pitting during the virtual safety car, Charles Leclerc, who had started on hard tires, stayed out, inheriting the lead and then holding it for more than 30 laps as the compound proved far more durable than forecast in 52-degree Celsius track temperatures. Ferrari gambled on holding track position and waiting for a late safety car period that never came; the race ran green from Lap 15 to the finish. Leclerc finally came to pit on Lap 48 (or Lap 49) for fresh soft tires once he lost the buffer to Russell and rejoined in fourth place, one spot off the podium.
“It was a very difficult race, not straight forward at all, especially trying to manage tires. I think today, it’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved the win. But overall, we’ll take it and other than that, it was a very strong race.”
Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes driver
Circuit Layout Challenges and Early Retirements in Madrid
Formula 1’s return to the Spanish capital after being away for 45 years—having first raced in Madrid in 1968 and then had a stint from 1976 and 1979 and a single race in 1981—brought a brand new track dubbed “Madring,” where passing was hard to come by and Verstappen kept Norris at bay in the Madring’s unpassable tight corners. F1 hyped up this year’s race on the new track, doing a merchandise collab with Madrid-based brand Pompeii, while teams had pop-ups throughout.
Antonelli didn’t get the best start to the race; despite a good start, he ran off the track and lost two places until Max Verstappen had to give the position back, and the young Italian ran in P2 for most of the race. Max Verstappen after starting in third gained a position due to Norris’ misfortune then kept him at bay, eventually finishing second. Mercedes went the other way with Russell, pitting him a second time on Lap 29 despite his arguments for a single stop (Why did we pit? I could have held Norris off,
he asked over the radio), by then 30 seconds adrift of the podium fight, though he took the fastest lap as consolation. Antonelli took the lead on the 49th lap when Charles Leclerc went in for a pit stop, bided his time, and won the first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Antonelli jumped into the crowd of his team waiting below the podium and then hoisted the highly-anticipated churro-shaped trophy, shouting Let’s keep pushing,
over his team radio after the win.
Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings on 503 points, 145 clear of Ferrari, with nine rounds remaining in the 2026 season.
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