Kimi Antonelli dealt a heavy blow to the competition on the brand-new Madring in Madrid. The young Italian from Mercedes convincingly won the Spanish GP on Sunday afternoon, ahead of Max Verstappen who commendably finished second. The race was led for a long time by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who had to pit for his mandatory stop in the final phase.
The main chasers of Antonelli in the World Championship standings had to lose significant ground. Teammate George Russell finished fifth, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton retired in the hectic opening phase. For Antonelli, it was already his eighth win of the season; the title now seems hardly out of reach for him.
Relive the Spanish GP below:
FORMATION LAP: It is 30 degrees Celsius as the cars set off for the formation lap. There was already chaos on the grid before the start, mainly due to the presence of almost the entire Real Madrid squad, including Denzel Dumfries. But the big question is, of course, whether the race over 57 laps will also be chaotic. Max Verstappen starts on used softs, from P3. Ahead of him, Norris (pole) and Antonelli (P2) start on mediums.
Norris retains lead at the start
LAP 1/57: Lando Norris retains P1 at the start. Max Verstappen threatens to lose a position to Lewis Hamilton but cuts the first corner, forced to do so. After the first corners, Antonelli also makes a mistake twice, costing him the second place shortly after in favor of Verstappen.
LAP 2/57: Hamilton reports over the radio that he lightly hit the wall and may have damage. That must have happened somewhere at the start. Standings after the first pass: Norris, Verstappen, Antonelli, Hamilton, and Leclerc.
LAP 4/57: Verstappen is told over the radio by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that he must give his position back to Hamilton. That means he also has to let Antonelli pass in P3. The Red Bull driver disagrees. He argues angrily over the radio that he actually prevented a crash.
LAP 5/57: Verstappen gets his revenge and overtakes a frustrated Hamilton. Back to P3 then. Behind Norris and Antonelli. Hamilton falls back further shortly after with brake problems.
Lewis Hamilton retires
LAP 8/57: Hamilton has now quit the fight. Norris leads sovereignly meanwhile, with over four seconds margin on Antonelli and almost ten seconds on Verstappen. Behind them: Leclerc, Russell, Colapinto, and Lawson.
LAP 12/57: The dust clouds from the start have settled, and there now seems to be a status quo on the track where overtaking is difficult. Verstappen firmly in P3. Perhaps some strategic options remain.
LAP 13/57: Carlos Sainz nearly drives compatriot Fernando Alonso into the wall. The latter is furious. According to him, Sainz had already hit two drivers at the start, it sounds over the radio.
LAP 15/57: Virtual Safety Car because Lance Stroll overshot and hit the wall. Verstappen immediately pits for a cheap stop, as does Antonelli. Norris, as race leader, continues, as does Charles Leclerc on the hard compound. This stop suits Verstappen well; he was about to pit on his used softs anyway. He continues on the hard tires.
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Bad pit stop for Norris
LAP 16/57: Bad pit stop for Lando Norris, while the VSC has already ended. The Brit from McLaren returns to the track in fifth, behind Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen, and Russell respectively. Only Leclerc from that group still has to make his first stop. Leclerc currently leads the race.
LAP 21/57: Sainz has received a time penalty for that incident with Alonso. Up front, Leclerc still leads, but Antonelli is now breathing down his neck. Verstappen is in no man’s land between two Mercedes: over seven seconds behind Antonelli, almost four seconds ahead of Russell. Very few duels on the track anyway.
LAP 25/57: The brakes are too hot on the Mercedes cars of Antonelli, who just complained about his car himself. The steering felt strange, according to the young Italian. However, there is little wrong for him in P2, knowing that Russell is two places behind him and Hamilton has now retired. Both Brits are his main pursuers in the World Championship standings.
LAP 29/57: Russell pits for his second stop from P4 and falls back to P6, behind Lawson. That means Verstappen now has Norris behind him, the gap is over six seconds. Few to no duels further on the track.
LAP 39/57: It is not very exciting at the moment. Waiting/hoping for some action on the track. A safety car could liven things up. Verstappen still in P3, behind Antonelli. Lando Norris is getting closer, just over two seconds behind the Dutchman. Incidentally, Norris just touched the wall briefly, a result of loss of concentration.
LAP 45/57: Lando Norris pressures Max Verstappen in P3. But again it turns out: overtaking on this track is difficult. Especially if Verstappen is in front of you. Charles Leclerc still has to pit once. He leads, with just over a second advantage on Antonelli.
Late pit stop for Leclerc
LAP 46/57: Carlos Sainz has been told over the radio that he must retire. He is the fourth retiree, after Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, and Sergio Pérez earlier.
LAP 48/57: Charles Leclerc pits for his mandatory stop, and so the race gets a new leader in the person of Kimi Antonelli. Max Verstappen moves to P2. Leclerc returns to the track in fourth, behind Lando Norris. The top three are close together in the final phase.
LAP 57/57: Kimi Antonelli is flagged as the deserved winner after a sometimes dull race, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. In the final phase, Verstappen had to defend sharply against the reigning world champion who finished third.
Read more George Russell explains difference with Kimi Antonelli during qualifying: ‘That did me in’
Read everything about the Spanish GP here
