Antonelli celebrates Norris’s jinx in Madrid

Apart from the Monumental, the longest curve on the calendar and the hallmark of the newly inaugurated Madring, the other element of the track that generated the most excitement at its debut was the gigantic pit lane, an endless corridor of 562 meters that had a huge influence on the outcome of the race that marked the return of Formula 1 to Madrid, 45 years after the last time. After completing the first free practice on Friday, the technicians were amazed by the tremendous level of tire degradation. “With those data in hand, we will plan a six-stop strategy,” joked Toto Wolff, the Mercedes director. However, the sharpening of the single-seaters as the weekend progressed combined with another factor of decisive relevance, which led to a minimal plan for those visits to the garages: the almost 26 seconds that the cars would run conditioned by the speed limit as they passed through the pits. A parameter that ultimately catapulted Kimi Antonelli to the top step of the podium, crowning him as the first winner in the history of the circuit.

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The young Italian just keeps landing on his feet, a circumstance backed by the comfortable lead he holds, with more than 80 points ahead of George Russell (fifth); and this Sunday it was at the expense of McLaren and Lando Norris, slapped by bad luck first, and then by a sovereign blunder. It turns out that a failure in Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin (lap 15), which left the green car in the barriers, triggered the virtual safety car protocol, a condition that forces drivers to lift their foot off the accelerator. Indirectly, this means that whoever decides to change tires at that precise moment gains about ten seconds compared to the same operation done with the race underway. A boost that Norris, who had just passed by, could not take advantage of, but Antonelli did, who approached the entry with plenty of margin and in that zigzag secured half the victory. That, despite rejoining the track behind Charles Leclerc, forced to make his stop, with nine laps to go before the checkered flag, waved by Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of the MotoGP World Championship and director of the Jarama circuit at that 1981 Spanish Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen went into the pits behind Antonelli and secured second place on the podium, while Norris finally finished on the podium, logically crushed by the mishap. Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line second to last, after tangling with Carlos Sainz, forced to retire due to a technical problem in his Williams (lap 48). “He squeezed me against the wall. At the start, he crashed into two cars, and now he squeezed me against the wall,” lamented the Asturian over the radio.

At 20 years old, Antonelli is on track to become the first Italian world champion in almost three-quarters of a century, since Alberto Ascari (1953), and to break Sebastian Vettel’s record for precocity, crowned in 2010 at almost 23 and a half years old. Despite McLaren’s surge, effective in revitalizing their prototype since the update introduced before the summer break (Hungary), Mercedes and their Wonder Kid have managed to defend themselves from the flashes unleashed by the Woking (Great Britain) team and the current champion, who already has eight wins, the last two consecutive. Everything comes easy to the irreverent Bolognese driver, allowing him to take liberties that only serve to mark territory while driving engineers crazy: the Mercedes driver tried to claim the fastest lap of the race on the last lap — at the last moment it was taken by Russell — when he had the barn completely under control, and he did it on a circuit hugged by walls and full of traps. A sign of the character he has, that of the greats, and this time it led him to become the successor of Gilles Villeneuve, the last winner of a F1 race in Madrid.

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GP Classification

posdriver
1 Kimi Antonelli
2 M. Verstappen
3 Lando Norris
4 Charles Leclerc
5 George Russell
6 Liam Lawson
7 Franco Colapinto
8 Oscar Piastri
9 Arvid Lindblad
10 N. Hulkenberg

posdriver	Team	Time
1 Kimi Antonelli		1h:34:23.754
2 M. Verstappen		+4.351
3 Lando Norris		+5.089
4 Charles Leclerc		+29.116
5 George Russell		+29.829
6 Liam Lawson		+1:26.746
7 Franco Colapinto		+1:34.281
8 Oscar Piastri		+1:35.839
9 Arvid Lindblad		1 lap
10 N. Hulkenberg		1 lap

posdriver
1 Kimi Antonelli
2 M. Verstappen
3 Lando Norris
4 Charles Leclerc
5 George Russell
6 Liam Lawson
7 Franco Colapinto
8 Oscar Piastri
9 Arvid Lindblad
10 N. Hulkenberg

posdriver	Team	Points
1 Kimi Antonelli		25
2 M. Verstappen		18
3 Lando Norris		15
4 Charles Leclerc		12
5 George Russell		10
6 Liam Lawson		8
7 Franco Colapinto		6
8 Oscar Piastri		4
9 Arvid Lindblad		2
10 N. Hulkenberg		1

View full classification

World Championship Classification

posdriver
1 Kimi Antonelli
2 George Russell
3 L. Hamilton
4 Lando Norris
5 Charles Leclerc
6 M. Verstappen
7 Oscar Piastri
8 Isack Hadjar
9 Liam Lawson
10 Pierre Gasly

posdriver	Team	Points
1 Kimi Antonelli		292
2 George Russell		211
3 L. Hamilton		191
4 Lando Norris		186
5 Charles Leclerc		167
6 M. Verstappen		145
7 Oscar Piastri		120
8 Isack Hadjar		71
9 Liam Lawson		59
10 Pierre Gasly		41

posteam
1 Mercedes
2 Ferrari
3 McLaren
4 Red Bull
5 RACING BULLS
6 Alpine
7 Haas F1 Team
8 Audi
9 Williams
10 Aston Martin
11 Cadillac

posteam	Team	Points
1 Mercedes		503
2 Ferrari		358
3 McLaren		306
4 Red Bull		230
5 RACING BULLS		77
6 Alpine		68
7 Haas F1 Team		21
8 Audi		17
9 Williams		11
10 Aston Martin		3
11 Cadillac		0

posdriver
1 Kimi Antonelli
2 George Russell
3 L. Hamilton
4 Lando Norris
5 Charles Leclerc
6 M. Verstappen
7 Oscar Piastri
8 Isack Hadjar
9 Liam Lawson
10 Pierre Gasly

posdriver	Team	Points
1 Kimi Antonelli		292
2 George Russell		211
3 L. Hamilton		191
4 Lando Norris		186
5 Charles Leclerc		167
6 M. Verstappen		145
7 Oscar Piastri		120
8 Isack Hadjar		71
9 Liam Lawson		59
10 Pierre Gasly		41

View full classificationView full classification