Kimi Antonelli wins in Madrid thanks to a perfectly executed VSC, but afterwards the Mercedes driver himself says: ‘Actually, Norris should have won’
“That’s not how I wanted to win. We didn’t deserve the win this time,” said Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli to Sky after the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid – and his comments came as a surprise, as moments earlier he had further extended his lead in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship with his eighth win of the season.
But Antonelli wasn’t entirely comfortable with the result: “Of course, it’s nice to win, and I think the pace at the end was good. But if I’m realistic and honest, then Lando Norris deserved to win.”
Things turned out differently – because race control called a virtual safety car (VSC) period, to which Norris, as the race leader, was unable to react. Antonelli, on the other hand, did: he pulled in for a pit stop, saved a lot of time under the VSC and later took the lead because Norris was no longer able to complete his pit stop whilst the VSC was in effect.
That’s why Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also explained to Sky: “The VSC obviously went against McLaren. But I think we’ve had absolutely no luck with the VSC and safety car phases all year. They always came at the wrong time. This time we benefited from it and won the race.”
That’s how quickly Mercedes reacted
But Mercedes had to act fast: pit stop or no pit stop – this quick decision was the key to success in Madrid. According to Wolff, the procedures at Mercedes “worked really brilliantly”.
He explained that his team’s strategy group pays particular attention to incidents on the track. When Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin came to a halt, Mercedes reacted immediately.
“Someone said, more or less: ‘That won’t be cleared quickly if the Aston Martin’s stuck in the barrier.’ Then the message went from the strategy department to [Renningenieur] Bono [Bonnington], Bono checked it again, and from Bono it went to Kimi. That was it. We’re talking about three seconds here,” said Wolff.
Peter Bonnington had previously alerted Antonelli to Stroll’s incident and, in view of the yellow flags, instructed him to “ease off”. Shortly afterwards, he radioed Antonelli: “You’re in the safety car window.” Then came the instruction to turn into the pit lane because the VSC was now in effect – all within a few corners in the third sector.
Norris misses the pit stop window under VSC
But whilst Antonelli had perfect timing, Norris’s plan didn’t work out: when the virtual safety car phase was declared, he was already back at the start of the home straight and, one lap later, had no further opportunity to make his pit stop under VSC either: The virtual safety car period had already come to an end by then.
Should McLaren have anticipated the situation better? Wolff told ORF: “Obviously, there are two schools of thought: either you come into the pits and give up the lead, or you leave him out for a while longer and hope for a red flag or an incident. So I think McLaren wanted to go for the win – just like Ferrari.”
The race did not go to plan for either Norris or, later on, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc: there was no further incident or even a red flag – both of which could have brought them back into contention.
Antonelli: Too aggressive against Norris at the start?
Antonelli, on the other hand, believes he almost ruined his own chances: he criticises himself for his behaviour in the early stages of the race. “I was a bit too aggressive there and ended up in a bad position as a result. I definitely need to work on that,” said Antonelli.
“I tried it twice [gegen Norris], but it didn’t work. Looking back, I shouldn’t have tried it because it meant I fell into Max’s clutches. So I didn’t do a few things quite right. But all in all, it went well, and I’m happy about that.”
Team principal Wolff is also pleased, particularly with “Kimi’s speed”. He emphasises, however, that Antonelli was only “almost faultless”: “In the end, he still kissed the wall. That always gets on my nerves a bit, but it’s okay.”
Antonelli benefits from Verstappen’s manoeuvre
Another positive for Antonelli was that he regained his position against Verstappen without a fight, because Verstappen had gained an advantage off the track whilst battling with Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen gave this advantage back by letting Hamilton back past – but Antonelli was already in between them and therefore also overtook Verstappen.
“That was a bit unfortunate for Max,” said Wolff. “But I think he had no other choice. Race control said he had to give the positions back. And we benefited from that.”
The bottom line is that this resulted in two situations that played into Antonelli’s hands. That is why the championship leader said after his victory: “I think second place would probably have been the fair result for us – or even third.”
