Antonelli wins Spanish GP as Norris loses out under safety car — SkimNews
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- Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit in Madrid, extending his title lead over Mercedes teammate George Russell to 81 points and earning a 9/10 rating after missing pole by just 0.011 seconds.
- Lando Norris received the field's highest individual rating (9.5/10) despite finishing third: he produced pole, built a comfortable lead and looked in control until a virtual safety car — triggered by Lance Stroll's brake trouble — handed the win away, compounded by a slow pit stop.
- Franco Colapinto earned 9/10 for what the source calls one of his best F1 weekends, putting Alpine into Q3 while teammate Pierre Gasly managed only 14th in qualifying, then holding off a faster McLaren of Oscar Piastri to finish seventh in the race.
- Lewis Hamilton recovered from a heavy final-practice crash to qualify fourth and looked genuinely competitive at the start, but a brake failure ended his race after only seven laps, costing him a potential podium; he stays third in the standings but lost ground on leader Antonelli.
- Liam Lawson scored 8/10 for another strong Red Bull showing in Isack Hadjar's continued absence, reaching Q3 and leading the midfield home in sixth — a performance the source notes is becoming increasingly familiar rather than a one-off substitute appearance.
- Carlos Sainz endured a nightmare home weekend rated 3/10: knocked out in Q1, penalized for impeding Valtteri Bottas, hit with a second penalty for squeezing Fernando Alonso into the wall, and ultimately retired from the race.
- Charles Leclerc (7.5/10) recovered from being narrowly beaten by Hamilton in qualifying to finish fourth, with Ferrari's gamble to leave him out during the VSC window ultimately undone because the hoped-for full safety car never materialized.
Why it matters: Antonelli now leads Mercedes teammate Russell by 81 points, meaning his title bid is effectively a runaway unless Norris's underlying pace — which dominated qualifying and most of the race — is converted into wins. The deciding factor was mechanical: Stroll's brake failure triggered the virtual safety car that flipped a Norris-controlled race into an Antonelli victory.
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