Spanish GP 2026: Antonelli wins in Madrid as the VSC costs Norris

Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix from second on the grid, taking the first race at Madrid's new Madring circuit by 4.351 seconds from Max Verstappen. Lando Norris, who started on pole and led the opening stint, finished third, less than a second further back. It was Antonelli's eighth win in 14 rounds, on a day when the timing of a virtual safety car counted for more than pace.

How the VSC decided the Spanish GP

Norris kept the lead at the start while Antonelli twice cut the first chicane trying to stay with him. Verstappen took second from the Mercedes early on, then had to hand a place back to Lewis Hamilton after gaining it off track. The stewards reviewed the opening laps and took no further action.

The race turned when Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin at Turn 20 and the VSC was called. Norris had just gone past the pit entry. Mercedes and Red Bull brought in Antonelli, George Russell and Verstappen for a cheap stop; McLaren pitted Norris a lap later for hards, and the tyre change took around seven seconds. He rejoined fifth.

Charles Leclerc, who started on hards and stayed out under the VSC, led until he pitted at the end of lap 48. That gave Antonelli the lead for good. Norris worked his way back past Russell and spent the closing laps right behind Verstappen, who ran wide at Turn 5 but kept second. Antonelli was candid afterwards: "it doesn't feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win."

Hamilton's race ended after a handful of laps with brake failure, on a weekend when Ferrari had already rebuilt his car after a heavy crash in final practice. Sergio Pérez parked his Cadillac in the pits, and Carlos Sainz did not see the flag at his home race either, after a clash with Fernando Alonso at Turn 5 that cost him a five-second penalty.

Antonelli vs Russell and the other teammate duels

Mercedes. The duel that matters most this year was one-sided in Madrid. Antonelli out-qualified George Russell by four places, second against sixth, and beat him by almost 30 seconds. Russell fought tyre overheating all weekend and lost more time with a second stop. On F1 Duels, Antonelli now leads their 2026 count 8–6 in qualifying and 8–4 in races.

McLaren. Norris took pole by 0.011s from Antonelli, while Oscar Piastri lined up only seventh. Piastri then lost part of his front wing in early contact with Russell and came home eighth. Norris leads their head-to-head 9–5 on Saturdays and 6–3 on Sundays in our count.

Red Bull. Liam Lawson, standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar for a third weekend, qualified eighth and finished sixth, more than 80 seconds behind his teammate. Solid points, but Verstappen has won every duel between them so far: three qualifyings, two counted races.

Ferrari. Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc by the narrowest of margins, fourth against fifth. A brake failure is not a duel, so the race does not count in our model and their 2026 tally stays at 6–5 to Hamilton in races and 8–6 to Leclerc in qualifying.

Further down, Franco Colapinto beat Pierre Gasly in both sessions and took seventh, Alpine's only points. Arvid Lindblad finished ninth, five places ahead of Racing Bulls stand-in Yuki Tsunoda, and Nico Hülkenberg took the last point ahead of Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.

What it means for the title

Antonelli leaves Madrid on 292 points, 81 clear of Russell with nine rounds to go: more than three wins of margin. The two men at the top share a garage, so the championship is now a straight teammate duel, and the Spanish weekend went entirely one way. All the head-to-heads from this race are on our Spanish GP duels page. Next stop is Baku.