Kimi Antonelli claimed his eighth win of the season at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, September 13, benefiting from perfectly timed strategy to snatch victory from pole-sitter Lando Norris at Madrid’s brand-new Madring circuit, as Monaco’s Charles Leclerc recovered to finish fourth for Ferrari.
Norris made a strong start from pole and built a commanding lead of more than six seconds by Lap 14, looking firmly in control of the race. Everything changed a lap later when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped at Turn 20, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. Antonelli, Max Verstappen and George Russell all pitted immediately to capitalise on the reduced-speed period, but Norris was already too far around the lap to do the same, missing the pit entry just before the caution came out.
By the time Norris finally did pit, a slow seven-second stop compounded the damage, dropping him behind both Antonelli and Verstappen and effectively ending his hopes of victory. Verstappen ultimately held on for second, with Norris recovering to third.
Leclerc briefly found himself at the front of the race after declining to pit immediately following Stroll’s retirement, holding the lead until Lap 48 before finally coming in for soft tyres. He ultimately settled for fourth, ahead of Russell in fifth, in what proved a difficult weekend for Ferrari more broadly, Lewis Hamilton retired early with brake failure, his first retirement of the 2026 season, later admitting afterward that he could barely stop the car.
Speaking after the race, Antonelli reflected on a tricky, tyre-management-heavy afternoon, admitting the win didn’t feel entirely deserved given how strong Norris had looked for much of the race, but said the team would take the result regardless, pointing to particularly strong pace on the hard compound in the closing stages.
The result extends Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell to a commanding 81 points, with the Italian now holding a buffer of more than three race wins over his nearest rival with nine rounds still remaining this season.
Formula 1 now heads into a short break before the sport’s first triple-header of the 2026 season begins, opening with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the weekend of September 24-26.