
Kimi Antonelli wins inaugural Madring F1 race as VSC costs Lando Norris
Kimi Antonelli capitalized on a Virtual Safety Car to edge Lando Norris before holding off Max Verstappen to win the inaugural Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at Madring
Lewis Hamilton made a classy comment about Lando Norris during the Austrian Grand Prix as he passed his fellow Brit for second place at the Red Bull Ring while Max Verstappen led the way in Austria.
Norris, who picked up his best qualifying position of his career for McLaren on Saturday, held off the seven-time world champion for 19 laps before the Mercedes driver swept past the 21-year-old.
However, as Hamilton did it, he took to his radio to praise the younger driver for his performance.
“Such a great driver, Lando,” Hamilton was heard telling his team.
Norris had a torrid lap 20 as moments later he was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Red Bull’s Sergio Perez off the track on the opening lap.
It was a double hit for Norris as stewards make their decision before Hamilton passes the McLaren with DRS up to Turn 4.
Norris rejoined behind Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a net fourth place after serving his penalty in the pitstop window.
Lando was left frustrated on the radio as he was told about the penalty, exclaiming: “For what?!” as his engineer explained they would talk about it at the end of the race.
“Whatever,” was the response from the McLaren man.
“If it was for lap one (after the Safety Car), what does the guy expect trying to go around the outside?”
Lando helped McLaren back to the front row of the grid for the first time since 2012, qualifying ahead of both Mercedes drivers and even split the two Red Bulls at the Red Bull Ring.
“I feel epic!” said Norris after qualifying.

Kimi Antonelli capitalized on a Virtual Safety Car to edge Lando Norris before holding off Max Verstappen to win the inaugural Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at Madring

Complete F1 2026 Driver standings after Spanish GP: Kimi Antonelli extended his lead to 81 points over Mercedes teammate George Russell, Lewis Hamilton title chances

Full F1 2026 Spanish Grand Prix Race Results, Madring: 1. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes; 2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +4.351s; 3. Lando Norris, McLaren, +5.089s; 4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +29.116s

Full 2026 F1 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Results: Lando Norris snatched the first-ever pole position at Madring from Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011s in a dramatic final-lap showdown