
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
It has been a disappointing weekend so far for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team at the 2021 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit. Both drivers, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda,finished the Sprint Qualifying race in the same position they started.
Gasly has consistently qualified and started the race in the top ten positions this season. But he ended Friday qualification in twelfth position only. The Frenchman did not improve during the Sprint race and finished in twelfth position only. A disappointing Gasly said: “I’m quite frustrated this evening, it was just not what we wanted out there today. We started this weekend badly in FP1 and with only one practice session we couldn’t really react to that ahead of Qualifying, then today I’ve really struggled again.
“It’s very disappointing because I know the car has much more potential but so far, we just haven’t managed to get it working here this weekend. We will look at all the data tonight and try everything we can to make our way up to the points in the tomorrow’s race.”
Yuki Tsunoda had a disappointing Friday qualification when he was eliminated in the first session itself (Q1). The Sprint Qualifying race did not help him improve his position as he finished where he started in sixteenth position. Tsunoda said: “I’m obviously disappointed with today’s performance, I’m not finishing in a position that I’m happy with and I’m then starting the race tomorrow from the same place.
“I feel that this weekend’s format is quite difficult for rookies, as you only have one free practice session before Qualifying, which is tough, but I hope the spectators enjoyed this new schedule. We’ve struggled with the performance of the car this whole weekend, so we just need to go away tonight and review the data so we can learn more for tomorrow’s race.”

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