Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli has become the first winner of the F1 2026 Spanish GP at the Madring. Although happy with the result, the Drivers’ Championship leader admitted he felt Norris should have gotten the win, if not for an unlucky VSC.
It was a pretty uneventful race at the Madring. Antonelli had qualified P2 on Saturday, behind Norris’ McLaren in P1. As the lights went out, the Italian seemed to have a better start than the Brit, but had to remove his foot from the throttle and cut through the corner to avoid contact.
Antonelli also went straight into turn 5, giving Verstappen an easy overtake as he had to blend out of the throttle to let the Brit by again. However, he was later let through by the Dutchman a couple of laps later as Red Bull instructed him to give back the position to Hamilton and, therefore, to Antonelli as well.
Still, Norris widened the gap ahead until lap 14, when Lance Stroll went off in turn 20 and prompted a Virtual Safety Car. Almost all teams took the cheap pit stop, including Antonelli and Verstappen. Having missed the window, McLaren pitted Norris once the VSC was called off, dropping him to P5.
Antonelli remained in P2, behind Ferrari’s Leclerc who had yet to pit. Finally, with nine laps left and no safety car in sight, the Monegasque pitted, handing the lead to Antonelli. The Mercedes driver stayed out of trouble until the checkered flag, taking his 8th win in Formula 1.
“Lando today deserved the win” — Antonelli
During the track interviews, conducted by James Hinchcliffe, at the F1 2026 Spanish GP, Antonelli reflected on his Sunday performance. “Yeah, it was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres.
“But yeah, I think today, you know, it’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved the win,” said honestly the young driver.“But overall, you know, we’ll take it.
“Other than that, it was a very strong race. I think especially on the Hard at the end, with really good pace. And yeah, now we’ve got to keep pushing.”
Afterwards in the press conference, Antonelli was asked about the most satisfying aspect of the race. Once again, he replied: “I don’t really know. I mean, you know, it’s good to win and I think the pace at the end was good. But if I have to be realistic and honest, you know, today we didn’t deserve to win. Lando deserved to win today, and so I think our result was probably P2 or even P3.”
Messy race start for Antonelli in F1 2026 Spanish GP
As the light went off, Antonelli was eager to overtake Norris for the win. As he tried to get through on different corners, he eventually had to give up and go wide to avoid any contact, gaining a few track limit warnings.
After the F1 2026 Spanish GP, the Italian considered his difficult start: “So, you know, I just didn’t do a good enough job at the start, being a bit too aggressive and then putting myself in a bad position”. He concluded:“So yeah, definitely things to work on.
“But all in all, you know, today went well and I’m happy with that. But yeah, we’re just going to try to be better in Baku.”
When further asked about what happened at Turn 1 and again at Turn 5, Antonelli explained: “Yeah, I did try, but obviously, you know, Lando is not going to let me pass by. You know, he did what he had to do. I found myself, you know, cutting the chicane twice.”
“In the second chicane I thought I could maybe make it, but, you know, I felt like it was too risky also for contact. So yeah, I decided to bail out.
“And yeah, then I was a bit in an awkward position because then Max could overtake me on the outside in seven.”
One again, he summed up: “So yeah, definitely things to review, but it was still a great team effort.”
Antonelli on Verstappen letting him through in F1 2026 Spanish GP
Similarly to Antonelli, Verstappen cut through the corner at the start, claiming he was avoiding contact with Hamilton. With no investigation open, Red Bull decided to prevent any possible penalties and told the four-time world champion to give back the position to the Ferrari man.
However, Verstappen sat in P2 and Hamilton in P4, with Antonelli between them. Still, the Dutchman followed team instructions and let both cars through, gifting the Mercedes P2.
“Well, I was a bit confused because I didn’t think he overtook me off track. He overtook me normally,” shared Antonelli on his thoughts at that moment. “So, I was a bit confused in the first place, but then he told me that he had to give the position back to Lewis.
“So, you know, of course it was a bit awkward, especially for him because also Lewis was experiencing brake issues.”
Going back to his statements on Norris’ bad luck at the F1 2026 Spanish GP, Antonelli added: “So yeah, that’s why I think, you know, today the win is, as I said, great, but not the way I wanted to win.”
Tyre degradation and strategy in the Spanish GP
When asked about tyre performance during the race, Antonelli mentioned: “The degradation was much lower. There was still some degradation, but much lower than expected, of course, with the track rubbering in. And so, you know, it meant that one stop was possible.
“Tyres were pretty dead at the end, for sure, but, you know, it’s also a difficult track to overtake, so you can hold on to the tyres and just go until the end.”
“But we saw also with Charles doing basically 50 laps almost on the Hards and holding decent pace.”
He concluded: “So yeah, it was unexpected, but I think the main difference was that the Hard tyre was just more resistant, especially to graining.”
“It definitely doesn’t create overtaking opportunities”: Antonelli on the Madring
During the on track interviews, Antonelli spoke on being the first winner at the brand new Madring. The city had previously hosted F1 40 years ago in Jarama, but the central Madrid circuit made its debut this weekend. “Yeah, I mean, it’s been an incredible weekend, and thank you so much for coming and for giving us such great energy. And yeah, really looking forward to being back next year here,” said the Italian.
Later on, Antonelli was also asked about his thoughts on the track itself. Many drivers had complained about how “boring” it was due to its lack of overtaking. On this, the Mercedes driver said: “It definitely doesn’t create overtaking opportunities, and it doesn’t push you to try and make a move because, just, you know, 80% of the time you might have a contact.
“So, I think especially in the second chicane, if I would have turned in, me and Lando would have touched and probably gone in the wall and blocked the road or, you know, definitely wouldn’t have been nice.”
Looking ahead to future races at Madring, Antonelli pointed out: “So, I think there are some corners that need to be changed to create more overtaking opportunities because right now, yes, it’s nice over one lap, but for sure in the race, you know, you’re just stuck behind.”
“I just try to do my best every race”: Antonelli on his championship outlook
After the Spanish GP, Antonelli leads the F1 2026 Drivers’ Championship with 292 points. In just his second season in the category, the 20-year-old driver is beating teammate George Russell, who sits in P2 with 211 points. Still, even as he widens the gap, the Italian keeps his head down when asked about the championship.
During the track interviews, Hinchcliffe asked Antonelli at what point will start focusing on the championship. “Well, that’s exactly what I don’t want to do,” answered the race winner. “I want to keep pushing race by race, you know, keep delivering and keep enjoying all the way, and then, you know, trying to do my best every race. And then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year.”
When asked how sweet it felt to be 81 points ahead in the championship during the press conference, Kimi Antonelli maintained his answer. “Yeah, it’s great, but, you know, we’ve just got to keep pushing, keep delivering the results and, you know, just trying to do the best job I can whenever I go on track.
“Because, you know, of course, yes, I have a big lead, but, you know, you never know what can happen,” he warned. “So just need to be ready for anything and keep maximising every opportunity I get, and then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year.”
Finally, Antonelli discussed how he managed the mental stress of leading the championship.
“Well, I mean, you know, I’m lucky to have really good people around me. I have an incredible team that supports me, great family,” said the driver gratefully. “Especially my dad is the one that keeps me on the ground. You know, especially when he sees that, you know, I might lose a little bit the way, he doesn’t bother (sic) to tell me off or, you know, to just tell me to go back to, you know, to ground.”
He insisted: “So, definitely having good people helps a lot. And yeah, that’s it.
“On my side, as I said many times, I just try to do my best every race, trying to really drive as fast as I can whenever I go in the car. And then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year,” repeated Antonelli. “But definitely I don’t want to overcomplicate things or, you know, just drive worrying about championship or result. Just driving, doing my best.”
