Kimi Antonelli claimed his eighth victory of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship season at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at Madring, beating Max Verstappen and Lando Norris after the timing of a Virtual Safety Car turned the race in the Mercedes driver’s favour.
Antonelli crossed the line 4.351 seconds ahead of Verstappen, with Norris a further 0.738s back in third. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of George Russell, while Liam Lawson took sixth for Red Bull. The result extended Antonelli’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 81 points.
Polesitter Norris controlled the opening stages, but his hopes of victory were dealt a blow by the early VSC and a slow pit stop. The McLaren driver recovered to third, but could not find a way past Verstappen in the closing laps.
Norris made a good start from pole, but Antonelli immediately attacked into the opening chicane. The Mercedes driver was forced to cut the corner and rejoined behind Norris. A second attempt ended similarly and allowed Verstappen to move into second.
The Red Bull driver then came under pressure from Lewis Hamilton, who felt Verstappen should return the position following their opening-lap battle. Red Bull instructed Verstappen to give the place back to avoid a possible penalty and, on Lap 4, Antonelli and Hamilton moved through.
Hamilton’s race soon unravelled, however. After reporting a brake problem, the Ferrari driver ran wide on Lap 6 before retiring one lap later.
At the front, Norris built a lead of around 4.5 seconds over Antonelli, with Verstappen third. Further back, Oscar Piastri sustained front-wing damage in first-lap contact with Russell and dropped down the order.
The decisive moment came on Lap 13 when Lance Stroll stopped at Turn 20 with a suspected brake problem, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell immediately pitted, while Norris initially remained on track. The VSC ended shortly afterwards and Norris stopped under green-flag conditions. A seven-second pit stop added to his losses and he emerged fifth behind Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell.
Leclerc, who had not stopped, inherited the lead, with Antonelli closing rapidly on the Ferrari. The Mercedes driver then reported an unusual feeling from the steering, though the team could find no obvious problem in the data.
Ferrari kept Leclerc out on his hard tyres in the hope of a later Safety Car or red flag, while Antonelli remained in position to take over at the front once the Monegasque eventually stopped.
Russell made his second stop on Lap 28, switching back to hard tyres, and Norris used the opportunity to move ahead before beginning his pursuit of Verstappen and Antonelli. Russell later recovered fifth with an around-the-outside pass on Lawson on Lap 35.
With nine laps remaining, Ferrari finally brought Leclerc in for soft tyres. He rejoined fourth, leaving Antonelli, Verstappen and Norris at the head of the order. Antonelli maintained a gap of around two seconds while Norris closed on Verstappen. On the penultimate lap, the Red Bull driver cut the Turn 5 chicane after encountering traffic. Norris drew alongside but could not complete the pass. Antonelli went on to take the chequered flag 4.351s clear of Verstappen, with Norris third ahead of Leclerc and Russell. Lawson secured sixth place in his third race weekend back at Red Bull, finishing ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Piastri recovered from his opening-lap damage to take eighth, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg completed the points-paying positions. Esteban Ocon finished 11th for Haas, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda. Alex Albon was 15th for Williams, followed by Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas.
Four drivers failed to finish. Hamilton and Stroll retired with brake-related problems, while Carlos Sainz's home Grand Prix ended after 43 laps and Sergio Pérez retired his Cadillac with a suspected water-system issue.
Antonelli’s eighth victory of the campaign strengthened his championship advantage, while Verstappen held off Norris to take second after a race transformed by the early Virtual Safety Car.
2026 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix - Race
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 57 1:34'23.754
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 57 1:34'28.105 4.351
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:34'28.843 5.089
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:34'52.870 29.116
5 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:34'53.583 29.829
6 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 57 1:35'50.500 1'26.746
7 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 57 1:35'58.035 1'34.281
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:35'59.593 1'35.839
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 56 1:34'34.162 1 lap /10.408
10 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 56 1:34'35.052 1 lap /11.298
11 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 56 1:34'38.897 1 lap /15.143
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 56 1:34'49.906 1 lap /26.152
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 56 1:34'52.143 1 lap /28.389
14 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 56 1:35'23.917 1 lap /1'00.163
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 56 1:35'49.966 1 lap /1'26.212
16 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 56 1:35'53.717 1 lap /1'29.963
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 55 1:34'57.530 2 laps /33.776
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 54 1:35'13.000 3 laps /49.246
Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 43 1:15'48.748 Retirement
Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 31 54'39.979 Retirement
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 12 21'01.423 Retirement
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 6 10'55.172 Retirement
