Antonelli Wins 8th Spanish GP as Norris Loses on Lap-15 VSC at Madring
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Sep 13
Antonelli Wins 8th Spanish GP as Norris Loses on Lap-15 VSC at Madring
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Sep 13
Summary
Lap 15 flipped the race: Lando Norris, leading by six seconds after 13 laps, lost out when a Virtual Safety Car let Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen pit cheaply before his own stop.
A seven-second stop under green dropped Norris to fifth, 16 seconds behind Antonelli; he recovered only to third and said he lost about 20 seconds through pure timing.
Antonelli still called Norris the driver who "deserved" to win, while McLaren boss Andrea Stella said pitting earlier would have risked a 27-second loss without VSC protection.
Verstappen finished second but argued an opening-lap order to give Lewis Hamilton a place back cost him track position that could have put him ahead of Antonelli for the VSC swing.
The result also sharpened criticism of Madring itself, with drivers and McLaren urging layout changes after the new circuit produced very few overtakes and left the podium finishers dissatisfied.