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Kimi Antonelli Wins Spanish GP After VSC Swing

By Drooid · Sep 14, 2026, 6:31 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Antonelli Wins Spain

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix, his eighth season victory.
Lando Norris started from pole but lost the lead after a safety car on lap 15.
His slow pit stop under the VSC dropped him to fifth before he recovered to third.
Antonelli’s win gave him an 81-point lead over teammate George Russell.
The race returned to the Madrid region after 45 years, last at Jarama in 1981.

Summary

Lando Norris Demands Change

Lando Norris urged a rule change to stop Virtual Safety Car (VSC) timing from unfairly deciding race outcomes.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the ‘race gods’ favored them and blamed bad luck with VSCs.
Mercedes outlined a six-stop tyre strategy anticipating severe tyre wear on the new Madring circuit.
Drivers said the high-degradation track makes balancing tyre performance between sector 1 and lap end difficult.

History

Historical Context

The first safety-car appearance in F1 occurred at the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix when Eppie Wietzes drove a Porsche 914, but the system was not formalised until the 1993 season after trials at French and British races. Since then, the FIA has repeatedly revised caution rules—recently after the 2021 Belgian race run entirely behind the safety car—shaping Virtual Safety Car use at the Spanish Grand Prix.

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Antonelli Wins Spain

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix, his eighth season victory.
Lando Norris started from pole but lost the lead after a safety car on lap 15.
His slow pit stop under the VSC dropped him to fifth before he recovered to third.
Antonelli’s win gave him an 81-point lead over teammate George Russell.
The race returned to the Madrid region after 45 years, last at Jarama in 1981.

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