Kimi Antonelli claimed victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, Formula 1’s inaugural race at the Madring, after polesitter Lando Norris was undone by strategy. Norris led comfortably early but pitted immediately following a virtual safety car period, dropping too far back to recover. At the start, second-row drivers Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton chose soft tyres over Norris and Antonelli’s mediums. Chaos erupted as both Verstappen and Antonelli cut Turn 2; Verstappen later let the field by on lap four amid contact with Hamilton. Hamilton retired with brake issues by lap six. Lance Stroll’s brake failure on lap 13 triggered the VSC, during which only some drivers pitted. Norris stopped as the VSC ended and suffered a slow stop, emerging fifth and 16 seconds behind Charles Leclerc. Antonelli closed in steadily but reported steering issues by lap 21. Russell made an early second stop on lap 28 and passed Liam Lawson for fifth on lap 35.

With 10 laps remaining, the leaders converged as Ferrari delayed Leclerc’s stop hoping for a safety car that never came. Leclerc pitted on lap 48 for softs, landing between the leaders and Russell. The closing laps saw a tight battle between Antonelli, Verstappen, and Norris, with no overtaking until the final lap when Verstappen ran wide at Turn 5 under pressure from backmarkers.

Antonelli held on to secure his first F1 win, with Norris finishing second and Verstappen third after a late charge.