Kimi Antonelli claims victory at Spanish Grand Prix to extend championship lead
Kimi Antonelli took a major stride towards becoming the youngest Formula One world champion ever with victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old took advantage of Lance Stroll putting his Aston Martin in the wall to earn a free pit-stop during a Virtual Safety Car period before galloping to his eighth win from the 14 rounds so far.
While fortune was on Antonelli’s side, Lando Norris’ luck was out. The world champion was comfortably leading when Stroll crashed on the 14th lap.
But Norris drove past the pit-lane entry just as the VSC was deployed. Norris stopped on the next lap and a slow front-right tyre change lost the British driver even more time.
Having held a seven-second advantage over Antonelli prior to Stroll’s accident, Norris left the pits 13 seconds adrift of the Italian and, despite catching Max Verstappen, he was unable to find a way ahead of the Red Bull driver – even though he claimed the Dutchman illegally ran off the road in his defence of second place on the penultimate lap.
Verstappen finished runner-up, 4.3 sec behind Antonelli, with Norris third, just seven tenths back. George Russell crossed the line in fifth – the British driver questioning Mercedes’ decision to move him on to a unique two-stop strategy – to allow Antonelli to extend his title margin from 66 points to an eye-watering 81 with nine scheduled rounds remaining.
Lewis Hamilton’s fading hopes of a title tilt ended early on when he retired with a brake problem. The seven-time world champion is now 101 points – the equivalent of more than four wins – off the championship pace. Norris is 106 points back.
Norris headed into Sunday’s inaugural fixture at the Madring with two victories from his last three appearances and he led away from pole position despite Antonelli falling off the road twice in his pursuit of the British driver.
Further behind and Verstappen was also off the track as he defended from Hamilton on the opening lap.
Verstappen moved ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton but was ordered by Red Bull to give up the positions to avoid a stewards’ investigation.
Antonelli reclaimed second and Hamilton third, but just moments later, Hamilton, hit with a brake failure, was falling down the order.
And at the end of the sixth lap, Hamilton was forced to park his Ferrari – the 41-year-old’s first retirement of the year – and his bid of a record eighth world crown all but over.
Up front, and Norris was extending his margin over Antonelli and a championship comeback might have been on his mind.
But disaster struck when Stroll crashed and the VSC was deployed. Could McLaren have foreseen the VSC and pulled their man in earlier? It is a question Norris might be asking his team at the conclusion of the race.
Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell all swooped in for fresh tyres. Norris came in at the end of the next lap, but a seven-second pit-stop followed, and he was now well adrift.
Norris moved up one place when Russell stopped for a second time at the midway point. “Why did we pit?” asked Russell, who dropped to sixth before moving ahead of Red Bull’s Liam Lawson for fifth. “I think I could have held Norris off.”
Norris began to demonstrate the speed in his McLaren that should have won him the race, and with 10 laps remaining he was within a second of Verstappen and just two seconds behind Antonelli.
“Luck was just not on my side,” said Norris after the race. “I gave it a good fight to try and catch up with Max, but it is difficult to pass here, and he didn’t make any mistakes.
“I felt like we deserved it (the win) today, but that is racing and we will take it on the chin. I am working hard, getting a lot out of the car, and yesterday was a phenomenal lap to get pole and today I felt like I drove a perfect race. But it is tough at the top. We will keep pushing because more wins are possible.”
Charles Leclerc, who had yet to stop, was holding up Antonelli, and when the Ferrari man eventually peeled in on the 49th lap, the top three were separated by only two seconds.
But with overtaking next to impossible at this narrow street venue in the Spanish capital, Antonelli was able to keep his rivals at arm’s length to claim his second win in a week and put him firmly on course to drive into the history books by usurping Sebastian Vettel, 23 when he claimed his first title in 2010, as the sport’s youngest champion of the world.
Published: by Radio NewsHub