Pole counted for nothing on the Madring
Lando Norris had the first pole in the history of the Madrid circuit. He did not have the win. Kimi Antonelli, second on the grid, took the Spanish Grand Prix on the brand-new Madring layout this afternoon, 4.4 seconds clear of Max Verstappen, with Norris another 0.7 back in third.
Two moments cost McLaren the afternoon. A virtual safety car fell at the worst possible time for them. Then a slow stop finished the job. Antonelli came out in front and stayed there.
Charles Leclerc was fourth, George Russell fifth. Liam Lawson, deputising for the injured Isack Hadjar, took sixth. Oscar Piastri could only manage eighth. Carlos Sainz started 20th and last in front of his home crowd after Saturday’s qualifying penalty.
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Eighty-one points, and the gap keeps growing
Antonelli won at Monza the weekend before this one, carving his way up from the back of the grid. Two in a row now.
The Italian sits on 292 points. Russell, his own team-mate, is the closest thing to a rival at 211. Lewis Hamilton has 191, Norris 186. Verstappen stood on the podium in Madrid and remains sixth, on 145, some 147 points adrift.
Mercedes lead the constructors’ championship with 503. Ferrari have 358, McLaren 306, Red Bull 230.
Nine rounds, 233 points, one plausible outcome
Fourteen of the 23 rounds are done. Russell, Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc are all still alive on paper.
Paper is doing a lot of work there. Antonelli has led this championship for months and has just taken consecutive wins, on circuits he is still learning. Baku is next, where Red Bull hope to have Hadjar back in the car.
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