Ill-timed VSC dooms Norris’s chances of victory, Antonelli capitalizes for yet another win; Verstappen holds off Norris down the stretch for P2 to rub salt in McLaren’s wounds

As happens all too often in Formula 1, Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix was determined not by the pace of the fastest car but by the timing of a Safety Car — a virtual one, in this case. Leading the race after earning pole with fantastic quali lap at the new purpose-built Madring circuit outside of Madrid, McLaren’s Lando Norris was steadily building the gap to his closest rivals and looked well on his way to a dominant win. But on Lap 14 of this 57-lap contest, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin came to an unceremonious stop when it found the barriers at Turn 20 due to terminal brake problems. After what seemed an inordinate amount of time when it was quite clear that Stroll’s car would need assisted removal from its predicament, the Virtual Safety Car was finally activated. Unfortunately for Norris as he led the pack around, he had just passed the pit entrance when the VSC was deployed. On the other hand, his rivals Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes and Max Verstappen of Red Bull were far enough behind him to be able to dive in right after the VSC signal, taking full advantage of the relatively cheap pit stop of around 15 seconds lost under full course yellow vs more like 27 seconds lost under green flag conditions on this long pit lane. To make matter worse for Norris, the VSC ended just as Norris was coming back around to the pit entrance, meaning he would have to undergo his stop as the other competitors ramped back up to full speed. The McLaren braintrust called him in anyway, determining that his opening set of Medium Pirellis would not make it much longer and that goal hanging for another Safety Car or Red Flag was not a high probability gamble.

Fine margins 🤏

The crucial seconds which made all the difference for Lando and Kimi! 🤯#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/naQ1t2ow70

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2026

But again Norris was snakebit on this day in Spain. The usually crackerjack McLaren mechanics bobbled his switch to Hard tires to the tune of seven-seconds stationary, costing the reigning World Champ even more precious track position. Norris finally reemerged into the fray in fifth place, behind the Mercedes of George Russell in P4, Verstappen in P3 and Antonelli now in P2, himself behind the race leading Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who was gambling on running long on his opening Hard tires and then hopefully diving in later under a yellow or Red Flag. That scenario never materialized and the Scuderia braintrust was were finally forced to pit the Monegasque for fresh rubber on Lap 48, Leclerc being given Softs to make the most of over the final ten laps. Antonelli then inherited the lead and, with all the top contenders committed to a one-stopper, began to show his true pace advantage by quickly gapping Verstappen now that Leclerc was out of the way. Verstappen’s race was now clearly with the surging Norris, who had worked his way up to P3 aided by Leclerc and Russell pit stops, and onto the Dutchman’s gearbox by Lap 50. But the Madring proved a bit of difficult overtaking circuit and Verstappen succeeded in making his car very wide as the laps wound down. While Antonelli cruised to a fairly fortunate victory over four seconds to the good and increased his points lead in the championship, Verstappen held off Norris to the finish for P2 and another outstanding podium. While Norris also made the podium in P3, the Briton was left to wonder just what might have been had not that Virtual Safety Car been activated at the precise moment that it was and then withdrawn at the moment that it was. Until F1 and the FIA deign to close the pits in these situations so everyone has the same exact advantages without the luck of the draw of where they are on the track, we’ll keep having races decided not by the fastest cars and drivers, but by the fickle finger of the race director.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish Grand Prix:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the usually highly entertaining Azerbaijan GP at the stunning and quite challenging Baku City Street. Norris will have an extra week to stew on his hard luck in Spain this past weekend. But McLaren know they’ve finally found the pace here in the second half of the season, at least in Norris’s hands. He’ll be looking for redemption at another tricky street circuit, Antonelli will be looking to keep the good vibes rolling en route to his first F1 title and Verstappen will be looking for his first win of 2026, if you can believe that. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!