Antonelli admits Norris deserved Spanish GP win after VSC strategy blow

Kimi Antonelli believes Lando Norris “deserved to win” the Spanish Grand Prix after a badly timed Virtual Safety Car turned the race on its head and denied the reigning World Champion a likely victory.

That appeared to leave Norris in a strong position. He had built a confident advantage at the head of the field, but the strategic balance changed when Lance Stroll stopped with brake issues and triggered a Virtual Safety Car.

The strategic turning point

Mercedes was able to bring Antonelli into the pits under neutralised conditions, losing considerably less time than it would have under green-flag racing. Norris, however, had already passed the pit entry when the VSC was deployed. By the time he made his own stop, the neutralisation had ended, dropping him from the lead to fifth place.

Norris recovered to the podium, but Antonelli was unwilling to celebrate without acknowledging the role played by McLaren’s misfortune.

“It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres,” Antonelli said. “It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win. But overall, you know, we’ll take it.”

The Mercedes driver added that the car’s pace on the hard tyres was particularly strong in the closing stages, giving him the platform to hold off Max Verstappen and secure his eighth Grand Prix triumph of the season.

The result extended Antonelli’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 81 points over team-mate George Russell. With nine rounds remaining, the prospect of becoming the sport’s youngest-ever World Champion is increasingly difficult to ignore. Antonelli, though, insists he is not allowing the title picture to change his approach.

Antonelli focused on the next race

“That’s exactly what I don’t want to do. I want to keep pushing race by race, you know, keep delivering and keep enjoying all the way, and then trying to do my best every race, and then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year,” he said.

The strategic drama followed a qualifying battle decided by the narrowest of margins, as Norris took inaugural Madring pole by 0.011s over Antonelli. In the race, however, the VSC timing proved decisive, transforming Norris’s pole advantage into a difficult recovery drive while Antonelli converted Mercedes’ opportunity into another win.