Given the nightly entertainment of Gran Vía, Las Letras, Chueca or Malasaña, the first Madring race had to be a superb totón for the people of Madrid. Not a single overtaking of merit in 57 laps of the little train, which were reminiscent of the processions of Monaco. The most notable thing, the only thing that encouraged the drowsiness was a virtual safety-car (that most would not even notice) that led to the change of leadership and dethroned Lando Norris to deliver the first victory in the history of the Madring to Kimi Antonelli, who was there with the cane ready. The Italian leaves the Spanish GP much more of a leader in the World Championship with his eighth victory of the year.
Completing the first Madring podium were Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, frustrated by his team's mistake in the pit-stop. The Spaniards were not very brilliant after a touch between them: Fernando Alonso finished 17th and Carlos Sainz retired due to a breakdown.
The tension was palpable on the starting grid. Norris and Antonelli on the front row started with medium tires; behind, Verstappen and Hamilton with soft tires; and behind them, Russell, Piastri, Lawson, Colapinto, with tough ones without having tried them. The tire strategy is a mystery.
When the traffic lights went out, Norris started, maintaining the preferred position, but Antonelli overbraked in the second corner, went long into the escape and had to give up the place he had won; The same thing happened a few curves later, in the chicane, having to give way again to the McLaren. Verstappen took advantage of it to sneak into second place, ahead of the Italian. Hamilton remained fourth and Leclerc fifth. Sainz rose from 20th to 18th and Alonso fell to 20th.
On the fourth lap, Verstappen had to return the positions to Antonelli and Hamilton by gaining advantage in turn 1. The Dutchman, complaining on the radio with his team, fell back to fourth place, although the Englishman returned it to him a lap later due to track limits. The Ferrari driver, with brake problems, had to retire after six laps. “I could barely stop the car,” lamented the Englishman. One less podium candidate.
Ahead, Norris led with authority with a 5-second advantage over Antonelli on lap 10/57, while Verstappen, third, dropped almost 11 seconds behind. From behind, sparks flew between the two Spaniards. When Alonso tried to gain 17th position from Sainz, the Madrid native closed the gap and the Aston Martin destroyed the Moor's winglet. "He strangled me against the wall; at the start, he collided with two and now he strangles me against the wall when braking," complained bitterly Alonso, who would have to go to the pit-stop (v. 15) taking advantage of the neutralization of a virtual safety-car due to a Stroll accident against the protections.
Then a script change was precipitated. With the VSC, they took the opportunity to change tires Antonelli and Verstappen, who were going hard. Norris, who had already passed through the pit-lane entrance, waited one more lap (the 16th) to go in to change tires. It was a disaster for the Englishman because the operation took 7 seconds when a wheel got stuck. Goodbye to victory. He reappeared in fifth position, while Leclerc, the only one who had not stopped to change tires, took the lead.
Without intending it or expecting it, Leclerc, who had opted for the hard tire at the start, found himself first by not having to change tires. The Monegasque pulled and pulled, opening a gap of 2.5 seconds over Antonelli and 9.5 over Verstappen. At Ferrari they prayed that there would be a safety car that would give them a free stop to change tires and stay in the lead until the finish line. Everything could be in the Madring.
Ferrari and Leclerc's tactic consisted of stretching the life of their hard tires to the maximum, even at the cost of losing distance with an Antonelli that was wearing cooler tires, and therefore, with greater grip. Verstappen's Mercedes and Red Bull inexorably approached him. On lap 48, with ten to go, the Italian was on the heels of the Ferrari, 0.8 seconds behind, and the Dutchman was 2 seconds behind. They smelled the blood of the Monegasque, who was called to the pits on lap 49.
Change of leader with the pit-stop. The World Championship boss took command of the race, with Verstappen at his back, while Leclerc fell to fourth place, behind Norris, 26 seconds behind Antonelli, but wearing new soft tires. Would there be a hunt for the Monegasque?
While the Ferrari was beating tenths off the time to reach at least the podium that Norris closed, in front Antonelli kept Verstappen at bay and put 2.5 seconds of safety in the middle so that victory would not be in jeopardy. The eighth of the season.
