Kimi Antonelli has boosted his title ambitions with victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the first race at the Madring. The Mercedes driver edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris in a race swayed by strategy. Adding an eighth win to his season tally, Antonelli has extended his lead to 81 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
マドリングの初開催レースを制したKimi Antonelliの快走
Virtual Safety Carが引き起こした戦略の明暗
The race began at 1500 local time with polesitter Lando Norris and Antonelli starting on medium compound tyres. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton opted for the red-walled soft compound, while Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Oscar Piastri, and Liam Lawson started on white-walled hard tyres. Other drivers on hards included Gabriel Bortoleto, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, and Ollie Bearman. Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, and Sergio Perez chose mediums, and Nico Hulkenberg was the only other driver on softs.
The opening laps saw clashes up and down the field. Both Antonelli and Verstappen cut Turn 2. While Antonelli handed the lead back to Norris, Verstappen retained the advantage over the Ferrari. Verstappen later let Antonelli and Hamilton by on lap four to avoid a penalty after arguing he had to take evasive action due to Hamilton’s unruly driving.
On lap 10, Norris led Antonelli by five seconds, Verstappen by 11s, Leclerc by 13s, and Russell by 15s. A virtual safety car (VSC) was triggered on lap 13 after Lance Stroll retired due to a brake problem. Antonelli, Verstappen, and Russell pitted during the VSC, but Norris and Leclerc stayed out. Norris was called in right as the VSC period ended and suffered a slow stop, emerging in fifth place—14 seconds behind Antonelli and 16 seconds behind Leclerc.
Andrea Stellaが語ったピットストップの判断とリスク
終盤の三つ巴の戦いと選手権の行方
Antonelli inherited control of the race once Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc gave up on his hopes for a Safety Car and finally peeled into the pits after 48 laps for soft tyres. Despite expressing worries that the steering feels weird,
the 20-year-old maintained his position. George Russell, who started on hards and switched to mediums, made a second pitstop on lap 28 to return to hards. Russell took P5 on lap 35 with an around-the-outside move on Lawson, though he questioned the strategy, stating that he did not understand why they pitted and believed they could have held Norris off.
レース終盤は、Antonelli、Verstappen、そして追い上げるNorrisによる三つ巴の優勝争いに発展しました。Leclercはセーフティカーの出動を期待して極限までピットインを引き延ばしましたが、願いは叶わず48周目にピットイン。
The final results saw Antonelli take the win, followed by Verstappen and Norris. George Russell settled for P5, while Liam Lawson finished sixth. Franco Colapinto was the sole scorer for Alpine, ahead of Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad, and Nico Hulkenberg. Esteban Ocon finished P11, followed by Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Yuki Tsunoda in P14. Alex Albon was the lone finisher for Williams, leading Ollie Bearman, Fernando Alonso, and Valtteri Bottas.
There were four retirements: Lewis Hamilton retired early due to a brake issue, Carlos Sainz failed to complete his home race, Sergio Perez faced a suspected water system issue, and Lance Stroll retired with brake troubles.