Kimi Antonelli makes honest confession after latest F1 win in Madrid

Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has conceded that Lando Norris “deserved to win” the Spanish Grand Prix after taking a fortunate victory in Madrid. 

Antonelli lucked into the timing of a virtual safety car which enabled him to pit from second place and save crucial race time, while leader Norris’ race was undone when he missed the chance to stop. 

By the time Norris entered the pits, the race had returned to green flag conditions. To make matters worse for the reigning world champion, he suffered a slow pit stop, meaning he rejoined in fifth.

The Briton fought back to third but was unable to find a way past Antonelli’s Mercedes or Red Bull’s Max Verstappen due to a lack of overtaking opportunities at the Madring. 

After the race, Antonelli acknowledged his eighth win of an incredible 2026 season was among his most fortunate. 

“It’s good to win, but if I have to be realistic and honest, today we didn’t deserve to win,” Antonelli confessed. “Lando deserved to win today, and so I think our result was probably P2 or even P3. 

“I just didn’t do a good enough job at the start, being a bit too aggressive and then putting myself in a bad position. So yeah, definitely things to work on. But all in all, you know, today went well and I’m happy with that. But yeah, we’re just going to try to be better in Baku.” 

With Mercedes team-mate and direct title rival George Russell only able to finish fifth, Antonelli has opened up a commanding 81-point advantage at the top of the world championship. 

While Antonelli now appears unstoppable on his title charge, the 20-year-old Italian is not allowing himself to get distracted with thoughts that he could become F1’s youngest-ever world champion this year. 

“That’s exactly what I don’t want to do,” Antonelli replied when asked if he’s starting to think about the title.

"I want to keep pushing race by race, 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.”