▲ Kimi Antonelli celebrates his Spanish GP victory
Twenty-year-old rising star Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) has secured a back-to-back comeback victory at the 2026 Formula One (F1) World Championship Spanish Grand Prix.
Antonelli won the 14th round of the F1 World Championship final held on the 13th (local time) at the Madring circuit (5.414 km, 57 laps) in Madrid, Spain, crossing the finish line first after starting from the second grid.
Following Antonelli, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lando Norris (McLaren) joined him on the podium in second and third places, respectively.
Having pulled off a dramatic win from the 19th grid in the previous 13th round, Antonelli orchestrated another comeback story in consecutive races to claim his 8th win of the season.
Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' standings to 292 points, widening the gap with his teammate and second-place George Russell (Mercedes, 211 points) to 81 points as he continues his unstoppable march toward his first-ever drivers' championship title.
A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) situation decided the direction of the race.
Norris, who took pole position in qualifying, started from the first grid in the final, while qualifying runner-up Antonelli and third-place Verstappen awaited the start signal as pursuers from the second and third grids.
As expected, Norris took the lead with Antonelli in pursuit, until a VSC was deployed on lap 15, halting overtaking maneuvers.
As ill luck would have it, race leader Norris passed the pit entry just as the VSC was deployed, whereas Antonelli and Verstappen swiftly executed their pit stops.
While Norris had to complete another full lap of the circuit before pitting, the VSC period ended. To make matters worse, mechanics struggled to change a rear tire, causing a disastrous pit stop that lasted 7 seconds instead of the usual 2 seconds.
Ultimately returning to the circuit in fifth place, Norris fought hard to climb back up to third, but could not catch up to Antonelli and Verstappen.
Antonelli overtook the unlucky Norris to complete his comeback victory, claiming his 8th win out of 14 races this season.
Antonelli said, "I am happy to win, but not entirely happy because Norris deserved to win," to which Norris responded, "I will accept it with humility. There will be more opportunities to win this season."
(Photo: Getty Images)
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