ROUND

14

Spanish Grand Prix

2026-09-13·57 laps

Kimi Antonelli won the first Formula 1 race at Madrid's new Madring circuit, benefiting from a perfectly-timed Virtual Safety Car that Lando Norris missed by two seconds. Norris had built a 6-second lead from pole before Lance Stroll's Lap 14 stoppage triggered the VSC; Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell all pitted for free, while Norris had already passed the pit entry and had to make a green-flag stop that was further ruined by a seven-second wheel-gun delay. Charles Leclerc, started on hards, led for over 30 laps by gambling on a second interruption that never arrived, before finally pitting for softs on Lap 49 and dropping to fourth. Verstappen held off a fast-closing Norris in the final laps to take second, though a late track-limits moment between the two was still under review after the chequered flag. Lewis Hamilton failed to score for the first time all season, retiring early with a brake problem; Stroll, Sainz and Perez also failed to finish.

Race Winner

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

Fastest Lap

1:35.587

George Russell

Conditions

☀ Dry

Circuit Profile

Circuito de Madring

Lap length

5.416 km

Race distance

57 laps · 308.7 km

Tyre allocation

H C2 · M C3 · S C4

Pit-lane loss (model)

≈ 26.5 s

Tyre degradation

Low

Overtaking

Easier

Pit-lane loss, degradation and overtaking are PITWALL simulator inputs for this circuit, not official figures.

Circuito de Madring circuit guide →Run this circuit in the simulator →

Qualifying

POS	Driver	Q1	Q2	Q3	Grid
1	Lando Norris	1:33.469	1:32.873	1:31.824	1
2	Kimi Antonelli	1:33.267	1:32.591	1:31.835	2
3	Max Verstappen	1:33.381	1:32.431	1:31.964	3
4	Lewis Hamilton	1:33.531	1:32.710	1:32.013	4
5	Charles Leclerc	1:33.532	1:32.755	1:32.019	5
6	George Russell	1:33.211	1:32.850	1:32.149	6
7	Oscar Piastri	1:33.829	1:33.204	1:32.294	7
8	Liam Lawson	1:33.310	1:32.780	1:32.316	8
9	Franco Colapinto	1:33.963	1:33.038	1:32.903	9
10	Arvid Lindblad	1:34.340	1:33.204	1:33.041	10
11	Nico Hulkenberg	1:34.417	1:33.223	—	11
12	Gabriel Bortoleto	1:33.986	1:33.388	—	12
13	Esteban Ocon	1:34.667	1:33.667	—	13
14	Pierre Gasly	1:34.246	1:33.753	—	14
15	Yuki Tsunoda	1:34.311	1:34.084	—	15
16	Alexander Albon	1:35.307	1:35.532	—	16
17	Carlos Sainz	1:35.312	—	—	20(+3 Penalty)
18	Fernando Alonso	1:35.388	—	—	17
19	Sergio Perez	1:35.913	—	—	18
20	Valtteri Bottas	1:38.011	—	—	19
21	Lance Stroll	—	—	—	21(+40 Penalty)
22	Oliver Bearman	—	—	—	22

Grid to Finish

Places gained or lost between the starting grid (after penalties) and the flag, for 18 of 18 classified drivers.

Biggest gains

Oliver BearmanP22 → P16+6

Liam LawsonP8 → P6+2

Franco ColapintoP9 → P7+2

Biggest losses

Lando NorrisP1 → P3-2

Oscar PiastriP7 → P8-1

Gabriel BortoletoP12 → P13-1

Race Timeline

🚦LAP 1Lights out — 57 laps scheduled

🏎LAP 1Norris converts pole into an early lead through Turn 1 as Antonelli runs wide twice trying to pressure him.

🟡LAP 14Lance Stroll stops his Aston Martin at Turn 20 with a brake problem, triggering a Virtual Safety Car two seconds after Norris passes the pit entry.

🏆LAP 14Race winner Kimi Antonelli makes stop 1, fitting Hard

⚡LAP 15Antonelli and Verstappen pit for free under the VSC; Norris, unable to react in time, pits under green flag and loses further time to a seven-second stop.

⚡LAP 49Charles Leclerc finally pits from the lead for soft tyres, having gambled on a second Safety Car that never came; Antonelli inherits the lead for good.

🔧LAP 55Last pit stop of the race: Pierre Gasly switches to Soft

🏎LAP 56Norris closes to within a second of Verstappen for second place with Overtake Mode available, but a backmarker encounter and a noted track-limits moment for Verstappen leave the position unresolved after the flag.

🏁LAP 57Chequered flag — Kimi Antonelli wins

Tyre Strategy

Every stint for the 18 classified drivers with recorded pit data (18 classified in total). Bar lengths are to scale with the 57-lap race distance.

P1Kimi Antonelli

M 14

H 43

P2Max Verstappen

S 14

H 43

P3Lando Norris

M 15

H 42

P4Charles Leclerc

H 48

S 9

P5George Russell

H 14

M 14

H 29

P6Liam Lawson

H 44

M 13

P7Franco Colapinto

M 14

H 43

P8Oscar Piastri

H 42

M 15

P9Arvid Lindblad

M 14

H 43

P10Nico Hulkenberg

S 14

H 43

P11Esteban Ocon

M 14

H 43

P12Pierre Gasly

H 55

S

P13Gabriel Bortoleto

H 47

S 10

P14Yuki Tsunoda

H 36

M 21

P15Alexander Albon

M 14

H 43

P16Oliver Bearman

H 33

M 10

H 14

P17Fernando Alonso

H 14

S 23

H 20

P18Valtteri Bottas

H 29

H 14

S 14

LAP 1LAP 29LAP 57

One-stop

14

Two-stop

4

Winner's strategy: Medium → Hard

Longest stint: Pierre Gasly, 55 laps on Hard

Compound sequences used

Medium → Hard

6 driver(s) · best result P1

Hard → Soft

3 driver(s) · best result P4

Hard → Medium

3 driver(s) · best result P6

Soft → Hard

2 driver(s) · best result P2

Hard → Medium → Hard

2 driver(s) · best result P5

Hard → Soft → Hard

1 driver(s) · best result P17

Hard → Hard → Soft

1 driver(s) · best result P18

Pit Stops & Neutralisations

First stops came between lap 14 and lap 55, with a median of lap 15.

Stops made within 2 laps of a Safety Car or VSC being called. The race data records when a neutralisation started, not when it ended.

🟡 VSC · lap 14

Kimi Antonelli — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Max Verstappen — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Lando Norris — lap 15, stop 1, onto Hard
George Russell — lap 14, stop 1, onto Medium
Franco Colapinto — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Arvid Lindblad — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Nico Hulkenberg — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Esteban Ocon — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Alexander Albon — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard
Fernando Alonso — lap 14, stop 1, onto Soft
Sergio Perez — lap 14, stop 1, onto Hard

Actual vs PITWALL Simulation

PITWALL model output · not official data

PITWALL replayed this race 40 times from the real starting grid, with all 18 finishers on the strategies they actually used. It then kept every rival's strategy fixed and tested alternative strategies for the winner, Kimi Antonelli.

Virtual Safety Car called on lap 14

Strategy	Stops	Avg finish	Win	Race time vs actual
ActualMHL14	1	P2.5	35%	—
MSL12	1	P1.0	100%	−7.1 s
HSL12	1	P1.0	100%	−6.9 s
SML12	1	P1.4	60%	−4.6 s
MSL16SL38	2	P10.2	0%	+18.5 s
MSL16ML38	2	P11.1	0%	+20.6 s
MML16SL35	2	P11.1	0%	+20.9 s

In PITWALL's model, Medium → Soft would have been 7.1 s quicker than the strategy Kimi Antonelli actually used.

Model check: with everyone on their real strategy, the simulated finishing positions were on average 2.5 places away from the real result, and Kimi Antonelli won 35% of the simulated races.

Retired cars are left out of the replay. Safety Car and VSC periods use the simulator's default length, because the race data records only when they were called. Model replay-2, computed 2026-10-23. How the simulator works and its limits →

Why They Lost

Strategy and race factors that shaped the result for drivers who finished behind Kimi Antonelli.

P5George RussellMercedes

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.
▸Set the race's fastest lap but finished P5 — the pace was there, the result was not.

P16Oliver BearmanHaas

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.
▸Pitted 19 laps later than Kimi Antonelli (lap 33 vs 14), losing time on worn tyres before the stop.

P17Fernando AlonsoAston Martin

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.

P18Valtteri BottasCadillac

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.
▸Pitted 15 laps later than Kimi Antonelli (lap 29 vs 14), losing time on worn tyres before the stop.

P4Charles LeclercFerrari

▸Pitted 34 laps later than Kimi Antonelli (lap 48 vs 14), losing time on worn tyres before the stop.

P6Liam LawsonRed Bull Racing

▸Pitted 30 laps later than Kimi Antonelli (lap 44 vs 14), losing time on worn tyres before the stop.

Strategy Breakdown

Replay any strategy in the PITWALL simulator →

POS	Driver	Strategy	Time	Gap
1	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes	M→HL14	1:34:23.754	Leader	▶ Simulate
2	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing	S→HL14	1:34:28.105	+4.351	▶ Simulate
3	Lando Norris McLaren	M→HL15	1:34:28.843	+5.089	▶ Simulate
4	Charles Leclerc Ferrari	H→SL48	1:34:52.870	+29.116	▶ Simulate
5	George Russell Mercedes	H→ML14→HL28	1:34:53.583	+29.829	▶ Simulate
6	Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing	H→ML44	1:35:50.500	+86.746	▶ Simulate
7	Franco Colapinto Alpine	M→HL14	1:35:58.035	+94.281	▶ Simulate
8	Oscar Piastri McLaren	H→ML42	1:35:59.593	+95.839	▶ Simulate
9	Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls	M→HL14	1:36:00.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
10	Nico Hulkenberg Audi	S→HL14	1:36:01.300	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
11	Esteban Ocon Haas	M→HL14	1:36:03.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
12	Pierre Gasly Alpine	H→SL55	1:36:05.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
13	Gabriel Bortoleto Audi	H→SL47	1:36:07.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
14	Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls	H→ML36	1:36:09.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
15	Alexander Albon Williams	M→HL14	1:36:11.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
16	Oliver Bearman Haas	H→ML33→HL43	1:36:13.500	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
17	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin	H→SL14→HL37	1:37:35.750	+2 Laps	▶ Simulate
18	Valtteri Bottas Cadillac	H→HL29→SL43	1:39:11.750	+3 Laps	▶ Simulate
19	Carlos Sainz Williams	H→ML23→HL31	—	DNF	—
20	Sergio Perez Cadillac	M→HL14	—	DNF	—
21	Lance Stroll Aston Martin	H	—	DNF	—
22	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari	S	—	DNF	—