A little bit of luck helped Kimi Antonelli to win a maiden Grand Prix at the brand new circuit - Madring. Max Verstappen finished right behind him in second, with Lando Norris in third position.
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| Photo by Bryn Lennon |
Although the new circuit is very tricky and tight, and a small mistake can turn into a big accident, qualifying for the race itself went without any problems. Lando Norris was the one who secured pole position, while Kimi Antonelli lined up just alongside him in second. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton occupied the second row behind them.
After the red lights went out at the start of the race, Lando managed to keep first place. However, Kimi tried to get ahead of him at the first corner. He had to cut the corner as he had no space alongside Lando.
Verstappen also went off at the first corner, as he believed that Hamilton had pushed him off. Another drama unfolded behind them, as Piastri touched Russell’s rear tyre with his front wing. After the first lap, Lando controlled the race from the lead, while Verstappen managed to get ahead of Kimi, who dropped to third. Hamilton was right behind them in fourth.
On lap 4, Red Bull told Verstappen to give his position back to Lewis, as he had cut the first corner and gained an advantage over him. However, Max was already ahead of Kimi, so he had to let Kimi past first and then Lewis.
Later in the race, Hamilton started to have problems with his brakes. These problems were so severe that he was forced to retire from the race for the first time this season.
On lap 14, Lance Stroll also retired his car, but unlike Lewis, he did not make it to the pits and stopped on the track, which caused a Virtual Safety Car period. This proved to be a decisive moment in the race.
Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell took advantage of this and pitted. Norris did not manage to stop under the VSC, so he entered the pits just as the VSC was ending. He also had a slow pit stop, as the mechanic working on the front-right tyre had problems removing the wheel. After that, he rejoined the track in fifth position.
Leclerc stayed on the track and took the lead of the race. Antonelli and Verstappen switched to hard tyres, so they did not need to stop again before the end. Russell was on medium tyres, so he pitted one more time during the race.
Leclerc waited until lap 48 for a Safety Car period so he could stop. However, that did not happen, and after his stop, he dropped to fourth position. Meanwhile, Kimi retook the lead of the race.
At the end of lap 57, Antonelli crossed the finish line in first position and won first ever Grand Prix at Madring. Verstappen finished second, Norris in third.
"It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres. It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win. But overall, you know, we’ll take it. And other than that, it was a very strong race. I think especially on the hard at the end we had really good pace, and yeah, now we’re gonna keep pushing," said Kimi after the race.
Antonelli now leads the championship by 81 points ahead of his teammate George Russell, and he can add more points in two weeks’ time in Baku, where the next race will take place.