The Mercedes driver and current championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, will feel a “sting” after his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, as he knows that Lando Norris’s McLaren had a faster car, according to James Hinchcliffe, former IndyCar driver and F1 TV analyst.
Antonelli secured his eighth victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season in the opening race at the Madring circuit, extending his championship lead to 81 points over his teammate George Russell. However, his victory depended on a perfectly timed virtual safety car.
Norris, who had started from pole, built a considerable lead during the early moments of the race. When the virtual safety car was deployed just after the McLaren driver passed the pit entrance, Antonelli seized the opportunity to make a more economical stop. Norris pitted when the virtual safety car ended, suffering a four-second stop.
While Antonelli executed a solid race to secure the victory, Hinchcliffe argues that the pace of the McLaren will frustrate the 20-year-old.
“I don’t want to say it’s better to be lucky than to be good, but sometimes it’s good to be both, because we know he’s good. He’s definitely good. But he had a bit of luck, and we even felt it in the post-race interview, he said, ‘Yeah, we’ll take it,'” Hinchcliffe commented during the F1 TV post-race broadcast.
“You know how it is to be a driver. Even when you win, when you know there was someone faster than you, it still stings a little. You want to be the best driver of the day. And I don’t think we can say he was.
“He was very complete, he did what he had to do, he met the objective. But it’s interesting to see even a young driver with so much success this season, that he burns up when he knows he’s not the best of the day.”
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
