By Tej SH
Andrea Kimi Antonelli extended his lead to a staggering 81 points over teammate and championship rival George Russel following the Grand Prix held at the newly constructed Madring circuit at Madrid. Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were on the podium.
While the race was initially led by defending world champion Lando Norris from McLaren, an unlucky error cost Lando the race. 5 seconds after he had crossed the pit lane entry, a Virtual Safety Car was brought out which Kimi and Verstappen capitalised on for a cheap pit stop. Once Lando finished his lap and entered the pits, his pit stop to change into new hard tyres was abysmal as it took seven seconds due to a jam in his front right tyres.
The Tifosi had a day to forget. In the initial laps, Lewis Hamilton kept dropping places due to a brake failure which led to him retiring the car within the first ten laps of the race. Charles Leclerc, who started the race with hard tyres but did not pit under the VSC, held control of the race until the 48th lap. While Ferrari were looking for a Safety Car or a VSC to get a quick and cheap pit stop, Kimi Antonelli reclaimed the lead from the Monegasque driver once he returned to the pits.
With Mercedes firmly holding their first place in the Constructors Championship, there seems to be a bit of a rivalry and questions of favouritism brewing between Kimi Antonelli, the 20 year old who claimed his 8th win and George Russell, the British driver who seems to be getting sidelined. Russell finished the race at P5, nearly 30 seconds behind his teammate.
Hometown heroes Carlos Sainz from Williams and Fernando Alonso did not live up to the expectations of fans as they had held the back of the pack. Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Sainz and Hamilton did not finish the race.
Liam Lawson, who recently moved to Red Bull Racing from Visa Cashapp RB due to a wrist fracture from Isack Hadjar, finished P6 ahead of Franco Colapinto from Alpine and Oscar Piastri from McLaren. Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg take the last of the points which could be earned from this race.
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