Race Report: Antonelli wins at the Madring!

Kimi Antonelli extended his championship lead with a win at the Gran Premio De España at the Madring leading Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Sometimes the Virtual Safety Car works for you and sometimes against you and in this case, it certainly gained Kimi a meaningful advantage.

Win

A win for Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes for gaining a position as Max Verstappen was chose to concede a position to Lewis Hamilton but Kimi had passed Lewis so Max ceded two positions and that was a key moment for Kimi. The other key moment came as he was trailing Lando by six seconds and in those six seconds, the VSC was launched and this allowed him to box while Lando had gone by the pit entry. Despite that, Kimi drove a strong race, was patient waiting for Charles Leclerc to box and managed his tires well for the win.

A win for Max Verstappen and Red Bull with both cars in the points and Max on the podium. Unfortunately Max had to cede a position to Kimi but he still managed to finish in P2 which was, in his estimation, was punching above their weight and a good sign on about their improved race pace.

It’s hard to give Lando Norris a fail when he was the fastest car on track and his recovery to the podium was a terrific drive. He had massive pace when many, me included, didn’t think their overall race pace was going to be on par to capitalize on his single-lap pace and pole position. He proved me very wrong and deserved the win.

It’s a win for Charles Leclerc who had a very good drive to P4 leading the race for most of it. The team managed the gap to George Russell and boxed at the right time. Unfortunately his Soft compounds didn’t really pay dividends at the end of the race to move forward.

A win for Liam Lawson who made a 1-stopper work for him and did a good job to bring home points in P6. He’s done a very good job of standing in for Isack Hadjar.

A big win for Franco Colapinto for equaling his best-ever F1 result in P7. A good strategy and well executed by Franco.

A win for Arvid Linblad and Nico Hulkenberg for points finished in P9 and P10 respectively.

Fail

A fail for George Russell for a challenging qualifying position and the strategy didn’t really get him back to the podium. He did set fast lap of the race but to be fair, I don’t think his idea of staying out and holding Lando off on a set of Medium tires would have worked.

A fail for Pierre Gasly who struggled with a very long stint only boxing on the last lap. IT dropped him out of the top 10.

A fail for Yuki Tsunoda who managed to struggle his way out of the points while Arvid was clearly in them.

A fail for Carlos Sainz at his home race at a track he helped design so there was no passing opportunities and he paid the price for the design by hitting a couple cars at the start and then had a dust-up with his hero, Fernando Alonso.

A fail for Ferrari’s brakes on Lewis Hamilton’s car. Very tough race for Lewis with a DNF.

WTH

Not sure why the designers of the Madring failed to create a layout that offered some overtaking opportunities. The race was a pedestrian affair and while you might have deference for Monaco regarding low passing, designing a new track shouldn’t be limited so not sure why the layout ended up the way it did.

Curious about the brake issue for Lewis. You’ll recall the brake issues Charles had at the beginning of the year and he switched to the same brakes that Lewis uses. Odd to have a failure but let’s hope it’s just a one-off.

Pirelli Report:

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

“The teams approached today’s race differently from what had been simulated on track on Friday. Thanks also to the opportunity provided by the Virtual Safety Car, they favoured a more measured management of pace and degradation, which allowed them to significantly extend stint lengths and made the one-stop strategy the preferred choice for the majority of the field.

“The star of the Grand Prix was the Hard tyre, a compound that had been little explored during free practice and which today demonstrated a very high level of consistency, proving to be the most robust of the three compounds from both a thermal and mechanical perspective. With the C2, we saw several stints exceeding 45 laps, reaching very high levels of wear without any significant performance drop-off. Both the Medium and the Soft also proved to be effective options despite the track temperatures. The C4, in particular, completed competitive stints comparable to those of the Medium in terms of durability.

“As expected, graining appeared mainly on the front-left tyre, on the inner area of the tread, but with limited intensity. The work carried out by the teams on car set-up and tyre management helped to minimise its effects. In a race characterised by few overtaking opportunities, the drivers were able to focus on tyre management, contributing to a very straightforward contest from a strategic perspective.

“Congratulations to Ugo Ugochukwu for securing the Formula 3 championship title today at the end of a highly competitive season. The series continues to represent an important proving ground for young talents from all over the world. The fact that the title was decided only at the final round highlights the exceptionally high level of competitiveness within the championship, which this year delivered spectacular racing and outstanding sporting value.”

Madring Race Results: