MADRING’S FIRST WINNER: ANTONELLI MAKES IT EIGHT IN 2026

A perfectly timed VSC stop put Kimi Antonelli in position to win Madring’s inaugural F1 GP, while Lando Norris’s later seven-second tyre change compounded his loss and helped deliver Antonelli’s eighth victory of 2026.

Madring’s first Formula 1 GP belongs to Kimi Antonelli. The 20-year-old Mercedes driver finished 4.351 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with Lando Norris third, to claim his eighth victory of the 2026 season.

The race did not begin as an Antonelli procession. Norris started from pole, resisted the Mercedes driver’s attacks through the opening sequence of corners and built a lead of approximately 4.5 seconds. Antonelli settled into second after two unsuccessful attempts to pass, while Verstappen remained close enough to keep the leading pair under pressure.

The race changed when Lance Stroll stopped at Turn 20 and triggered a Virtual Safety Car shortly after Norris had passed the pit entrance. Mercedes immediately brought Antonelli in for a reduced-time stop, while Verstappen and George Russell also took advantage. The VSC ended before Norris returned to the pits, forcing him to stop under full racing conditions. A separate seven-second tyre change added to the damage and dropped the McLaren driver to fifth.

Charles Leclerc stayed out and temporarily inherited the lead, but Antonelli held the net advantage and kept Verstappen behind despite reporting an unusual feeling from the steering. When Leclerc finally stopped at the end of Lap 48, Antonelli moved into the outright lead and controlled the remaining laps. The victory takes him to 292 championship points, 81 ahead of Russell, with nine rounds remaining.