Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli makes Lando Norris admission after 'lucky' Spanish GP victory

The 20-year-old Italian, driving for the Brackley-based Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, perhaps rode his luck a little for his eighth win in the sport – and he was the first to admit that afterwards.

Beaten to pole position by McLaren’s Lando Norris, Antonelli started in P2 and he remained behind his rival for the first quarter of the race.

By lap 14, Norris had pulled out a 6.2-second lead on Antonelli. But everything drastically changed as a result of a brutally-timed Virtual Safety Car (VSC).

FIA race director Rui Marques hesitated when Lance Stroll went off the road and only deployed the VSC once Norris had already passed the pit entry.

The likes of Antonelli, Mercedes teammate George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen all boxed for fresh rubber, gaining a cheap pit stop as a result.

Norris went on to pit on the next lap but by then it was too late to capitalise on the VSC, as it ended just a few corners before he came in.

To rub salt in his wounds, Norris had a five-second delay to his pit stop and ended up around 15 seconds worse off than the leaders.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who opted to stay out during the VSC, was in the lead ahead of Antonelli for much of the race as he extended his stint on the hard tyres hoping for a late Safety Car.

But it never came and Leclerc had to box late on for softs, allowing Antonelli to take the lead and clinch the victory.

Meanwhile, Norris had the best pace out of anyone on track, but the lack of overtaking spots at the Madring meant he remained in P3, behind Verstappen.

"It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres," Antonelli said in parc ferme.

"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.

“Other than that, it was a very strong race. I think especially on the hard at the end we had really good pace. Now we’re gonna keep pushing."