Liam Lawson Achieves Best Red Bull Finish in Madrid
Liam Lawson left Madrid with his best result yet in Red Bull colours, a hard-earned sixth place on a day when the new Madring circuit offered almost nothing for the brave and even less for the impatient.
Starting eighth, the 24-year-old Kiwi dragged his car forward two places to bank eight valuable points, matching the sixth place he produced at Silverstone earlier in the season but, crucially, delivering it this time in a works Red Bull. On a narrow, low-grip layout that quickly revealed itself as a procession in waiting, sixth was worth more than it looked on paper.
“From where we started, it was an okay race,” Lawson said. “It was just super hard to overtake.”
Red Bull rolled the dice with an alternate strategy, committing Lawson to the hard tyre while much of the field tried to build early rhythm on softer compounds. The plan relied heavily on timing and traffic. The virtual safety car, triggered on Lap 15 when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped with a brake problem, did him no favours.
“We went for an alternate strategy on the hard, but I think the VSC didn’t help. I was honestly on my own a little bit,” Lawson admitted. “I think it would’ve been nice to qualify higher, but from where we started it was an okay race.”
On a day when overtakes came at a premium, track position became gold dust. Lawson managed his tyres, stayed out of trouble and picked off what he could, enough to move to 59 points in the World Drivers’ Championship. He sits ninth, 12 points shy of Isack Hadjar’s 71.
While Lawson quietly banked his best Red Bull finish, the front of the field turned on a single, brutal twist of fate.
Antonelli pounces as Norris’ race unravels
Kimi Antonelli walked away with the Spanish Grand Prix win, but even he knew how much fortune had done the heavy lifting.
The young Mercedes driver, already riding the high of a come-from-behind victory at his home Italian Grand Prix a week earlier, made it back-to-back wins in Madrid. This one, though, arrived wrapped in a slice of luck and a strategic misstep from McLaren that left Lando Norris fuming.
“Lucky for the virtual safety car, feel a bit bad for Lando,” Antonelli said over the radio. “Really strong race, strong weekend, let’s keep pushing.”
From the start, the new Madring layout made the opening lap feel decisive. Few overtaking zones, high tyre management, and walls looming too close for comfort meant every move carried risk. Norris launched from pole and initially held off Antonelli, who had to hand back a first-corner overtake after cutting the corner to avoid contact.
Behind them, Max Verstappen briefly slipped past Lewis Hamilton by running off track and also had to give the place back. The stewards were busy early; the race itself would not stay that way.
The decisive moment came when Stroll’s stoppage brought out the virtual safety car. Norris had just swept past the pit entry when the VSC was deployed. He couldn’t turn in. Antonelli could.
Mercedes called their man in. Norris stayed out, not by choice but by geography and timing. When McLaren pitted him a lap later, with the VSC already lifted, the damage was immediate and brutal. A slow stop caused by a right-front wheel issue only deepened the wound. Norris rejoined in fifth.
The race had turned in a single lap.
“It’s good to win, but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved to win,” Antonelli admitted afterwards. “But overall, you know, we’ll take it.”
Norris fought back to third, recovering ground but not enough to undo the VSC blow. Verstappen slotted into second for Red Bull, while Norris could only reflect on what might have been.
“I was insanely unlucky with the safety car,” he said. “I was the only one who didn’t get a chance to do the pit stop there. Of course I feel like I deserved more. There was nothing I could do. Congrats to Kimi and Max, they drove a good race today. Just luck not on our side. Rough race, one that just got away from us.”
Leclerc gambles, Hamilton breaks, Russell hangs on
Charles Leclerc briefly looked like he might turn the race on its head. Ferrari kept him out under the virtual safety car, vaulting him into the lead on an offset strategy. With the hard tyres holding on better than many expected, Leclerc tried to stretch his stint into a late, decisive stop.
For a while, it worked. He led for most of the race, managing pace and gap, but the mandatory tyre change loomed. When he finally pitted late, the lead evaporated and with it any realistic shot at the podium. He rejoined and finished fourth, a solid result but a frustrating one given how long he had stared at clear air.
George Russell brought the second Mercedes home in fifth, backing up Antonelli’s win and limiting the damage in the title race. It was enough to keep Antonelli’s advantage hefty: eight wins this season and now an 81-point lead over Russell with nine races remaining.
For Lewis Hamilton, there was no such salvage job. The seven-time world champion’s race lasted only seven laps. He reported brake problems, limped back, and retired. It capped a grim fortnight after his sixth-place finish at Monza, where he had already endured an early clash with Leclerc.
Home heroes collide as Madrid returns to the map
The Spanish Grand Prix’s return to the Madrid region after 45 years should have been a celebration for the home crowd. Instead, the two local stars barely made it past the opening exchanges.
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, the only Spaniards on the grid, started from the back and quickly found each other in all the wrong ways. They touched early in the race, adding more frustration to Sainz’s already aggressive, contact-filled start.
“He squeezed me into the wall,” Alonso said. “(At) the start, he crashed into two people, now he squeezed me into the wall on braking.”
Sainz collected a five-second penalty for the clash and later retired with a car issue, his home race unravelling in a messy, stop-start afternoon.
All of this played out in front of Spanish King Felipe VI and a packed house. Organisers expected close to 350,000 spectators over the weekend as Formula 1 returned to the capital for the first time since Jarama hosted the race in 1981.
Not everyone rolled out the welcome mat. Hours before lights out, a few hundred residents from northern Madrid neighbourhoods marched in protest, many in bright yellow T-shirts and carrying signs reading “Stop Formula 1 in Madrid.” Noise, road closures and environmental concerns fuelled their anger, even as the event locked in a 10-year deal in the city.
On track, though, the message was clear. The Madring is tight, unforgiving, and brutal on anyone who gets their timing wrong. Norris learned that the hard way. Antonelli turned it into another step towards a dominant season. Lawson quietly made it his best day yet with Red Bull.
Next stop: Baku. A street circuit, walls even closer, and a championship leader starting to look very hard to catch.
