Antonelli insists Spanish Grand Prix victory ‘doesn’t feel as good’ because Norris ‘deserved to win’

Kimi Antonelli has shared his belief that Lando Norris “deserved to win” the Spanish Grand Prix after the reigning World Champion was forced to settle for third – a poorly-timed Virtual Safety Car impacting his chances of victory.

Norris had taken the challenges of the brand-new Madring in his stride as he executed a superb lap to pip Antonelli to pole position, and despite the Italian’s best efforts, he couldn’t find a way past in the opening stint.

He cut two corners in his attempted overtakes and gradually settled into second place behind Norris, who built a confident advantage at the front of the field before disaster struck for McLaren’s strategy.

A Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Lance Stroll came to a halt with brake issues, handing Mercedes the opportunity to change Antonelli’s tyres without losing as much time as they would in normal conditions.

But Norris had already passed the pit entry when the race was neutralised, and by the time he eventually entered for his stop, the VSC period had ended, dropping him from the lead to P5.

Although the Briton managed to recover back to the podium, Antonelli didn’t feel able to fully celebrate his win due to Norris’ misfortune, as he explained: “It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres.

“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 [tyres] at the end we had really good pace, and now we’re going to keep pushing.”

The 20-year-old also held off Max Verstappen to secure his eighth Grand Prix triumph of the season, which opened up his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to a commanding 81 points over team mate George Russell.

With nine rounds to go, it’s looking increasingly likely that Antonelli could be crowned the sport's youngest-ever World Champion, but he was adamant that the prospect isn’t on his mind.

Asked if he’s able to start thinking about the title, he replied: “That’s exactly what I don’t want to do. I want to keep pushing race by race, you know, keep delivering and keep enjoying all the way, and then trying to do my best every race, and then we’ll see where we end up at the end of the year.”