Race Report: Victory in Spain as Madring Makes F1 Debut

• Kimi Antonelli won Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix with George Russell coming home in fifth.

• There were many unknowns heading into F1’s first Grand Prix at the new Madring, with a clear focus on tyre performance.

• As it turned out, the Hard compound tyre was incredibly resilient with degradation low which thus dictated strategy.

• Kimi started on the Medium compound with George on the Hard; they took the opportunity for a cheap stop under a lap 14 Virtual Safety Car that saw Kimi take the net lead from the McLaren of Lando Norris.

• That saw him go to the end from there and cycle through to the lead once the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc had pitted for his eighth win of the season.

• For George, he had to swap to the less robust Medium compound at his first stop and, whilst the team evaluated going to the end from there, the performance on the yellow-walled compound would not have been sufficient to achieve that.

• He stopped for a new Hard tyre midway through the race as the team opted to try something different to Leclerc’s strategy but ultimately George would come home in the P5 position he had been in when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.

• The win marks Mercedes-Benz’s 251^st as an engine manufacturer, thus drawing level with Ferrari atop the list of all-time wins.

• The team extends its lead in the Constructors’ Championship to 145 points over Ferrari, with Kimi first in the Drivers’ Championship, with George in second 81 points behind.

George Russell

No matter what we had done with strategy today we would have finished P5. The Virtual Safety Car came at the worst point for everyone who had started on the Hard tyre like me, and the best point for those who had started on the Medium. Unfortunately, that is how racing goes sometimes but it is a little bit the story of my season so far! It was very difficult to overtake today but I’ve enjoyed driving the Madring overall this weekend.

It is going to be an intense run to the end of the season. I’m looking forward to getting back to the factory, working with the team, and getting ready for the first of three triple-headers. My pace today, particularly on the Hard tyre, felt good so we can be encouraged by that as we head to Baku.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

That was a great result for Kimi and a really strong weekend for the team. We clearly benefited from the timing of the Virtual Safety Car, but credit goes to the drivers and everyone in the garage for being ready to react. The execution of both stops was excellent and that helped us take the win today.

For Kimi, the decision to pit under the Virtual Safety Car was the one that ultimately put him in the net lead of the race. George's situation was a little more complicated. We had elected to do the opposite of Leclerc strategically because, when you're behind, you often need to try something different to create an opportunity. As the race unfolded, though, it became clear that the Hard tyre was performing better than we had expected and was the compound to be on. That said, if we had mirrored the Ferrari’s strategy, we would have still likely finished P5 with overtaking proving so difficult.

Ultimately, the Virtual Safety Car arrived at the perfect moment for the cars that could switch onto the Hard tyre, and that's sometimes how racing goes. The important thing is that we've come away with a race win, a strong points haul, and strengthened our position in both championships.

We'll regroup over the next few days and prepare for the run to the finish of the season. Nine races in 11 weeks is going to be a demanding stretch for everyone, but we've put ourselves in a good position in both title fights and we'll keep pushing right to the final Grand Prix.