F1 Full Results | Kimi Antonelli wins the Spanish GP at the Madring

The Italian lined up behind pole-sitter Norris ahead of the 57-lap race at F1’s newest circuit and has converted that into more important points in the F1 standings.

The new Grand Prix got off to a frantic start, with Antonelli going off on two of the opening five corners at the Madring in a battle with Norris, but the world champion was handed back the lead and from there, quickly created a strong gap on the Italian and Max Verstappen.

After just seven laps at the Madring, Lewis Hamilton's race came to a premature end due to brake issues. The Briton, having been involved in a Turn 2 incident with Verstappen on the opening lap, was ordered to limp his SF-26 back to the pits to bring a difficult weekend to a close.

While Norris had mightily impressed in the lead, his race was turned upside down after a Lap 14 Virtual Safety Car was brought out - Lance Stroll, also struggling with brake problems, was in the barrier at Lap 20.

Critically, Norris missed the opportunity to pit under the VSC, while rivals Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell came in. McLaren then decided to box the Briton on the following lap, but as the VSC was ending - a slow seven-second stop only made matters worse for the papaya team, with Norris dropping down into P5 behind Russell.

One driver not to pit under the VSC was Charles Leclerc, opting for the one-stop strategy to take the lead of the race. With a lack of overtaking opportunities at the Madring, Antonelli maintained a three-second gap to the Monegasque as the race progressed.

Behind net-leader Antonelli was Verstappen, who came under increasing pressure from the pursuing Norris as the race moved into the final stages - the gap hovering around a second with just 10 laps to go.

Leclerc was finally told to pit on Lap 49, emerging back out into P5 ahead of Russell. The gap between leader Antonelli, Verstappen and Norris was now only 1.8s ahead of the final eight laps, but F1's championship leader pulled away from danger to take his eighth win of the season, while Norris failed to get past the Red Bull man.