Kimi Antonelli tries to stay grounded despite another win and big lead in F1 championship race

Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix, his eighth victory of the season, at the Madring circuit. According to SABC News, he benefited from a well-timed virtual safety car and a calamitous McLaren pit stop to take the win. Antonelli, a 20-year-old Italian Mercedes driver, now leads the championship with 292 points, 81 points ahead of his teammate George Russell, who finished fifth.

Max Verstappen finished second, with Lando Norris third, after Norris had been leading comfortably until the intervention of the virtual safety car. Norris and Russell both criticised their team's strategy, with Norris saying he felt he had driven a "perfect race" but luck was not on his side. According to The Citizen, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth, ahead of Russell and Liam Lawson in the second Red Bull.

Antonelli's father, Marco Antonelli, was seen holding a red carnation to give to his son after the race, a moment that has gone viral. Motorsport.com reported that Antonelli celebrated with his team after parking his Mercedes on the grid, and his father was waiting at the front of the barriers with the carnation. Other reports mentioned that Lewis Hamilton retired his Ferrari on lap seven due to brake failure.

Brief written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com, SABC News, The Citizen, Free Malaysia Today, Gulf News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.