50 minutes Ago
A Fiery Start and a Frustrated Verstappen
Norris had started from pole, with Antonelli alongside him in second and Verstappen just behind in third. But the opening laps didn't go to script. Antonelli ran wide twice in the first lap alone, handing Verstappen the chance to slot into second place almost immediately.
The real drama, though, came from a clash between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The Red Bull driver felt Hamilton had pushed him off the track in the opening exchanges, arguing that had he not moved aside, contact would have been unavoidable. His frustration grew when his own team radioed in, asking him to hand the position back to Hamilton, a call that would have also dropped him behind Antonelli.
Verstappen didn't hold back over the radio, clearly unhappy with the instruction and questioning why he should give up a spot he felt he'd earned fairly. As it turned out, he didn't need to wait long for the situation to resolve itself. Hamilton began having brake trouble soon after and was forced to retire from the race altogether, a turn of events Verstappen greeted with a mix of relief and lingering irritation.
Strategy Blunder Costs Norris, Verstappen Holds Firm
Verstappen's route to the podium got another boost when McLaren made a costly pit-stop error with Norris, who had been leading comfortably at the time. The ill-timed call dropped Norris all the way down to fifth and left him with a mountain to climb in the second half of the race.
Once Charles Leclerc, who had taken over the lead, pitted for his mandatory stop and handed the top spot to Antonelli, the focus shifted to a tense fight between Verstappen and Norris for second. Verstappen looked comfortably in control for most of the battle, keeping Norris at arm's length until the very last lap, when a cluster of midfield cars unexpectedly blocked his path and let Norris close the gap in a hurry.
Norris later raised concerns that Verstappen had gone off the track to hold his position, but race stewards reviewed the incident and decided no penalty was warranted. Verstappen kept his second-place finish intact.
The result marked Antonelli's eighth win of the 2026 season and gave him a commanding 81-point lead over his Mercedes teammate George Russell in the Drivers' Championship, throwing the title race wide open heading into the remaining rounds.
