Kimi Antonelli has conceded that Lando Norris deserved to win the Spanish Grand Prix, but declared "we'll take it" after a fortunate virtual safety car.
Antonelli now holds an 81-point advantage over George Russell, who finished in fifth place following his eighth win of the season.
It means Antonelli is likely to be leading the championship by the time F1 arrives in Austin for the United States Grand Prix, with 83 points on offer across the Azerbaijan-Bahrain-Singapore races, with Singapore being a Sprint.
Antonelli's win came after he was able to pit behind a virtual safety car for Lance Stroll's stopped Aston Martin, with leader Norris having just missed the pit entry under the VSC conditions.
By the time Norris pitted, the race had resumed under green flag conditions, meaning Antonelli and Max Verstappen were able to get ahead.
In the end, Antonelli won by 4.3s from Verstappen with Norris in third, and beat Russell by 29.8s as he took a giant leap towards becoming the youngest world champion in F1 history.
Reflecting after the record-equalling 251st win for a Mercedes engine, Antonelli made clear that he felt Norris was the best driver on the day.
"It was a very difficult race, not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres, but I think today it is good to win, but it doesn't feel as good because I think Lando today deserved the win," Antonelli said.
"But overall we'll take it. And other than that, it was a very strong race. I think, especially on the hard at the end, we had really good pace.
"Now we're going to keep pushing. I want to keep pushing race by race, keep delivering and keep enjoying it all the way, and I'm trying to do my best every race, and then we'll see where we end up at the end of the year."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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