Kimi Antonelli makes 'aggressive' concession after 'undeserved' triumph

Kimi Antonelli has acknowledged being "too aggressive" at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix, which the Mercedes driver felt left him in a "bad position" to recover from.

Antonelli ultimately took victory at the Madring from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, but only after the forgiving timing of the virtual safety car, which essentially ruined the McLaren's race.

Having lined up alongside the MCL40 on the front row of the grid, Antonelli attempted to seize the lead through the first corner, but went in too hot and had to skip the second corner.

After relinquishing the position to Norris, he made the same mistake again at Turn 5. This time, he fell behind Verstappen too as he feathered out the throttle.

Fortunately for the Italian, the Red Bull driver had to concede second and third place — to Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, whom he passed off track — to avoid being penalised.

Despite having no answer for Norris' pace, the 20-year-old eventually assumed the lead when the reigning F1 drivers' champion was denied a cheap pit stop under the Lance Stroll-induced VSC.

From there, it was a matter of biding his time, with overtaking all but impossible at F1's newest circuit, rendering much of the afternoon a foregone conclusion.

"It’s good to win, and I think the pace at the end was good," Antonelli told media, including RacingNews365, whilst reflecting on the result.

"But if I have to be realistic and honest, today we didn’t deserve to win. Lando deserved to win today, and so I think our result was probably P2 or even P3.

"I just didn’t do a good enough job at the start, being a bit too aggressive and then putting myself in a bad position. So definitely things to work on. But all in all, it went well, and I’m happy with that. But yeah, we’re just going to try to be better in Baku."

Antonelli: Things to review after bailing out of risky move

Expanding on the frenetic opening corners of an otherwise damp squib of an afternoon in the Spanish capital, Antonelli shared his perspective from the cockpit of his W17

The now eight-time grand prix winner admitted his approach left him in an "awkward position" after opting to avoid a potential collision with Norris.

"I did try [to overtake], but obviously, Lando is not going to let me pass by; he did what he had to do," Antonelli explained.

"I found myself cutting the chicane twice. In the second chicane, I thought I could maybe make it, but I felt like it was too risky also for contact.

"So I decided to bail out. And then I was a bit in an awkward position because then Max could overtake me on the outside in seven. So definitely things to review, but it was still a great team effort."