Lando Norris lost the Spanish GP because he was too fast and that sums up sorry F1

One of the worst parts of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend (and there are certainly a few contenders) was the sight of the official race winner being almost embarrassed to claim victory.

This isn't a dig at Kimi Antonelli by the way, who won for Mercedes to put himself well on course to be the next Formula 1 world champion.

But even the 20-year-old Italian knew he had been extremely fortunate to benefit from one of the stupidest scenarios in F1 racing, one which should have been stopped long ago.

It is of course the virtual safety car, or even the safety car itself, but we will pick on VSC for now as it relates to the weekend we have just witnessed in Madrid.

VSC itself is good in making a race track safe, no arguments there, but when it needlessly alters race results it is a terrible look for F1.

READ MORE: 'Lewis will never trust Charles again' - F1 journalist issues shocking Ferrari statement

How to screw the race leader

On Lap 14 of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring circuit, Lance Stroll did the fairly routine thing of 2026 by retiring his Aston Martin just off track. The procedure here with marshals exposed to a race track to help remove the car is to call a VSC. Fine.

Now, VSC conditions make all drivers slow down on the race track, and this also allows them to make a pit-stop due to reduced track speed and save quite a few seconds in the process.

Sadly for McLaren's Lando Norris, he had already gone past the pit lane when the VSC was made official. The good news for each of his rivals, was they could all have the option to pit for new tyres and save some time, as Antonelli and Red Bull's Max Verstappen did.

In fact, all the drivers got the chance to pit under VSC, except one - Norris. Having done nearly a whole lap, he was about to get his chance to pit under VSC conditions when it was announced the period was ending.

Norris still pitted under normal racing conditions, and while his pit-stop was poor at seven seconds, regardless of that he would have still come out behind Antonelli and Verstappen.

So, if Norris was just a bit slower for the first 14 laps, he would have been able to benefit from the VSC, make a pitstop, come out in the lead, and win on a track where to no one's surprise it is nearly impossible to overtake.

The world champion was effectively penalised for going too fast - the absolute aim of motor racing. At the very least if you are going to call a VSC and let 21 drivers have a chance to pit, hold for a few more seconds in the interest of fairness for the race leader.

Having finished the race behind Antonelli and Verstappen, Norris was screwed for having the audacity to drive too fast. This isn't sport.

F1 has somehow been brainwashed into thinking this is a part of racing, is bad luck and is totally acceptable. It's not, it's cheap and makes a farce of motorsport.

Norris admits drivers have warned F1

Norris was probably furious inside, but mostly managed to hold it together for the TV cameras as he said: "I was just unlucky. I was the only one on the whole grid that doesn't get a pit stop. So I lose 20 seconds on on the whole grid. This is out of my control. It's out of their control.

"It's a rule that shouldn't define a race. You know, a race should be won by the guy who can put in the best performance. Who maybe takes a risk by going long in a pit stop, like long in a stint, and maybe you get a safety car later on, and things can help because you know that's one of the big factors. But for everyone to get a safety car, a VSC pit loss, that means you get nothing. It's just it's unfair."

Norris then admitted this is something the drivers have tried to change within the rules to prevent this scenario happening, adding: "I don't think many people have lost a race win over it. It's frustrating. I don't feel like it's the way you should lose.

"We've spoken about it in the past in the drivers' briefing, saying they should leave it out at least for a lap, so it's equal for everyone. Today I was the only one that lost out, and I lost out about 20 seconds of race time, and that's that's not how it should be."

Safety car rules are outdated

Virtual safety cars and safety cars are a part of modern F1 and that's fine if it means safe racing, but they are still working on F1 assumptions from a totally different era. The full safety car was mandated way back in 1993.

Incidents that would have been perhaps covered under yellow flags or just left alone completely (cars moved off the racing line) would not have required a safety car in the 1990s, but they would today.

What is now the virtual safety car used to be covered off by, hey, remember these, double waved yellow flags (slow down and prepare to stop), and given the stricter safety concerns, VSCs and SCs now hit races more than ever.

In addition, a key reason for allowing drivers to pit under a safety car for much of its early existence was to stop drivers running out of fuel in the refuelling era.

Now this is not the case. Unless your car is damaged, there is no need to allow a loophole where some drivers can effectively cheat a pitstop.

Also, why do you need a VSC to affect a whole lap when you can just mandate a 'slow zone' like they use at the Nurburgring for the certain sections where care needs to be taken.

Why do drivers need to go slow around a whole track when going slowly is only relevant to about two corners? It's just silly.

F1 needs to get a grip with easy solutions

As Norris says, there are times when there is no escaping that a full safety car can change a race's direction. This can be harsh, but thankfully it's not too common.

But if we are throwing out VSCs every time a driver pulls off the track, then something needs to be done about exploiting blatant and unfair loopholes. I've already outlined plenty of easy overnight solutions above.

On Sunday everyone including Antonelli agreed that Norris was the class of the field and deserved to win.

F1 needs to get a grip and sort out the VSC and SC issue because when race drivers are losing races because they are going too fast, then the sport is in big trouble.

READ MORE: Norris takes down journalist in tense exchange: 'Did you even watch the race?'

READ MORE: For f*** sake F1' - Top Gear legend goes in hard over 'petty rules' at 'stupid track'

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Adrian Newey promises Aston Martin improvements at next F1 race with crucial upgrades

• 2 hours ago

'For f*** sake F1': Top Gear legend goes in hard over 'petty rules' at 'stupid track'

• Yesterday 22:42

F1 Spanish Grand Prix a 'total dud' as Government Minister issues damning Madring statement

• Today 13:55

F1 champion Lando Norris takes down journalist in tense exchange: 'Did you even watch the race?'

• Today 09:43

'Lewis will never trust Charles again' - F1 journalist issues shocking Ferrari statement

• 1 hour ago

Fernando Alonso drops F1 bombshell by saying Aston Martin renewal would be MULTI-year deal

• Today 08:58