Kimi Antonelli's stock is through the roof, while Carlos Sainz Jr's hometown flop will hurt him.
We're back on duty for the Formula One stock watch, and this one should be fun.
Yeah, this will be more fun than the race we just watched at the new Circuito de Madring.
Stock gainers 📈
Kimi Antonelli
Who else? The Mercedes driver just extended his championship lead to 81 points over his teammate George Russell. The pace and composure were there for the talented Italian driver. And most importantly, the championship is genuinely there for the taking for the 20-year-old Antonelli.
Max Verstappen
That's another podium for the Red Bull driver, who has now finished at least P3 in five of his last seven races (the two were DNFs). Despite all the struggles that he's apparently experiencing in the Red Bull car, Verstappen has been delivering great performances every weekend.
Franco Colapinto
That's back-to-back bad weekends for the Franco Colapinto haters. He wasn't satisfied with his ninth-place finish at Monza, and rightfully so. The Argentine driver followed it up by finishing P7 at Madrid. More importantly, he saved some important midfield points for Alpine when teammate Pierre Gasly didn't score any.
Lando Norris
Despite losing the lead under Virtual Safety Car conditions that he couldn't control, Norris's stock should still improve after this weekend. A stonking lap in qualifying surprised him and everyone in the paddock. He started from pole, controlled the lead early, and just had to settle for P3 after that cruel VSC luck.
Liam Lawson
Did Red Bull make a mistake demoting Lawson after just two races last year? In hindsight, maybe. The Kiwi driver has proved that he can excel in Red Bull's main seat, scoring in two of his three races for the team this season. Isack Hadjar might return at Baku, but Lawson has already proved his worth.
Stock dippers 📉
Carlos Sainz Jr.
The Madrid native failed to advance to Q2 on Saturday and was hit with an impeding penalty in that same session. On Sunday, he was the recipient of a justifiable barrage of words from fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso when they made contact. Sainz was handed another penalty and then had to retire his damaged car.
It was just a horrible, horrible weekend for the Williams driver.
Oscar Piastri
Piastri was outqualified yet again by his teammate on Saturday, and then had to endure damage to his car on Sunday. He's now trailing Norris by 66 points in the championship, with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella saying that Piastri must do better in qualifying sessions.
The Madring circuit
When drivers are already calling for track changes right after the race, you know that you just didn't build the circuit the right way. Hopefully, the Madring organizers will listen to driver input and create more overtaking opportunities on the track.
