CoreWeave CEO chalks up public AI pushback to the speed of change: ‘And that is frightening’
CoreWeave CEO chalks up public AI pushback to the speed of change: 'And that is frightening'. Skip to content Opinion Martin Brundle's verdict on Madring's F1 debut, the areas to change for 2027 and Virtual Safety Car rules Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle delves into the talking points from the Spanish Grand Prix, assessing F1's newest venue and where it can be improved, the debate around the rules that cost Lando Norris, and Kimi Antonelli's ever-growing world championship lead Martin Brundle Expert Analyst @MBrundleF1 Monday 14 September 2026 16:23, UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player See how Lando Norris lost the lead and a likely win at the Spanish Grand Prix after an untimely Virtual Safety Car for the McLaren driver The inaugural Madring grand prix was ok, the new venue offering some interesting aspects such as the long and banked turn 12 and testing high-speed sections between continuous and unrelenting walls and barriers.
What happened
CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator spoke to CNBC at the Goldman Sachs' Communacopia + Technology Conference this week. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream F1 with no contract 📺As the cars swung at high speed from side to side through some of the more tortuous sections, and with a reasonably fast corner onto the not especially long pit straight, along with an energy dense layout meaning hybrid batteries would be replenished far more easily than on the four high speed and long straights just a week earlier in Monza, the only way to overtake was a highly risky lunge, or wait for rivals to make a mistake.
However, under a virtual or actual safety car, due to the speeds and geography of the layout, there was a chunky 12-second advantage in pitting under the safety car while rivals are travelling much more slowly. This meant he would clearly have to give back to Norris the lead he now had, but Verstappen read this very well, and using his speed, guile, and soft compound tyres, he would not let Antonelli simply hand the place back to Norris without helping himself to second place.
How the Virtual Safety Car turned the race Antonelli's wayAntonelli is definitely getting the rub of the green in this phase of the season, although it must be said that his speed and consistency have enabled him to make sure he doesn't waste these golden opportunities, and on lap 14 he would be handed another. But clearing away stricken cars had been rather slow all event and might, just might, Norris be able to complete another lap at safety car speed and still get a cheap pit stop in?
It went green and full racing speed when he was two corners from the pit-lane entry, and he then had to navigate the whole pit lane whist his main rivals were flat out.
The wider picture
The VSC rule debate and expectations of 2027 Madring changeAntonelli and Verstappen were both immediately magnanimous post-race when declaring it Norris' victory without the unfortunate virtual safety car timing. Although, of course, that costs green flag full-speed racing time, which is what people want to see in the grandstands and on their devices. By next year I hope and expect that the Madring will have some track layout changes to improve overtaking, a more condensed and practical set up behind the scenes, and better signage for all.
We know they lost a lot of time in the build process with particularly bad weather, and as a temporary race track adjacent to the international airport, and effectively racing around the Madrid equivalent of the Birmingham NEC, it had its challenges. The pitlane and paddock were simply vast, creating some logistical challenges for all and, much more importantly, the track layout was not conducive to overtaking, to say the least. F1 2026 standings | F1 2026 calendar | F1 Gossip ColumnDownload the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more📱Not got Sky?
It's not as challenging to overtake as Monaco, but not that far short either. Given the extremely long pit lane which feeds back onto the inside of turn three, it took a lengthy 25 seconds to pit under green-flag conditions.
What has been reported
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Highlights from the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix. The first-lap Madring meleeWith so little circuit knowledge, especially for Lando Norris who had missed virtually a full practice session with car gremlins, and for others who had had sizeable shunts along the way, this meant that all three available tyre compounds were represented on the grid. On the front row, pole sitter Norris, after a sensational qualifying lap, and fellow front-row sitter Kimi Antonelli had medium compounds.
Max Verstappen was on soft compound tyres, like Lewis Hamilton. Others like Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and George Russell's Mercedes were on the hard compound tyres. Norris got away reasonably well and aggressively covered off Antonelli. The young Italian would fail to slow enough, and bypass both of the two early chicanes, hitting the throttle hard through the run-off areas. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Kimi Antonelli found himself going wide twice on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
What happens next
However, in the melee early after the start, Verstappen too had a straight run through a chicane, in his view to avoid a shunt with Hamilton. In the view of the stewards however he had gained an unfair advantage and, much to Max's chagrin, his team told him, before the stewards did, to hand the place to Lewis which by now necessarily included Antonelli too. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Max Verstappen FUMES over Red Bull team radio after being told to give position back to Lewis Hamilton after running off track in an incident at the first corner.
Norris had been flying out front, looking very assured. But when Lance Stroll lost his Aston Martin under braking and became marooned down one of the few and short run-off areas, it looked reasonably certain that there would be a virtual safety car to recover that. Norris was fast approaching the pit-lane entry, the team didn't want to pit him on simply the chance of a safety car rather than the certainty, given how hard it was to overtake even significantly slower traffic if they didn't pit.
Just as the race director gave the VSC order, Norris had passed the pit entry.