(Motorsport-Total.com) – Kimi Antonelli took another step towards the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship at the premiere of the Spanish Grand Prix on the brand-new Madring and ultimately won the race confidently. However, the path to the next 25 points was far less exciting than his spectacular comeback in Monza a week ago.
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Antonelli was initially in third place after the start, but his only opponents practically eliminated themselves: Lando Norris (McLaren) caught an unfortunate timing of his (too slow) pit stop during a VSC yellow phase and fell back from first place, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) let Antonelli pass without a fight because he had to give a position back to Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who led for a long time, took himself out because he had not yet made a pit stop under VSC.
After 57 laps, which offered exciting racing only at the beginning and then rather drifted along, Antonelli secured the victory ahead of Verstappen and Norris. The trio drove the last ten laps closely lined up behind each other, but there were no real attacks. The fear that the Madring hardly allows overtaking was confirmed.
Antonelli finds it “nice to win,” but: “It doesn’t feel that good because actually Lando deserved the win.” The McLaren driver takes it in stride: “I think we deserved the win today. It was one of the best race weekends of my life. But we won’t let that get us down. The lap yesterday was incredible, and actually today was a perfect race. But I believe we can win even more races this year.”
Leclerc finished fourth, followed by George Russell (Mercedes), who was not satisfied with the two-stop strategy chosen for him and expressed his displeasure several times over the radio. Liam Lawson (Red Bull) took sixth place, ahead of Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), and Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), who scored a World Championship point in tenth place.
Hamilton retired early in the race with brake failure. Other retirements were Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Sergio Perez (Cadillac), and Carlos Sainz (Williams).
In the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship standings, Antonelli (292 points) now has an 81-point lead over Russell, 101 over Hamilton, and 106 over defending champion Norris. “There can still be retirements, as we’ve already seen this year,” analyzes Sky expert Ralf Schumacher. “Of course, we hope and knock on wood that it’s not an accident. But something can still happen. But it’s also important now: McLaren was faster today, that must not be forgotten. And the Mercedes update in Malaysia, that must also work.”
On the topic:
Result: Spanish GP 2026 race, Madrid
2026 Formula 1 World Championship standings
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Verstappen-Hamilton: Did he really have to give the place back?
At the start, there were immediately the much-predicted discussions: Norris got away well from pole and could maintain his lead – but behind it was turbulent. Especially between the two old rivals Verstappen and Hamilton.
Verstappen initially prevailed in the duel against Hamilton in turn 1/2 but had to cut a corner for it. Hamilton immediately reported over the radio: “Max has to give the position back.” Which the Red Bull driver of course saw very differently: “Lewis almost crashed into me. He completely lost control.”
The field lined up after the turbulent first lap, Norris led ahead of Verstappen and Antonelli. Antonelli had also cut corners twice but gave the position back twice as well. But trouble brewed around Verstappen: “Max, we think you should give the position back to Hamilton.” Which he could hardly believe: “What are you talking about? He would have taken me out, then we both would have been out of the race!”
An outburst of anger that Red Bull does not blame Verstappen for: “We certainly didn’t expect a thank-you email from Max out of the car at that moment,” says team principal Laurent Mekies. “The guys at the command stand looked at it very, very closely and quickly did the analysis because we had to make quick decisions. We were of the opinion that it was better to accept the loss at that moment […] rather than wait and risk bigger penalties that could have cost us even more later.”
In the end, Verstappen gave in, letting Antonelli and then Hamilton pass – bitter, because the Ferrari star was just showing brake problems, so Verstappen not only fell from second to fourth place but also his gap to Norris increased from 1.9 to 6.8 seconds.
On lap 5, Verstappen took Hamilton back, this time without cutting corners – and at the same time, the FIA timing monitor flashed: “No further investigation.” Meaning: He might not have had to give the position back at all. “That was an own goal by Red Bull,” says ORF expert Alexander Wurz. “I don’t understand it. They handed Antonelli second place on a silver platter.”
For completeness, it should be mentioned: Whether the FIA stewards only dropped the investigation against Verstappen because he voluntarily gave the position back remains speculation for now. It is quite possible that there would have been a penalty if he had stayed in second place against his team’s recommendation.
According to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, Verstappen “had no other choice” but to let Antonelli and Hamilton pass because: “The race control said he has to give the places back. It was a bit unfortunate for him because Lewis was already so far back with the problems.”
Because Hamilton gave up after a spin and had to stop with suspected brake failure, Russell moved up to fifth place. The Mercedes driver had an unpleasant encounter with Piastri at the start when the McLaren driver ran out of space. Piastri’s left front wing endplate did not survive the contact, but Russell’s right rear tire apparently did.
Hamilton later said the brake problem had occurred “already before” his off-track excursion: “I pressed the brake, the car started to slow down, and then the pedal suddenly gave way a bit. Suddenly the car didn’t slow down as much as usual, and I went into the corner way too fast. Then I slightly touched the track limits. After that, the pedal came back and everything was fine. And I think a few corners later the pedal travel suddenly became long.”
VSC due to Stroll: Important turning point in the Grand Prix
At the front, Norris led by 6.2 seconds over Antonelli after 13 laps. Both had started on medium tires. Verstappen (+12.3/Soft) was third, followed by Leclerc (+13.6/Hard) and Russell (+15.3/Hard). Antonelli’s fear that the Formula 1 stars would drive the first ten laps “like grandmas” did not come true.
Then on lap 14, a decisive moment in the Grand Prix: Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin with technical problems – triggering a virtual safety car phase (VSC).
Norris had already passed the pit entry, Antonelli, Verstappen, and Russell took the tire change “at half price.” McLaren only brought Norris in a lap later when the yellow phase was already over and switched from medium to hard.
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Bitter for the world champion: Despite his flawless first stint, he initially fell back to fifth place and now had a 17.3-second deficit to Leclerc (still without tire change) and 15.6 to Antonelli (hard). Also because his pit stop took a bit longer than usual.
But Norris does not blame his team: “The VSC came when we were already past. There was nothing we could have done differently. Luck was not on our side.”
The strategic situation was now as follows: Leclerc could go through with one stop (his only one). Antonelli and Verstappen’s fresh hard tires should also last until the end as long as they managed them well. And Russell on medium was told by the Mercedes box that he had to stop again. About which he debated: “But why don’t we at least try?”
Leclerc strategy: “The hard tire doesn’t go soft”
Leclerc now aimed for a long first stint. From about lap 20, he felt Antonelli’s breath on his neck – but the Mercedes driver could not build decisive pressure despite tires 14 laps fresher. What many feared was confirmed: however spectacular some corners may be – the Madring is not a great track for overtaking.
In the meantime, Antonelli radioed: “Check the car!” When asked in which corner it happened, he replied: “No, I didn’t touch the wall. But the steering feels strange.” But the command stand gave the all-clear: “We see nothing in the data that worries us.”
Interesting at that phase: Antonelli let himself fall back a bit, had a 2.2-second deficit to Leclerc again on lap 27 of 57. Leclerc drove at a level like Verstappen in front and kept the gap to the Red Bull star at 8.1 seconds. And unlucky Norris was fifth with a 14.5-second deficit to first place. Wurz noted in the ORF live commentary: “That shows that the hard tire doesn’t go soft.”
On lap 28, Russell switched from medium to hard. He now had tires 14 laps fresher than Antonelli and Verstappen and would be able to finish the race under normal circumstances with this set. However, he fell back to sixth place, behind Norris (4th) and Lawson (5th), but 0.9 seconds ahead of Piastri, who in turn complained why his damaged front wing was not changed during the first pit stop.
A strategy Russell was not happy with: “Why did we stop? I think I could have held Norris,” he criticized – and was rightly told by his race engineer: “Let’s discuss the strategy later.”
Three-way fight for the win in the last ten laps
There were still 15 laps to go, Leclerc still hadn’t stopped, and behind the leading Ferrari, the gaps shrank: Antonelli (P2) was only 3.8 seconds ahead of Verstappen, who in turn had a 1.2-second lead over Norris.
Leclerc was thus on course for fourth place with his offset strategy under normal circumstances, and Ferrari’s only hope was another VSC or safety car phase – or even a red flag, which would probably have given him the win. Leclerc’s hard tires certainly did not give in, and the buffer of 35.8 seconds to Russell on lap 47 was enough to stay out.
But on lap 48, it was time: Leclerc came into the pits and fell back to fourth place, so Antonelli now led by 1.2 seconds over Verstappen and 1.7 seconds over Norris. The leading trio had practically identical tires for the last nine laps of the race.
In the last laps, Antonelli was able to pull away a bit again and ultimately bring the victory home confidently. And Leclerc managed to defend fourth place despite a shrinking lead over Russell.
Alonso vs. Sainz: No sign of friendship
The Spanish local heroes played no role at the Madring premiere in Formula 1. Nevertheless, they provided entertainment when they fought a tough duel far beyond the top 10. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) felt pushed into the wall by Carlos Sainz (Williams), and he reported this over the radio.
Alonso: “He pushed me into the wall, man! At the start, he crashed into two people. Now he’s pushing me into the wall in the braking zone.” The FIA stewards looked at the situation – and apparently agreed with Alonso’s assessment: They issued a five-second penalty against Sainz.
Sainz gave up about ten laps before the end while lying 19th and last. Alonso finished his home race in 17th position. A total of 18 cars saw the checkered flag.
Formula 1 calendar 2026: What’s next?
Madrid was the last race weekend of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship on European soil. After that, the season continues with round 15 at the street circuit in Baku (Azerbaijan). The race will be held from September 24 to 26 – with qualifying on Friday and the Grand Prix on Saturday.
The last two races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi are still officially on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar but are uncertain due to the military situation in the Middle East.
Fans can follow the usual Formula 1 livestream on Sunday evening on the Formel1.de YouTube channel. With a summary of the events and analyses far beyond the end of the TV broadcasts. Host Kevin Scheuren presents the streams again with editor-in-chief Christian Nimmervoll as expert.
The provisional start time of the livestream on Sunday is set for 9:00 PM CEST.
Reload page: This race report is continuously updated. Only when this notice disappears are no further updates planned.
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