F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2026 Recap

Antonelli makes it back-to-back wins with Madrid street circuit triumph

Kimi Antonelli made the most of McLaren’s strategic goof-ups as the Mercedes driver followed up his iconic Italian Grand Prix win with a Spanish Grand Prix 2026 win, picking up the first ever win at the new Madrid street circuit. Red Bulls’ Max Verstappen finished second ahead of pole sitter Lando Norris, who ended up with a third place finish, which would disappoint the reigning world champion, given the strong start he had to the race. 

A late call to pit under the Virtual Safety Car and a slow pit stop undid all the hard work done by Norris on Saturday and at the start of the race, with Norris fighting back to manage a P3 finish. The race also saw four retirements including Lewis Hamilton suffering an early retirement due to a brake issue. 

Lando Norris got the grid going as the lights went off but he had to keep his elbows out against a charging Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli took the lead momentarily but went wide which saw him have to concede the place to Norris and while trying to regain his lead, Verstappen shot past Antonelli to move into second place. Verstappen himself had a moment with Lewis Hamilton at the start as Verstappen almost went off at Turn 2 to avoid contact with Hamilton and ended up getting past Hamilton, who himself had an incredible start but was unable to brake in time at Turn 1 and almost came together with Verstappen. Inside a couple of laps, Norris was almost 2 seconds clear of Verstappen and on lap 4, Red Bull asked Verstappen to give back the place to Hamilton. Hamilton was two places behind Verstappen which meant the Dutchman gave up two places, to Antonelli and Hamilton and fell to fourth place as Antonelli once again moved back to second place while Hamilton slotted in at three, although he was on the radio complaining about his brakes.

Verstappen sped past Hamilton to take third place going into Turn 5 on lap 5 to get past Hamilton again, this time cleanly. Hamilton continued to struggle with his car as Leclerc got by him as well, without any trouble and he went off into the run off area at Turn 20 on lap 6. Hamilton did continue as his brakes failed and he was dropping down the grid and was asked to come into the pits. Hamilton limped back to the pits with his brakes not functioning, which ended his race while Norris led from Antonelli on track with  a gap of almost four and a half seconds while Verstappen was a further four seconds behind. While Verstappen had a rough start, going up and down places, his teammate, Liam Lawson was making up places and Lawson went inside of Franco Colapinto at Turn 5 on lap 10 to move up to P6. On lap 15, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Lance Stroll also complained of a brake issue and stopped on track. 

A couple of cars came in for quick stops including Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and George Russell. Norris came in just as Virtual Safety Car ended, as he had just missed the pit entry when the Virtual Safety Car had been deployed, which turned out to be a disaster for the race leader and a slow stop from the McLaren crew meant that Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and George Russell all past Norris on track with Leclerc taking the lead of the race. Norris rejoined in fifth place, more than six seconds behind George Russell. Antonelli was charging at Leclerc and was under a second behind race leader Leclerc, although Leclerc unlike the other drivers in the top 4 was yet to pit. In a couple of laps’ time, Leclerc began to pull away from Antonelli and by lap 23 he was over three seconds clear of Antonelli. 

As the race entered its 30th lap, Leclerc still led from Antonelli with Verstappen in third place and Norris who was catching Russell, moved into fourth place as Mercedes called in Russell for his second stop and Russell rejoined in sixth place behind Liam Lawson, who was yet to pit. Russell got Lawson for fifth place on lap 35 as Lawson went wide at Turn 5 and heading into the Turn 6 chicane which saw Rusell pull off a comfortable overtake. Norris was under two seconds behind Verstappen by lap 40 while Leclerc continued to lead although the Ferrari driver was yet to stop with Antonelli being two and a half seconds behind him with 17 laps left in the race. By lap 44, Norris was all over the back of Verstappen, inside DRS range and up at the top, Antonelli was inside a second of Leclerc as the championship leader began to put his foot down. Red Bull called in Lawson for his stop on lap 45 and the Red Bull driver came out in seventh place ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto. On the track in front, Verstappen was doing his best to keep Norris at bay while also coming under two seconds behind Antonelli. 

Verstappen continued to press Antonelli as the race entered its final 10 laps with Norris also keeping Verstappen in check, in what was turning out to be a three-way fight for the race lead. The top four were separated by under three seconds with Leclerc finally pitting on lap 49 that saw Antonelli take the race lead. Antonelli was immediately away in clear air, leaving Verstappen and Norris behind while Leclerc rejoined in fourth place, crucially just ahead of Russell. Antonelli was two and half seconds clear of Verstappen with five laps to go while Verstappen had Norris in his DRS range but managed to hold on the second spot as Norris wasn’t giving up either. Verstappen finally got some breathing space on lap 54, as Norris went wide at the chicane that saw Verstappen get a second’s gap between himself and the reigning champion. While Norris and Verstappen were battling it out for second place in a tight battle, Russell was catching up on Leclerc and was a second behind the Ferrari man.

Verstappen almost lost his place on lap 56 as he cut Turn 5 but managed to get back ahead and hold on to second place. Verstappen ended up just about holding on for second place as Antonelli ended up winning the Spanish Grand Prix 2026 by over seconds to pick up his eighth race of the season. Verstappen was second ahead of pole sitter Norris while Leclerc also held on for his fourth place, with Russell finishing 0.7s behind Leclerc. Red Bull’s Lawim Lawson, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and the Audi of Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the points places for the first ever race at the new Madrid street circuit. 

Antonelli’s win now sees him go 81 points clear in the Drivers’ Championship standings. While Mercedes continues to build their lead in the Constructors’ Championship, a retirement for Hamilton and double points finish for McLaren sees them now sit 52 points behind Ferrari in the battle for second place. The grid now moves to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which will take place in two weeks’ time.