Madrid (Spain) September 13, 2026 – The skill of a phenomenon and the luck of a champion, Kimi Antonelli is unstoppable and after Monza he also wins the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. The Italian makes excellent use of the Virtual Safety Car, which costs Lando Norris the victory and secures his first ever win at Madring, while the Englishman from McLaren is third behind Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc finishes fourth in a great race, where he led the group for two-thirds of its duration, while Hamilton was unlucky, forced to retire due to a brake problem. George Russell comes fifth and now, as the first challenger in the World Championship, sees his gap increase to 81 points from the Italian driver.
The world championship standings
The race
When a circuit debuts on the Formula 1 calendar it is always a historic day, full of spectacle, because the race hierarchies need to be known and built little by little. This is even more so because the many accidents cut short the free practice sessions and this was reflected on the grid with all three different compounds on track among the front row drivers. Norris and Antonelli choose the medium, soft instead for Verstappen and Hamilton, while Leclerc, Russell, Piastri and Lawson choose the hard compound.
Thus, an exciting start to the race is set up and the drivers on track do not fail to provide spectacle with duels on track and the classic controversies of these close battles. Norris does not have a brilliant start, but somehow manages to hold his ground enough to maintain first position. Behind him Antonelli cuts both first chicanes, having to let Verstappen pass, who in turn skipped a chicane to avoid contact with Hamilton. The Ferrari drivers keep their starting positions, despite both having a great launch off the line, fully fighting for the top positions.
After surviving the fight in the first laps, Norris is good at immediately setting a strong pace, opening a gap with the drivers behind him. For cutting the chicane, Verstappen also has to give back the position to Hamilton, as decided by the race stewards, which costs him two positions because in the meantime he had gained position on Antonelli. Max loses a lot of time, furious over team radio with his team about this. The Dutchman thus gives way to the Englishman, but Lewis suffers brake problems and is passed again by the Red Bull number 3.
The seven-time world champion’s problems are huge and force him to give way also to Leclerc, before eventually forcing him to retire. First zero of the season for Hamilton, ending his consecutive streak of points finishes and race completions. Leclerc rises to fourth position, with Russell fifth before the gap to Lawson and Colapinto, with the New Zealander reclaiming position on track from the Argentine.
The race seems to proceed without particular shocks, Hamilton ‘s retirement due to brakes happens directly in the pits, avoiding problems on track, with the race continuing under green flag conditions. This until lap 15, when Stroll experiences a similar problem to that which occurred to the Ferrari. Unlike the Englishman, the Canadian parks the car on track and the race suddenly lights up. The race direction hesitates and orders the Virtual Safety Car when Norris has already passed the pit lane entry. However, his rivals can take advantage of the stewards’ decision and make an almost free pit stop. The race is thus revolutionized: Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell change tires, all fitting hards except the Englishman from Mercedes who chooses mediums. Norris pits the following lap, but by then the VSC is already over, so he is overtaken by the three mentioned above. Leclerc instead stays on track and becomes leader of the Spanish Grand Prix.
With hard tires Leclerc maintains an incredible pace: despite the many laps already done he has the same speed as the rivals behind him. The fastest of all is Norris, forced to close the gap, while Antonelli struggles to get his Mercedes going, which is having difficulties in the first laps of this stint.
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The race enters a sort of stasis for over ten laps. Leclerc in front maintains the lead keeping an effective pace despite his tire not seeming to suffer particular degradation. Antonelli stays around three seconds behind to avoid overheating the tires and the car in general. Verstappen does not shine for pace, unlike Norris, who is constantly the fastest driver on track chasing Russell. The British Mercedes driver struggles a lot and on lap 29 is forced to change tires, fitting hard again and effectively putting Leclerc virtually in fourth place.
Many laps of pace battle, fighting for thousandths of a second and to preserve a little extra tire to have a better race finish. Among the drivers still on full laps, the first to stop is Piastri on lap 43, then Lawson two laps later. The Australian rejoins the group and ignites the fight for points. At Ferrari they watch this fight very closely hoping for a sporting miracle trying to capitalize on a possible Safety, Virtual or red flag.
Ferrari waits as long as possible, but on lap 49 Leclerc also pits and makes his stop. Up front the group has regrouped. Antonelli is leader but his advantage is only one second over Verstappen, who has Norris right behind him. A tight trio launching towards a super race finale.
Antonelli immediately dampens excitement for a fight at the end, because he changes pace and leaves Verstappen behind. Norris instead is a shadow behind Verstappen, but never manages to get alongside. Only on the penultimate lap does the Englishman from McLaren find a gap to attack the Dutchman, who however defends well on the inside and keeps second place, effectively closing the race there.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is unstoppable and his dominance continues in Madrid: the Bolognese wins the Spanish Grand Prix, his first victory on the Madring track and the first Italian to win in Spain. Behind him Max Verstappen and Lando Norris complete the podium in this order, while Charles Leclerc finishes fourth in a very solid race, ahead of George Russell. Completing the points zone are Lawson, Colapinto, Piastri, Lindblad and Hulkenberg. In the world championship standings the Italian driver is pulling away more and more and his lead now exceeds 80 points.
Final classification
1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) +4.351.
3. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren) +5.089.
4. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) +29.116.
5. George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) +29.829.
6. Liam Lawson (NZL/Red Bull) +86.746.
7. Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine) +94.281.
8. Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) +95.839.
9. Arvid Lindblad (GBR/Racing Bulls) 1 lap down.
10. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Audi) 1 lap down.
11. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas) 1 lap down.
12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine) 1 lap down.
13. Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Audi) 1 lap down.
14. Yuki Tsunoda (JAP/Racing Bulls) 1 lap down.
15. Alexander Albon (THA/Williams) 1 lap down.
16. Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas) 1 lap down.
17. Fernando Alonso (SPA/Aston Martin) 2 laps down.
18. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Cadillac) 3 laps down.
Carlos Sainz out (SPA/Williams); Sergio Perez out (MEX/Cadillac); Lance Stroll out (CAN/Aston Martin); Lewis Hamilton out (GBR/Ferrari).
