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2026 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

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Ill-timed VSC dooms Norris’s chances of victory, Antonelli capitalizes for yet another win; Verstappen holds off Norris down the stretch for P2 to rub salt in McLaren’s wounds

As happens all too often in Formula 1, Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix was determined not by the pace of the fastest car but by the timing of a Safety Car — a virtual one, in this case. Leading the race from pole at the new purpose-built Madring circuit outside of Madrid, McLaren’s Lando Norris was steadily building a gap to his closest rivals and looked well on his way to a dominant win. But on Lap 14 of this 57-lap contest, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin came to an unceremonious stop when it found the barriers at Turn 20 due to terminal brake problems. After what seems an inordinate amount of time when it was quite clear that Stroll’s car would need assisted removal from its predicament, the Virtual Safety Car was finally activated. Unfortunately for Norris, as he led the pack around, he had just passed the pit entrance when the VSC was deployed. On the other hand, his rivals Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes and Max Verstappen of Red Bull were able to dive in right after the VSC signal, taking full advantage of the relatively cheap pit stop of around 15 seconds under full course yellow vs more like 27 seconds under green flag conditions on this long pit lane. To make matter worse for Norris, the VSC ended just as Norris was coming back around to the pit entrance, menage he would have to undergo his stop as the other competitors ramped back up to full speed. The McLaren braintrust called him in anyway, determining that his opening set of Medium Pirellis would not make it much longer and that goal hanging for another Safety Car or Red Flag was not a high probability gamble.

But again Norris was snakebite on this day in Spain. The usually crackerjack McLaren mechanics bobbled his switch to Hard tires to the tune of seven-seconds stationary, costing the reigning world champ even more precious track position. Norris finally reemerged into the fray in fifth place, behind the Mercedes of George Russell in P4, Verstappen in P3. Antonelli now in P2 and the race leading Ferarri of Charles Leclerc, who was gambling on running long on his opening Hard tires and then hopefully diving in later under a yellow or Red Flag. That scenario never materialized and the Scuderia pit was were finally forced to pit the Monegasque of fresh rubber on Lap 48, Lecerc being given Softs for to do what he could with over the final ten laps. Antonelli then inherited the lead and, with all the top contenders committed to a one-stopper, began to show his true pace advantage by quickly gapping Verstappen now that Leclerc was out of the way. Verstappen’s race was now clearly with the surging Norris, who had worked his way up to P3 and onto the Dutchman’s gearbox by Lap 50. But the Madring proved a bit if difficult overtaking circuit and Verstappen succeeded in making his car very wide as the laps wound down. While Antonelli cruised to a fairly fortunate victory and increased his points lead in the championship, Verstappen held off Norris to the finish for another outstanding podium. While Norris also made the podium in P3, the Briton was left to wonder just what might have been had not that Virtual Safety Car been activated at the precise movement that it was and then withdrawn at the moment that it was. Until F1 and the FIA deign to close the pits in these situations so everyone has the same exact advantages without the luck of the draw of where they are on the track, we’ll keep having races decided not by the fattest cars and drivers but by the fickle finger of the race director.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish Grand Prix:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:34:23.754 57 1 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +4.351 57 1 —
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren +5.089 57 1 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +29.116 57 1 —
5

George Russell

 Mercedes +29.829 57 2 1:35.587 (49)
6

Liam Lawson

 Red Bull +1:26.746 57 1 —
7

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1:34.281 57 1 —
8

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +1:35.839 57 1 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 56 1 —
10

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 56 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the almost always highly entertaining Azerbaijan GP at the stunning and quite challenging Baku City Street. Norris will have an extra week to stew on his hard luck in Spain this past weekend. But McLaren know they’ve finally found the pace here in the second half of the season, at least in Norris’s hands. He’ll be looking for redemption at another tricky street circuit, Antonelli will be looking to keep the good vibes rolling en route to his first F1 title and Verstappen will be looking for his first win of 2026, if you can believe that.n Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

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Norris bests Antonelli & Verstappen for first ever pole at Madring with stunning final flier: Ferrari fade after strong start to Q3

With the drivers facing the always challenging task of finding the maximum amount of seed possible without binning the car in range barriers at a new street circuit, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who mastered the maiden Qualifying session at the debut of the Madring on Saturday. The reigning World Champion stunned the field by putting in a final flying lap in the tight and high speed confines here just outside of Madrid proper that relegated the seemingly untouchable Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli into second place on the grid for Sunday’s race. McLaren have definitely looked better as the season has worn on and Norris will enter Sunday’s GP with a “why not me?” mindset as he looks to make it three wins from the last four races. But of course, Antonelli will be stoked after his epic win in Italy a week ago after starting from P17. In that context and the context of his spectacular 20026 season, does a conversion from P2 to victory really sound all that difficult for the current points leader? Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has also been rapid lately on all sorts of circuits and the Dutch Master slotted into P3 with a fine final effort, knocking the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc back to P4 and P5 respectively. The second Mercedes of George Russell could do no better than P6, while the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri also lagged his teammate by some margin in P7.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:33.469 1:32.873 1:31.824 19
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:33.267 1:32.591 1:31.835 20
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:33.381 1:32.431 1:31.964 18
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:33.531 1:32.710 1:32.013 21
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:33.532 1:32.755 1:32.019 21
6

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:33.211 1:32.850 1:32.149 22
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:33.829 1:33.204 1:32.294 22
8

Liam Lawson

 Red Bull 1:33.310 1:32.780 1:32.316 18
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:33.963 1:33.038 1:32.903 17
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:34.340 1:33.204 1:33.041 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out at what is almost certain to be a highly unpredictable and potentially incident-packed race at the brand new Madring!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Results & aftermath

Norris makes good on McLaren pace & strategy, fends off Mercedes threat to take victory at Zandvoort; Antonelli secures P2 after team orders relegate Russell to third; Ferrari’s pit wall indecision rears its head again; Verstappen crashes out on Lap 2

McLaren’s Lando Norris used the recently unlocked pace of his MCL40 and a series of aggressive and opportunistic strategy calls to convert his pole position into a win at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands on Sunday. Coming off his first win of the season in the last round at Hungary, the reigning World Champ had to wait a month over the summer break to make it two in a row here at Zandvoort, vaulting himself back into title contention after taking the Sprint win on Saturday for good measure. Norris and the team were not only bullish on their obvious pace advantage to rivals Mercedes and McLaren here at the funky, twisty and banked Dutch circuit winding through the seaside dunes, but also used that confidence to make strategy calls that gave them the race advantages they would ride to victory. On only Lap 2 of this 72-lap contest and after a morning full of rain left drying but not totally dry track, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen  crashed out shockingly after touching a rain-slicked painted line at the bottom of the entrance of the start-finish straight. During the resultant Red Flag period, Norris and his brain trust decided to swap his barely used Medium Pirellis for a set of high performance Softs, with the McLaren team hedging their bets by splitting the strategy and putting second driver Oscar Piastri on Hards. The Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russel, running second and third respectively after a slow start by Russell and a resultant overtake by the points-leading Antonelli, opted to remain on their original Medium tires for the restart.

Action finally resumed after an aborted attempt due to the Haas of Oliver Bearman coming to a stop on the first restart Formation Lap, and as action resumed on Lap 5, Antonelli looked to have made the better decision by standing pat when he passed Norris for the lead of the race. With Norris keeping the young Italian in his sights, Antonelli held the lead until he made his first pit stop on Lap 22, doffing his well worn Mediums for a brand new set of Hard tires. Norris followed him in to exchange his Softs for the Hards, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulling the same maneuver, although the Monegasque had actually started the race on the Softs, as had teammate Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton ran longer until Lap 26 before coming in for his own set of Hards, which put Antonelli back into the lead. Norris, meanwhile had committed to a longer middle stint than his rivals and stayed out when Antonelli made his second stop for a second set of Hards on Lap 41, inheriting the lead again.

Meanwhile, the two Ferraris behind him began squabbling amongst themselves, with Hamilton clearly the faster of the two on fresher rubber and lobbying for a quick swap in positions with the P2 Leclerc in order to take the fight to Norris. But there was an unfortunate return of that old Ferrari indecisiveness and the pit wall wasted several laps of peak performance before finally calling the Leclerc in for a set of Hards on Lap 44 to ostensibly fish out the race. Norris finally pitted again on Lap 47 and now Hamilton was promoted to the point, with Antonelli closing up behind him in P2 and Norris rejoining an auspicious P3. That’s when the superior pace of the McLaren really shone, as Norris was able to use his fresher tires to overtake both the third place Mercedes of Antonelli and then the race leading Ferrari of Hamilton, both in quick succession on Lap 54. Hamilton’s tires were now giving up the ghost, as Antonelli also made short work of the seven-time champ a lap later.

When a Virtual Safety Car was deployed due to the second Haas of Esteban Ocon expiring and coming to a halt on track, Ferrari made their move, double stacking Hamilton and Leclerc in superbly efficient fashion and putting both Prancing Horses on Softs to finish out the race. Antonelli pitted a lap later but had a slow-ish 4.6 second stop and came out in P3 still in front of Hamilton but behind his teammate Russell, and well behind Norris, who had stayed out and kept valuable track position. When racing resumed, Mercedes quickly gave the order to swap positions and a skeptical Russell complied on Lap 66. The Silver Arrows braintrust were surely hoping their Italian stallion would now be able to hunt down Norris but Antonelli made little impression in the remaining six laps. Norris maintained his lead easily and came across the finish line nearly 12-seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Russell somewhat surprisingly able to fend off Hamilton and get himself on the podium, as well.

It made for a great day for McLaren and Norris, although Piastri was somewhat nowhere in P6, and a good damage limitation day for Mercedes on the rare occasion in 2026 where they didn’t have the supreme pace of the field. For Ferrari, it was an annoying case of what might have been amid some festering team discontent, as the disgruntled Hamilton finished in fourth and Leclerc was P5.

Top 10 finishers of the Dutch Grand Prix:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 2:04:44.859 72 3 —
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +11.536 72 4 —
3

George Russell

 Mercedes +15.906 72 3 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +16.755 72 3 —
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +17.258 72 4 1:14.230 (60)
6

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +32.332 72 4 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Red Bull +1:19.915 72 3 —
8

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 71 3 —
9

Fernando Alonso

 Aston Martin +1 Lap 71 2 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 71 3 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight as the reinvigorated F1 circus travels to Monza. the Temple of Speed, for the always intense Italian Grand Prix. Can Norris and McLaren keep their mojo working in Ferrari’s back yard or will the Scuderia strike back? And can Mercedes rediscover their imperious pace at the sport’s fastest circuit? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Qualifying results

Norris grabs surprise pole at Zandvoort ahead of Russell, Antonelli: Piastri P4 as Ferrari struggle post-break

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Dutch GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:12.695 1:11.628 1:11.163 21
2

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:12.924 1:11.959 1:11.265 20
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.022 1:11.915 1:11.296 21
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:12.610 1:11.641 1:11.305 21
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:12.673 1:11.970 1:11.494 25
6

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.064 1:11.910 1:11.558 23
7

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:13.290 1:11.874 1:11.618 22
8

Liam Lawson

 Red Bull 1:13.392 1:12.301 1:11.733 25
9

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi 1:13.142 1:12.433 1:12.079 22
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:13.074 1:12.525 1:12.185 22

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on Apple TV beginning at 9 AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep the two hard charging Mercs behind him and kick off the second half of the season in style!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Norris romps to first victory of season with dominant drive in Hungary; Verstappen a hard-earned P2; Antonelli salvages day with solid P3; Ferrari struggle in traffic and execution; nightmare start for Russell

After starting squarely on the back foot under the new Formula 1 rules regime for 2026, McLaren finally came good in the eleventh round of the season in Hungary, as reigning champion Lando Norris out-dueled and out-paced his teammate Oscar Piastri, as well as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, to take his first win of the year in dominant fashion. With mighty Mercedes’ pace advantage neutralized by the short, twisty and slow nature of the Hungaroring, the second slowest circuit on the calendar to Monaco, Norris made good on the exceptional consistency he showed here in earning pole on Saturday over Red Bull, Ferrari and the Silver Arrows, and then had to contend with Piastri, who started from P3 on the grid but passed both the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and then stablemate Norris in quick order on Lap 1 of the 70-lap contest. It quickly became clear that the fight for the win would be between the two McLaren men, barring the reliability issues that have been the bane of Team Papaya all season long.

Piastri kept Norris behind him until pitting on Lap 17 to doff his opening Pirelli Mediums for a set of the Hard tires and attempt to run a long second stint on the more durable rubber. Norris pulled the same swap a lap later and came out still behind Piastri, albeit vocally trying to convince his pit wall that his car was the faster and all this fighting between them was a waste of effort and resources. The McLaren braintrust pulled the plug on the internecine battle in their own way by splitting the strategy for the rest of the race between the two cars, opting to box Piastri a second time on only Lap 33 for another set of Hards, while Norris stayed out, still pleased with the  performance of his now 15-lap old Hard tires. This enabled him to build the gap to Piastri, who also came to grief when the inattentive back marker Carlos Sainz failed to follow blue flags in his Williams and closed the racing line on Piastri, leading to contact between the two. That cost Piastri serious time as well potentially damaging his car. Norris kept stretching his advantage, running all the way to Lap 40 before making his second stop. The overcut and yet another fine stop by his McLaren mechanics worked a treat, bringing the English World Champion out ahead of his Australian rival.

With Piastri unable to challenge from the rear, Norris used the pace advantage of his fresh Pirellis to move back towards the front. He inherited second place when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made his second stop, choosing an alternate Hard to Soft tire strategy for what was ostensibly his final stint. Norris then set about hunting down Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was running a very long second stint en route to inheriting the lead due to staying out while others boxed. But Antonelli’s Merc on aging tires was no match for Norris freshly shod McLaren and Norris blew by him to retake the lead on Lap 46 after several laps of hard dicing between the two young aces. Now obviously losing time, Antonelli then decided to make his second stop on Lap 54, which turned out to be the lucky call of the race. Two laps later Piastri came to an abrupt stop on track with a heartbreaking gearbox failure, his second mechanical failure of the season and his fifth non-scoring day in eleven races. With the Virtual Safety Car deployed, Norris made the decision to duck in for Softs to finish out the race, still coming out ahead of the second place Verstappen due to the reduced speed, as well as the remarkably third place Antonelli, who also benefited from solid strategy to overcome a penalty-affected P7 starting spot and vault himself back to the podium. Norris won by a very handy 15 seconds when all was said and done, with a highly vocal yet highly effective Verstappen holding on to P2 by 3.7 seconds over Antonelli.

It was a good way to go into the break for the top there and their teams but the same could not be said of Ferrari. Despite the Prancing Horses looking the the team to beat here entering the weekend, and Lewis Hamilton barely missing out on pole to Norris by a scant .008 seconds, the team from Maranello was undone by a penalty to Hamilton for impeding during qualifying that dropped him to P5 on the grid and then a poor start from the dirty side of the track by the now P2 Leclerc. As the Monegasque spun his wheels at the getaway, he was jumped by both Piastri and Verstappen. Hamilton also managed to overtake Leclerc early but found it incredibly difficult to make further headway following that, especially against the stubborn Red Bull of Verstappen, as the two greatest drivers of their generation engaged in a multi-lap mano a mano. And when Hamilton did manage to get ahead of Verstappen on pit strategy by running a short first stint in Softs before switching to the preferred Hards, he was taken by surprise by the Dutchman on Lap 15, when Verstappen, fresh from the pits himself and seemingly coming from a mile back, dive bombed his way past the Ferrari into Turn 1. It was a race full of sound and fury for the Scuderia that wound up signifying not very much, as Hamilton earned a late race pit lane speeding penalty that demoted him to fifth place and Leclerc was therefore promoted to P4, despite rather mediocre long run race pace. The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar came home a solid P6, while the second Mercedes of George Russell recovered somewhat from a nightmare anti-stall start that saw the Briton drop from seventh to the rear of the field on the opening lap. Russell fought back to his original P7 position but it continued a tough run of form and fortune for the preseason favorite. The long summer break is probably coming at the right time for him.

Top 10 finishers of the Hungarian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:39:56.180 70 3 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +15.080 70 2 —
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +18.728 70 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +23.840 70 3 1:22.000 (58)
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +24.540 70 3 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +55.488 70 2 —
7

George Russell

 Mercedes +57.503 70 2 —
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 2 —
9

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 69 2 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

With the enforced summer break upon us, the next race is not until the weekend of August 23rd, when the teams return from vacation and take on the dunes of Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Hope to see you then when the F1 festivities resume and enjoy your summer in the meantime!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Norris nabs first poll as champ by pipping Hamilton, Leclerc P3, as Mercedes struggle with rivals’ Hungaroring pace; Antonelli’s final effort compromised by Verstappen spin, then earns penalty for not slowing

With the short, low speed and twisty Hungaroring proving the same sort of kryptonite to Mighty Mercedes as Monaco, it was other teams time to shine during Saturday Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. And the two that shone brightest were a steadily improving McLaren and what was already the second fastest team in F1 this year, Ferrari. On a very dusty and dry circuit where grip has been at a premium throughout the race weekend so far, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris keeping his car planted the best over the course of his final Q3 flying lap, bettering what had seemed like a supreme time by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by a scant eight-one hundredths of a second. Hamilton had set his fast time on the first attempt and could not improve on it with his second run, a pattern shared by most drivers in the final session. But Norris did improve, vaulting up the pylon at the death and earning his first pole position as reigning champion this season. Even worse for Hamilton, he was demoted three grid places after Quali for impeding Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri in the session. That elevated the second Prancing Horse of Charles Leclerc to P2 and the Monegaque will now start alongside Norris in Sunday’s race.

Mercedes not only failed to display their usual superior pace in Hungary but even the best efforts of their points-leading breakout star Kimi Antonelli went for naught when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun out on his last Q3 attempt, bringing out a yellow that Antonelli was later adjudged to have not slowed enough through while transiting  the single waved yellow zone. Already a bit disappointed not to be able to improve on his P4 time, Antonelli will have it all to do in the Grand Prix, now starting from P7 and against some extremely formidable competition ahead.

With Hamilton compromising his final lap, Piastri could do no better than a P5 time, while Verstappen’s spin doomed him to P6, with Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar also struggling for grip en route to the eighth best time. Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell continued to look unsettled in the car with a mediocre P7. Rookie Arvid Lindbad was P9 for Racing Bulls and veteran Nico Hulkenberg was P10 for Audi.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian Gand Prix:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:18.277 1:17.456 1:17.207 16
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:18.730 1:17.803 1:17.219 15
3

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:18.984 1:17.626 1:17.445 20
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:18.726 1:18.393 1:17.479 20
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:18.891 1:17.928 1:17.684 15
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:18.656 1:18.249 1:17.725 18
7

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:18.856 1:18.445 1:17.760 20
8

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:18.754 1:17.872 1:17.856 14
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:19.233 1:18.360 1:18.281 18
10

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:18.796 1:18.639 1:18.686 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Can Norris earn his first win of the 2026 campaign or will the high flying Ferraris surge back to take victory? And can Antonelli do his best to limit the damage or perhaps even pull an unlikely surprise? Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Antonelli earns sixth victory by fending off rapid Leclerc for win at Spa; Verstappen a game P3 for Red Bull; Russell suffers calamitous opening-lap DNF after collision with Hamilton

Mercedes rising superstar Kimi Anotnelli earned his sixth victory of the 2026 season after a three-race drought, successfully overtaking the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc late in the race, and then keeping the very rapid Monegasque in his rearview mirrors until the checkered flag. Even better for the young Italian phenom, his Silver Arrows teammate and closest pursuer George Russell spun off the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit and unceremoniously beached in a gravel trap Les Combes on the opening lap of the race after a contretemps with the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. With Russell certain to score zero points on the day after outscoring Antonelli in the last three Grand Prix, it was all up to Kimi to recover from yet another mediocre start that saw his Mercedes overtaken by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen nearly as soon as the lights had gone out to begin the contest. But the superior long run pace of the Mercedes W17 shone over over the first flowing third of this classic 4.3 mile course and not only did Antonelli repass Verstappen but Leclerc’s Ferrari also got around the defending Red Bull, relegating Verstappen to P3 in the blink of an eye. Verstappen returned the favor to reclaim second place on the 6th lap of this 44-lap contest, making it clear this would be an elite three team and three driver battle until the race’s conclusion. 

Hamilton was also showing good pace, his Prancing Horse undamaged by the contact with Russell and still performing well. Unfortunately for the seven-time champ, however, the stewards reviewed the opening lap incident and adjudged Hamilton the guilty party, earning him a 5-second time penalty for the second race in a row. While that decision was highly questionable, as it looked for all the world like a racing incident between the two cars, it essentially foreclosed any chance of Hamilton fighting back for a podium against either Verstappen or his teammate Leclerc. Conversely, Leclerc was somehow spared a penalty despite forcefully closing the door on Oscar Piastri’s McLaren on Lap 8, causing aero-affecting damage to the latter’s side elements. And when Leclerc was cleared of culpability on Lap 17, that had the decisive consequence of Verstappen deciding to pit the next lap to endeavor to undercut the Ferrari. It was another solid stop by team Red Bull but the timing proved poor when a Virtual Safety Car for debris was called two laps later, enabling Leclerc to pit under full course yellow conditions and thereby jump not only Verstappen but also the former race leader Antonelli in the process. The second McLaren of Lando Norris briefly inherited the lead an ran a long opening stint on Hard Pirellis, opposite to the majority of the contenders due to his penalty-induced P13 starting position. Likely hoping for another VSC, Norris gamely ran to Lap 31 despite being passed by Leclerc, Antonelli and Verstappen in quick succession, before finally diving in to switch onto the better performing Mediums and finish out the race with that tire advantage over the other contenders. But the stop was dreadfully slow at 7.8 seconds due to a stuck rear left and all of the reigning champion’s good work was undone.

Easily growing his gap to the third place Verstappen, Antonalli set about hunting down the race-leading Ferrari of Leclerc, finally making the decisive overtake on Lap 34, thanks in no small part due to the lapped Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas acting as a moving chicane for the Monegasque. Somewhat surprisingly, Leclerc kept pressing Antonelli to regain the lead for several laps before Antonlli used the clean air to his advantage and finally increased his lead out of the danger zone. He eventually took victory by some 1.9 seconds, not much when you consider how long a lap here is at Spa, and it’s clear that Ferrari has made great strides over the course of the first half of the season. It was also a display of particularly good form from Leclerc, who had seemed a bit lost until his surprise win at Silverstone two weeks ago. But all tribute must be paid to Antonelli, who started from pole, took the victory despite some very game competition and now leads the championship by an impressive 45 points after the first ten rounds. Potentially even better for the young Italian ace, Russell slipped to third in the Drivers’ Standings, falling behind Hamilton by dint of Sunday’s nightmare opening-lap DNF.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:24:42.479 44 1 —
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +1.952 44 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.586 44 1 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +17.245 44 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +18.988 44 1 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +23.307 44 3 —
7

Lando Norris

 McLaren +24.014 44 1 1:48.890 (44)
8

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +49.140 44 1 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +50.406 44 1 —
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1:16.037 44 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as the teams make the quick trip to the always tricky Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. That will be the final round before the long summer break – hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can keep closing the gap to Mercedes and if Russell can recover to try to stop Antonelli’s momentum!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

High flying Antonelli snatches Spa pole from Verstappen despite Red Bull teamwork; Norris P3 in improved McLaren but will face 10-spot penalty; Russell a distant P4 on pace

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:46.304 1:45.142 1:44.361 15
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:45.930 1:45.589 1:44.678 12
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:45.865 1:45.454 1:44.801 11
4

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:46.185 1:45.689 1:44.869 18
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:46.278 1:45.397 1:44.893 18
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:46.124 1:45.543 1:44.895 15
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:46.433 1:45.671 1:45.016 17
8

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:46.191 1:45.629 1:45.143 18
9

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi 1:46.609 1:46.082 1:45.628 18
10

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:46.062 1:45.823 — 13

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Leclerc fills hard luck script at Silverstone to win dramatic British GP under Safety Car; Russell finishes P2, Hamilton P3 after late race crash out by Verstappen; mechanical issues doom Antonelli to another pointless day

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc turned around years of bad luck at the venerable Silverstone circuit when the racing gods smiled on the Monegasque with a late race Safety Car in Sunday’s British Grand Prix that sealed a victory for him that looked anything but certain. Leclerc had already benefited when misfortune struck championship points leader, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. After a remarkably long 35-lap opening stint on Medium Pirellis  the Italian phenom was poised to fight it out with the race-leading Leclerc for the win on much fresher rubber in the closing stanza. But in a rare moment of structural fragility for this year’s W17 Silver Arrow, Antonelli paid the price for running over one too many curbs and his left wheel shield failed on Lap 41, making high speed steering nigh impossible. The team eventually figured out the problem and removed the broken part but only after two frantic pit stops. To rub salt in the wound, because Antonelli could not really control his car and ran off track several times during the period after first picking up the mechanical, he was assessed a 5-second time penalty for track limits infringements. Antonelli went from having a supreme tire advantage over Leclerc in the hunt for victory to trying to salvage tenth place and a single point on the day.

But even that was not to be, as bad luck caught up with another contender and ruined any chance of Antonelli keeping at least 5 seconds ahead of P11. With the Mercedes hanging on and starting to build a gap, Max Verstappen lost the rear of his Red Bull at Stowe on Lap 48 and beached it into the huge gravel trap there, necessitating a full Safety Car. At the time Verstappen was running solidly in the podium places in P3, skillfully holding off the second Merc of George Russell despite being on much older tires. But in an instant the Dutchman’s race was over due to some sort of violent reaction to the the active suspension snapping shut. The Safety Car bunched the field up, erasing Antonelli’s small advantage over the Alpines of P10 Franco Colapinto and P11 Pierre Gasly. While it looked for a moment that there might be a final lap shootout when the Safety Car appeared to be called in at the end of the penultimate Lap 51, it confusingly stayed out, neutralizing the field and insuring that Leclerc would face no further pressure en route to his first win here at Silverstone. While Antonelli got the short end of the stick and was eventually demoted to a pointless P16 after the penalty amidst such tightly packed processional, his teammate Russell was the beneficiary of not only Antonelli’s misfortune but also Verstappen’s, simultaneously lucking into second place and also not having to duke it out with the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton for those valuable points. Hamilton had to settle for P3 but it was still an excellent day for the Scuderiai on English soil. And in the Drivers’ Championship, Russell closed the gap to 35 points in arrears of Antonelli, making it game on once again between the two in the title hunt, with Hamilton now only seven points behind Russell for second place.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:27:11.335 52 2 —
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +0.427 52 2 —
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +0.772 52 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +1.149 52 3 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1.598 52 3 —
6

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +2.023 52 2 —
7

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +2.214 52 2 —
8

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +2.413 52 2 —
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +3.229 52 2 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +3.445 52 2 —

Complete race results available via Formula.com.

The next race is in a fortnight and at another all-time classic Formula 1 circuit — the legendary Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. While it will be tough to top the twists and turns that went down at Silverstone, Spa is no stranger to high drama either. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

Antonelli reclaims Championship momentum with pole at Silverstone after Sprint victory; Leclerc and Hamilton relegate Russell to P4 after rocky qualifying effort

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli sent a message loud and clear to both his Mercedes teammate and any and all other challengers with a special Saturday effort at the venerable Silverstone Circuit in England. The upstart Italian contender began the day by taking the win in the Sprint race ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and then carried that momentum into the subsequent Qualifying session, earning a dominant pole for Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Ferrari also had a strong showing, albeit miles away from Antonelli’s supreme pace on the day, with Charles Leclerc getting the better of Hamilton, P2 to P3. That put them in front of the second Mercedes of George Russell, who had a choppy qualifying after surviving both an unusual rear axel lockup into a gravel trap and then an uncommon seat change en route to P4 on the grid. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar had the very rare honor of out-qualifying his highly decorated senior teammate Max Verstappen, P5 to P7. That excellent effort also put the young Frenchman ahead of both McLarens, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scuffling to mediocre P6 and P8 results respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:29.719 1:28.493 1:28.111 19
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:29.534 1:28.626 1:28.286 18
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:29.644 1:28.864 1:28.458 17
4

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:29.985 1:28.920 1:28.481 17
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:29.276 1:29.069 1:28.746 18
6

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:30.186 1:29.383 1:28.877 17
7

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:29.549 1:29.113 1:28.893 18
8

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:29.971 1:29.218 1:29.032 18
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:29.661 1:29.324 1:29.305 17
10

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:29.300 1:29.429 1:29.716 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 10 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out, as Antonelli looks to hold off two hungry Ferraris and his always game teammate!