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2026 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

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Antonelli dominates at COTA, inches closer to Championship; Leclerc superb for Ferrari in P2, Verstappen a solid P3; Russell continues to fade, earns lowly P8 result

Mercedes’ young phenom Kimi Antonelli inched closer to his first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship with a dominant win from pole at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Sunday. That impressive United States Grand Prix victory, Antonelli’s ninth win out of 18 rounds run so far in 2026, puts him on the cusp of the F1 crown, which will likely happen at the next race in Mexico City and would make the 20-year-old Antonelli the sport’s youngest-ever World Champ by over three years. The baby faced Italian superstar ran a supremely confident one-stop tire strategy and was one of the only drivers to make that work, the other top four finishers opting for two-stoppers, including the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, the third place Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the second Prancing Horse of P4 Lewis Hamilton. The rest of the top ten ran a one-stopper like Antonelli but without anywhere near the same effectiveness.

McLaren gambled on running a long second stint on Hard Pirellis with Lando Norris, clearly their fastest driver at COTA this weekend, calling him in on just Lap 16 of this grueling 56-lap event with an eye on future track position and perhaps goal hanging for a Safety Car later in the race. In the end the ask proved too great for the reigning World Champion, as first Verstappen, who opted for a second stop on Lap 31 for fresh Mediums, hunted down Norris on his aging Hards and executed a superb pass on Lap 42. Then Leclerc subsequently demoted Norris to fourth place a lap later, having pitted for how own fresh Mediums some eight laps after Verstappen. Leclerc then made excellent use of that advantage by closing down the small gap to Verstappen and then passing the Red Bull for second place just a few laps later. Adding to McLaren’s meh results, Hamilton was able to nick P4 from Norris in the closing laps, while the team’s second car, driven by the inconsistent Oscar Piastri, struggled to a mediocre P7 result. The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar slotted in between the two Team Papaya cars with a solid P7 finish, while the second Mercedes of George Russell, who also ran a one-stopper, was miles away from his points leading teammate in P8, some 54 seconds adrift of the victorious Antonelli. In truth, with Russell clearly languishing after his first pit stop, the team should probably have considered splitting their strategy and having Russell come in for a second stop. With Antonelli never under threat, it might have given the Briton more of a fighting chance to improve his position against at least Piastri and perhaps even Hadjar. Regardless, Russell has looked a beaten man of late, the combination of some very bad mechanical luck this season and his upstart teammate’s utter domination leading to a lack of results of late. One eye clearly on next year, Russell now finds himself clinging to just a one-point lead over Hamilton for second in the Drivers’ Standings.

Top 10 finishers of the USGP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:35:16.650 56 1 —
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +13.078 56 2 1:37.976 (42)
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +17.485 56 2 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +18.515 56 2 —
5

Lando Norris

 McLaren +30.521 56 1 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +34.373 56 1 —
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +52.674 56 1 —
8

George Russell

 Mercedes +54.303 56 1 —
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1:19.183 56 1 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1:27.516 56 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as the teams cross the border and head south to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Grand Prix of Mexico City. All signs point to Antonelli clinching there and becoming the youngest-ever F1 champ. Hope to see you then to find out if that happy event comes good down Mexico way! 

2026 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Qualifying results

Antonelli continues sparkling title quest with surprise pole at COTA; P2 Verstappen and P3 Hadjar in hot pursuit for surging Red Bull; P4 Leclerc & P5 put Ferrari ahead of second Merc of Russell

Top 10 qualifiers for the United States GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:35.390 1:34.278 1:34.035 18
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:35.215 1:34.471 1:34.214 12
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:35.286 1:34.887 1:34.250 12
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:35.200 1:34.198 1:34.267 15
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:35.355 1:34.833 1:34.311 14
6

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:35.730 1:34.305 1:34.476 18
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:35.842 1:34.818 1:34.803 20
8

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:35.029 1:34.539 1:35.049 15
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:35.755 1:34.950 1:36.049 15
10

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:35.662 1:35.058 — 9

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

 

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Verstappen dominates from pole to earn first Singapore GP victory; Leclerc a game P2; Antonelli creeps closer to title by leapfrogging Hamilton, McLaren duo for P3

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen dominated the Formula 1 race weekend in Singapore, taking pole for the Sprint Race and winning that on Saturday and then cruising to an imperial victory from pole again in Sunday’s Grand Prix. That made it two on the trot for the Ducthman after earning his first win of the season last week at the Bahrain GP in Malaysia and his first ever Grand Prix victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. While he now sits in fourth in the championship after 17 rounds without a realistic chance at the title, Verstappen is nonetheless replicating last season’s form, where he rampaged down the stretch to put the heat on eventual champ Lando Norris. With just six rounds remaining in the 2026 F1 campaign, Verstappen has now authoritatively served notice that he will be a factor for every win left in the table, much to the consternation of all of the drivers ahead of him in the standings not named Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The only minuscule chance anyone else had to attempt to take the lead from the Flying Dutchman was a quick moment on the opening lap when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc steamed into the Turn 1 chicane side by side with Verstappen. But just like that, Max out-breaked the Monegasque and immediately started gapping the Prancing Horse. Scuderia stablemate Lewis Hamilton, who ran a contrary strategy to his teammate Leclerc by starting on the Pirelli Mediums, nevertheless pitted first out of the two on only Lap 19 of this 62-lap contest, having figured out that the Softs were not degrading as quickly as originally thought and they were by far the preferred tire to be on in terms of performance. That somewhat backwards strategy call appeared to pay off briefly when Hamilton did leapfrog his teammate following Leclerc’s pit stop on Lap 25 for the opposite Softs-to-Mediums tire call. But whatever track advantages Hamilton gained by the undercut where undone when the seven-time champ did not come in for his second stop under a Virtual Safety Car thrown on Lap 39 due to Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin. It was later revealed that Hamilton either did not get the message to box or chose to ignore it and call strategy from the cockpit, even as Leclerc and the Mercedes of points leader Kimi Antonelli dove in for a cheap tire swap. This left Hamilton vulnerable late in the race and all that track position gained by staying out during the VSC couldn’t save him from being gobbled up by first his teammate Leclerc on Lap 46 and subsequently Antonelli and the the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Relegated to a P6 finish by the time the checkers flew when the pace of the Ferrari was clearly good enough for a podium if never the win, Hamilton was left to rue not pitting under yellow, whether by choice or by mistake.

Leclerc did manage to save Ferrari’s blushes somewhat by securing that valuable second place at the end. But Antonelli was able to capitalize on a late scrap between Norris and Hamilton to pass them both and take the last step on the podium, bringing the young Italian into mathematical range of actually clinching the F1 title in Austin in two weeks time, with still five races remaining after that. Norris and Piastri were P4 and P5 respectively, making the most of their Grand Prix efforts after botching the Sprint by getting tangled up with each other on track. Liam Lawson did yeoman’s work for Racing Bulls with a solid P7 result and Audi’s veteran Nico Hulkenberg also overachieved in P8. The second Mercedes of George Russell was P9 and the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar took the last point in P10, which is more impressive than it seems on paper, since Russell started from nineteenth on the grid and Hadjar started from the pits, both due to engine penalties.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:42:00.785 62 1 —
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +7.335 62 2 1:35.202 (41)
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +24.573 62 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +40.506 62 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +49.644 62 2 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +53.188 62 1 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1:21.666 62 1 —
8

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1:23.386 62 1 —
9

George Russell

 Mercedes +1:24.677 62 1 —
10

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1:30.862 62 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The teams finally get a small break after the just-completed grueling triple header, as the next race is in a fortnight — the United States Grand Prix from the beautifully designed and almost always highly entertaining Circuit of the Americas. Hope to see you then to find out who will be top dog in Austin and if Kimi can actually clinch!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Verstappen seizes first pole in Singapore after winning Sprint Race; Leclerc pips teammate Hamilton for P2; Antonelli only P4; McLaren struggle

Saturday’s auspices look favorable for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take his first ever win at the Singapore Grand Prix. Verstappen converted pole into victory in the final Sprint race of the season and first Singapore Sprint and then stomped all over his competitors yet again in Qualifying to take pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix. It was Verstappen’s first pole here at the tight and twisty Marina Bay Street Circuit, a track which has so far eluded his magical winning touch, and it made for a significant 50 career poles overall, a nice round number for the Dutchman. Verstappen is clearly stoked again about his F1 prospects a week after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and will certainly be looking to finally put Singapore into his voluminous win column. Ferrari would appear to have the best chance of thwarting that ambition, as Charles Leclerc was only 0.050 behind Verstappen’s top time, which pipped teammate Lewis Hamilton, P2 to P3. Mercedes’ points-leading breakout star Kimi Antonlelli struggled with his upgraded Silver Arrow all weekend long so far but still managed to nab a quali time good enough for a decent P4. While teammate George Russell was reasonably close by Kimi in P6, he will face  demotion to P21 on the grid for the race after incurring a raft of engine penalties following last week’s heartbreaking DNF in Malaysia. McLaren also struggled, with Lando Norris only able to run the fifth fastest time and Oscar Piastri mired down in P7. Adding to a frutrrtaing run for the Papya duo, the two took each other out in the final laps of the Sprint race earlier.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:33.241 1:31.639 1:31.373 15
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:32.774 1:31.953 1:31.427 25
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:32.429 1:31.529 1:31.496 25
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:33.601 1:32.079 1:31.562 23
5

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:32.775 1:31.895 1:31.712 24
6

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:33.617 1:32.212 1:31.747 23
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:33.076 1:32.245 1:31.860 22
8

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:33.182 1:32.602 1:32.225 22
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:32.885 1:32.319 1:32.369 21
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:33.288 1:32.498 1:32.781 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 8 AM on AppleTV. Hope to see you then to find out if Max can complete his so so far perfect weekend by earning his first ever Grand Prix victory in Singapore!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in Malaysia — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen earns team’s first win of year after recovering from poor wet weather start ; Antonelli shores up championship lead in P2 as heartbroken Russell retires late in chaotic GP; Hamilton rallies from disastrous starting tire decision to salvage podium

Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia wound up being just as bizarre as its kludgy race name and the geopolitical circumstances that relocated it to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since 2017. Tropical downpours delayed the race start by more than 90 minutes and then widespread software issues during the formation lap created trouble for numerous front runners and general chaos prior to the actual start of the race. Once the lights finally did go out, pole-sitter Max Verstappen lost out to the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the treacherous, wet track conditions. But the Dutch Master, clearly having the fastest car of the weekend, slowly recovered, utilizing a Lap 9 Safety Car triggered by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas spinning into the gravel, which prompting the frontrunners to pit oof of Intermediates for slick Pirelli tires.

Verstappen then executed a brilliant restart at the beginning of Lap 13, overtaking Antonelli around the outside of Turn 1 and 2, and slowly stretched his advantage overr the ensuing laps to what would become a steady if not massive lead over Antonelli lead. When the checkers flew at the end of this fairly crazy 55-lap affair, Verstappen claimed his and Red Bull’s first victory of the 2026 season by 2.307 seconds ahead of the P2 Antonelli. While it was an important win for Red Bull and a fitting reward for their steady progress as the year has gone on, it also turned into a nearly championship crowning day for the young Italian Silver Arrows ace, as Antonelli watched his teammate Russell DNF with some sort of mechanical issue after a Safety Car pit stop on Lap 50. That unfortunate break for the Briton somewhat mooted his victory in Azerbaijan, as Russell saw his deficit to Antonelli grow again to a daunting 84 points with just seven rounds remaining on the calendar.

While Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third place, one has to wonder what might have happened if the team had not gambled on starting both he and Leclerc on Soft Pirellis rather than the Inters that seemed pretty clearly to be demanded of the post-deluge conditions at Sepang. Needless to say, that gamble backfired rather spectacularly, dropping both Prancing Horses dramatically down the pylon and leaving Hamilton to order the team to keep him out on those opening set of Softs rather than pitting for Inters as teammate Leclerc opted to do on Lap 3, the seven-time champ counting on the track to dry out enough to be able to make up positions during the crossover from wet to dry conditions. Hamilton succeeded in both his strategic surmise and his execution of it, running all the way to Lap 31 before his first pit stop and then making the most of fresh rubber during a Virtual Safety Car to hunt down the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar for the final podium place. When Leclerc made the same Trun 1 move on Hadjar on the penultimate lap  to secure P4, their drivers had salvaged what could have been a disastrous day for the Scuderia in Sepang.  Nonetheless, there were still questions left hanging in the humid air about Ferrari’s often iffy strategy decisions.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP in Malaysia:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:47:14.808 55 3 1:38.220 (55)
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +2.307 55 3 —
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +4.919 55 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +7.258 55 4 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +8.571 55 3 —
6

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +9.454 55 4 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +12.753 55 3 —
8

Fernando Alonso

 Aston Martin +13.372 55 3 —
9

Lando Norris

 McLaren +13.993 55 3 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +15.928 55 3 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The races are coming thick and fast as we hurtle towards the end of the season — the equally tropical though not at all similar Singapore Grand Prix will be next in a week’s time with all the challenges the tight confines of the Marina Bay Circuit entails. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in Malaysia — Qualifying results

Verstappen nabs his & Red Bull’s first pole of season at Bahrain substitute Sepang; Hamilton puts Ferrari to the front in P2; Hadjar P3 but faces five-spot engine drop, as Antonelli struggles to P4

Formula 1 is finally running the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend after its was postponed from its originally scheduled April 12 date due to the Middle East conflict, with the unusual proviso that it will be held as a one-off at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Sepang has not held an F1 race since 2017 but the drivers showed nothing but enthusiasm for the long and flowing track during three practices sessions, which set them up for Saturday qualifying at the now rubbered-in circuit. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen enjoyed the return to Malaysia the most, grabbing his and the team’s first pole position of the season all the way in Round 16. Interestingly, Verstappen also won the last race here at Sepang back in 2027, also for Red Bull, of course. So, he and the team have got to be feeling the positive vibes from this quirky, unexpected return to Malaysia. Despite never having completed here, teammate Isack Hadjar was also very solid with a time good enough for P3, although the young Frenchman will take a five-spot drop for Sunday’s race due to engine penalties. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton split the Red Bulls with a strong P2 effort, while points leader Kimi Antonelli struggled to get up to speed in his Sepang debut and could do no better than the fourth fastest time. That was still miles ahead of teammate and last week’s race winner in Azerbaijan, George Russell, who struggled en route to P8. All that said, Sepang is not a track where qualifying position is destiny so expect plenty of changes up and down the order over the course of tomorrow’s scheduled 56 Grand Prix laps.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP (in Malaysia):

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:36.477 1:35.696 1:35.130 12
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:36.595 1:36.032 1:35.428 15
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:36.898 1:36.192 1:35.558 12
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:37.041 1:35.959 1:35.631 12
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:36.730 1:35.970 1:35.666 12
6

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:37.092 1:36.173 1:35.757 12
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:36.852 1:36.020 1:35.762 12
8

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:37.264 1:36.245 1:35.871 12
9

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:37.174 1:36.410 1:37.210 18
10

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi 1:37.106 1:36.814 1:37.673 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

The penalty-adjusted starting grid is here.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 3AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States, so brew that coffee or catch a replay with your Sunday brunch to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Brilliant Russell holds off Verstappen down the stretch for victory at Baku; Hadjar P3 as Red Bull show renewed pace; Antonelli rallies from Quali error to P5

Mercedes’ George Russell drove brilliantly from the pole and held off the hard charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen after a mid-race Safety Car wiped out his previous advantage to take an impressive victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday. Clearly the class of the field all day, Russell appeared to be on his way to a breezy win on the tricky and technically demanding Baku City Circuit when the Williams of Alexander Albon buried itself in the Techpro barriers at Turn 6, necessitating a full Safety Car to clear the cat and repair the barrier. That sent pretty much the entire field scurrying into the pits for fresh rubber and a cheap pit stop, with Verstappen hot on Russell’s heels as the two dove in for service. It also eliminated what had been a large and easily manageable cushion for Russell over the Red Bull man. When the race resumed at the tail end of Lap 35 of this 51-lap contest, Russell led away but now with Verstappen glued to his gearbox. As can happen on restarts, there was another Safety Car nearly immediately after things got going again, when a huge passel of cars collided, including Lando Norris’s McLaren, which knocked the reigning champ out of the race after coming together with both Alpines. Things restarted once again on Lap 38 and, in what was a testament to the excellence of these two elite pilots, they pounded around inch perfect amidst the very tight old city sections and then were blisteringly fast on the final high speed start-finish straight, with Verstappen unable to harass the Briton into a mistake. Russell held off the Dutch Master to the tune of a mere 0.196 seconds when the checkers flew on a beautiful fall afternoon by the coast of the Red Sea, giving the Mercedes man a big boost of confidence after constantly being put in the shade by his points leading teammate Kimi Antonelli.

While Russell did game some ground on Antonelli in the championship with the win, closing to within a not completely insurmountable 66 points with now eight rounds remaining on the F1 calendar, Antonelli had yet another remarkable recovery drive. Doing his best to minimize the damage caused by a crash in Q1 on Friday, the young Italian phenom rallied from a P16 start on the grid to an eventual fifth-place finish. Antonelli was helped not only by a very poised and patient drive fitting of a championship aspirant but also a terrible day in the saddle by both McLaren drivers. First of all, with Norris qualifying a mediocre P5, he got off top a reasonably good start, dicing with Ferarri’s Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar for P4. But the limitations of the McLaren at this particular circuit soon showed themselves and Norris was quickly shuffled back by first Hadjar, then Verstappen and then Hamilton, relegating him to P6 after 29 laps. Norris then compounded his woes by locking up while steaming into Turn 1, forcing him into the runoff area and watching as the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Antonelli’s Merc swooped on by and pushed Norris down to P9. And that had the knock on effect of putting Norris in the wrong place at the wrong time on that second Safety Car restart, when the second Alpine of Franco Colapinto went for a gap that wasn’t there and punted his teammate Gasly into side of the McLaren, ending all three drivers’ races in an instant. It was only Antonelli’s superb skills that allowed him take evasive action and spare his Mercedes any involvement  in the destructive contretemps.

McLaren’s second driver Oscar Piastri still looked to be set to deliver solid points for the team after running in the podium positions for most of the day. But on Lap 40 disaster struck when the Aussie had is own nearly identical lockup into Turn 1 while running in third. Will the field so closely stacked after the not too long ago second Safety Car restart, Piastri dropped like a stone as he hurried to spin the car around and rejoin the circuit. Piastri rejoined well out out of the points and, with the laps dwindling, could do no better than a P13 result, completing a disastrous and pointless day for Team Papaya. After showing a lot of fight with Norris’s  back to back wins in Hungary and the Netherlands, McLaren now have only one podium in the last three races since then — a third place by Norris in Spain — and their straight line deficit was exposed here in Baku. The relative lack of contribution by Piastri over pretty much the entire season so far — he sits P7 in the points after being a serious title contender last year — has also got to be concerning.

The better wingman story came from the return for Red Bull’s Isaac Hadjar, who made his first start for the team since breaking his wrist while cross training during the summer break. The young Frenchman was immediately back up to speed this weekend, out-qualifying Verstappen and the essentially matching the four-time champ during the race, all while confidently playing the team game in support of Max’s efforts to try and snatch a win. While that Odin;t quite pan out thanks to Russell’s superlative drive, Hadjar capitalized on Piastri’s late race error and secured the last step on the podium in P3, making it a very encouraging day for Red Bull and further cementing Hadjar’s long term future with the team, which seems only justified based on this year’s occasionally uneven but more often brilliant performance by the 21-year old.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:38:02.143 51 2 1:44.916 (49)
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +0.196 51 2 —
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +10.704 51 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +14.136 51 2 —
5

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +14.512 51 2 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +22.382 51 2 —
7

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +31.159 51 2 —
8

Esteban Ocon

 Haas +31.189 51 2 —
9

Oliver Bearman

 Haas +31.929 51 2 —
10

Carlos Sainz

 Williams +32.416 51 3 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as F1 hurtles towards the final third of the season — the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit. With the field tightening up up and down the pylon, it could well and truly be anybody’s race. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Russell brilliant in Baku with dominant pole; Leclerc a distant P2, Piastri tops Hadjar & Norris for P3; Antonelli crashes out of P1, will start P16: Verstappen surprisingly off the pace in P8

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:43.615 1:43.462 1:42.526 26
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:44.360 1:43.780 1:43.363 23
3

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:45.014 1:43.814 1:43.364 22
4

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:44.161 1:43.880 1:43.500 21
5

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:44.571 1:44.020 1:43.672 21
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:44.260 1:44.037 1:43.858 22
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:44.489 1:44.106 1:44.047 20
8

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:44.041 1:43.706 1:44.081 24
9

Carlos Sainz

 Williams 1:45.104 1:44.629 1:44.566 25
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:45.106 1:44.683 1:44.963 21

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

 

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

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 after earning pole with fantastic quali lap at the new purpose-built Madring circuit outside of Madrid, McLaren’s Lando Norris was steadily building the 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 seemed 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 far enough behind him to be able to dive in right after the VSC signal, taking full advantage of the relatively cheap pit stop of around 15 seconds lost under full course yellow vs more like 27 seconds lost 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, meaning 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 snakebit 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 and Antonelli now in P2, himself behind the race leading Ferrari 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 braintrust was were finally forced to pit the Monegasque for fresh rubber on Lap 48, Leclerc being given Softs to make the most of 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 aided by Leclerc and Russell pit stops, and onto the Dutchman’s gearbox by Lap 50. But the Madring proved a bit of 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 over four seconds to the good and increased his points lead in the championship, Verstappen held off Norris to the finish for P2 and 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 moment 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 fastest 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 usually 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. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

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!