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2026 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Antonelli storms back from P19 start, overtakes Russell late in race to take stunning victory at epic Italian GP; Verstappen shines en route to P3; Leclerc crashes out early, Hamilton only sixth on poor day for Ferrari

Mercedes’ young Italian superstar Kimi Antonelli added to his growing legend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday by becoming the first Italian born driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti achieved the feat fifty years ago. But it was the way the only recently turned 20-year old did it that was so astonishing, as Anotonelli continues to run away with the 2026 championship. Starting from way back in nineteenth on the grid due to the team deciding to deliberately take new power unit penalties for this race, Antonelli racked up an amazing 25 overtakes and opportunistically utilized a mid-race pit stop for fresh rubber under Virtual Safety Car conditions to systematically hunt down his race-leading teammate George Russell and finally pass his British rival with just three laps remaining. From there, he ran away to the checkered flag to the tune of nearly four seconds ahead of the dejected Russell, earning not only an improbable and spectacular victory but also a wildly popular one in front of his countrymen, the always ardent tifosi, who pack the grandstands at Monza and then charge onto the circuit in ecstasy when the race has been run. With Antonelli’s lead now a hefty 66 points over Russell after thirteen rounds of this 23-race season, he is well on his way to also becoming the first Italian World Champion since the legendary Alberto Ascari way back in 1953. And if that also happens on top of this epic Italian GP win, Antonelli will never have to pay for a Campari in his home country for the rest of his life.

That Antonelli relegated his Silver Arrows teammate to second place in a race that Russell had led for a majority of laps was a bitter pill to swallow for the Briton, who has simply seemed unable to come to grips with the superior pace of his younger teammate in this year’s new W17.  Russell’s race was somewhat compromised by actually being in the lead at the time of the Lap 28 VSC, brought about by Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin needing to be retrieved from the circuit. As is so often the case in Formula 1, it is the trailing cars and not the leader who can take advantage of the cheap pit stop — around 15 seconds total time compared with around 24 under green flag conditions here at Monza — but credit Antonelli and his side of the pit wall for gambling on making an extra stop for new Medium Pirellis rather than the long lasting Hards being run by Russell as he attempted a one-stopper. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also dove in at that juncture but played it safe by going back onto the Hards after his second stint on Mediums. But Antonelli, who then emerged in P6, was able to maximize his tire advantage by quickly overtaking the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, the McLaren of Lando Norris, and then the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who was the only other frontrunner on Mediums, but blew the Turn 1 chicane and had to watch Antonelli sail by him while he wriggled through the escape road. After one more pass on the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, it was game on for the lead against Russell from Lap 37 onwards, Antonelli’s fresher and softer rubber proved decisive, as Russell’s ancient Hards finally gave up the ghost on Lap 50 after a multi-lap and ultra-tense pursuit.

Antonelli’s victory was a much needed salve for the Italian fans on a day when Ferrari had a fairly catastrophic result. Most serious and significant, Charles Leclerc had a wicked sideways shunt into the barriers exiting Curva Alboreto on Lap 2 when his left rear tire lost traction on a drainage grate just off the racing line and his Prancing Horse and then snapped into oversteer. It was a massive lateral impact for the Monegasque measured at something like 60Gs upon deceleration, and Lecerc was visibly shaken and complained of vision issues after the incident, although he was able to get out of his wrecked Ferrari under his own power. That brought out a lengthy Red Flag, which enabled the teams to execute free pit stops for fresh rubber and tempted the majority of them into trying run the entirety of the rest of the race without stopping again. For Hamilton, who had already been involved in a wheel banging kerfuffle with his teammate Leclerc on the opening lap, it proved to be a frustrating day all around. Although Hamilton would at least finish the race, the seven-time champ really struggled after his VSC switch to Mediums and was not only passed by the eventual winner Antonelli in the closing laps but also got knocked even further away from the podium by Verstappen’s excellent run to P3. He was then subsequently overtaken by both McLarens and relegated to a sixth place finish when the laps ran out. Ferrari looked anything but dominant at their home track, with a pronounced lack of starighline speed compared to their rivals. They’ll be hoping Leclerc can recover quickly for next week’s race in Spain and that the new Madring circuit will suit their cars better than the lighting fast straights of Monza

Verstappen was truly superb en route to his P3 finish, maximizing the pace in his RB22 even while complaining about recurring rear axle issues. The Dutch master made a number of bold and forceful passes throughout the race, culminating in a back and forth battle with Piastri for the last step on the podium. Verstappen had the last laugh when he made his final pass stick on Lap 43, securing a hard won third place by subsequently gapping the Aussie. In fact, Piastri may have taken too much out of his tires battling with the Red Bull, as Norris was able to take fourth place from him on the final lap after a really hard fought and sometimes quite sketchy battle between the teammates. Surprise pole-sitter Pierre Gasly faded to the Alpine’s true race pace over the course of the event, still finishing a solid P7. Rookie Arvid Lindblad excelled in P8, while temporary Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda also scored in only his second race in the new formula. Tsunoda was drafted into the team when Lawson was promoted to Red Bull to fill in for the injured Isack Hadjar beginning at Zandvoort two weeks ago. The second Alpine of Franco Colapinto finished in P9 but was bitterly disappointed by an unforced error after the post-Red Flag restart when he ran off track at Lesmo 1 and through the gravel. The young Argentine was able to drive it back out but then had to spend the rest of the race in recovery mode, and was left to wonder what might have been when Alpine appeared to be the “best of the rest” at Monza.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:51:15.281 53 2 1:23.504 (53)
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +3.857 53 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +14.718 53 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +19.056 53 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +19.253 53 1 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +24.655 53 1 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +27.351 53 1 —
8

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +45.136 53 1 —
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +47.353 53 1 —
10

Yuki Tsunoda

 Racing Bulls +58.187 53 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as the teams travel westward to Spain and the debut of what looks to be a fascinating Madring circuit in Madrid. Can anyone stop Antonelli’s seemingly irresistible momentum as he seeks to become the first Italian to win the F1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Alpine’s Gasly stuns with upset pole at Monza, betters both Russell in P2 and P3 Piastri; Ferrari stumble in front of tifosi 

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is usually about Formula 1’s big hitters trimming out and unleashing their maximum engine capacities at the fastest circuit on the calendar, with the midfield runners and backmarkers fighting over the scraps. Only rarely does an upstart team display surprise speed and completely flummox any given season’s top three or four teams. But on Saturday in the beautiful countryside north of Milan and a stone’s throw from Ferarri’s headquarters in Maranello, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sent shockwaves through the paddock by wresting pole away from mighty Mercedes’ George Russell with a massively rapid final flying lap in Q3. It was the Frenchman’s first career pole in his ten-year F1 career. Not only was gassy overjoyed but it also came as sweet redemption after losing his third place podium finish in Monaco when his pit lane speeding penalties there were belatedly reinstated by FIA’s Court of Appeal. And this was no fluke nor did his rivals trip themselves up significantly — the Mercedes-powered Alpine looks genuinely fast here at Monza, especially in the hands of the talented Gasly, and the potential for his second career victory is definitely real.

Russell and Mercedes were not only bested by a customer car but also felt their final effort in Q3 was compromised by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on a day where the slipstream and getting it just right lead directly to faster lap time. After settling for P2, Russell, who had been the favorite all weekend, will simply have to prove that he’s the fastest man in the race come Sunday. Adding to Mercedes somewhat meh post-quali feelings, they already knew their championship leading pilot Kimi Antonelli would be starting from the back of the grid no matter how he qualified — he ended up P7 while mainly trying to lend a hand to Russell — having taken a raft of power unit component changes that put the young Italian into the penalty zone. Antonelli will be looking to harness his natural pace and the superiority of his Silver Arrow to fight his way back to the front and limit the weekend’s damage in front his home fans, with perhaps some creative tire strategy helping him out from the pit wall.

As if the grid wasn’t already shuffled enough, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified a solid P3, the Aussie was hit with a three-gird spot penalty for blocking the second Red Bull of Liam Lawson earlier in Q2. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who qualified P4, will be promoted, as will Lewis Hamilton, who qualified P5. To be fair, though, the Prancing Horses seemed to be nowhere in front of the hungry tifosi, either lacking the straight-line speed required here or else fumbling their team tow tactics. It will be interesting to see if they may have more race pace than single lap speed on Sunday. Lord knows Italy expects it! Rounding out the Top 10, an unhappy Verstappen was P6, the second Alpine of Franco Colapinto was P8, the second McLaren of reigning world champ Lando Norris was way down in P9 and rookie Arvid Lindblad made it into Q3 for Racing Bulls and was P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:22.612 1:22.077 1:21.786 18
2

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:22.779 1:22.161 1:21.846 17
3

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:22.924 1:22.017 1:21.966 18
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:22.902 1:22.509 1:22.004 18
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:22.847 1:22.516 1:22.011 15
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:22.631 1:22.188 1:22.070 17
7

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:22.758 1:21.882 1:22.093 18
8

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:22.662 1:22.400 1:22.220 18
9

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:22.659 1:22.067 1:22.256 19
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:22.727 1:22.345 1:22.286 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Gasly can hold off the surging pack of elite drivers behind him and earn a fairy tale win at the Temple of Speed!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Red hot Antonelli snatches Monaco pole from razor sharp Verstappen; Hamilton out-duels hometown favorite Leclerc for P3: Russell struggles en route to P6

Mercedes young phenom Kimi Antonelli, winner of the last four Grand Prix on the trot, continued his red hot ways by wresting pole away from a very game Max Verstappen during Saturday Qualifying for the legendary Monaco Grand Prix. With the tight and twisty streets of the principality looking more claustrophobic than even, Antonelli kept his foot in it on his final flying lap, as he had done all day, mastering the ultimate street circuit on the F1 calendar to the tune of a 1:12.051 lap. That was a little over four-tenths quicker than Verstappen’s best effort in his Red Bull. But he and the team will still be very pleased to come home P2 on the day and to be so close in competitiveness to mighty Mercedes, at least for this one very atypical race. Antonelli and Verstappen’s excellence also put Ferrari in the shade when many had been picking one of the two Prancing Horses to start from pole on Sunday. Instead, Lewis Hamilton got the better of hometown favorite Charles Leclerc, P3 to P4. The Monegasque native recovered from being mired down in P10 earlier in Q3 to take provisional pole with his penultimate lap but then whammed the barriers at Tabac on his final flier, ending any hopes of improvement.

Red Bull’s second driver, Isack Hadjar, also performed well, capturing P5 on the grid. That was one spot better than George Russell’s Mercedes, the Briton looking less than comfortable in the cramped confines all weekend so far, in contrast to youthful upstart Antonelli. At a place where passing is nigh impossible, Russell will have it all to do come race day to somehow keep up with his streaking points-leading teammate at the front. After some glimmers in qualifying, McLaren underwhelmed when it really counted, with Oscar Piastri only good enough for P7 and Lando Norris just behind his Aussie teammate in P8. On the other hand, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls Liam Lawson exceeded expectations, qualifying P9 and P10 respectively despite both just scraping through to progress in the first two Quali sessions.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.599 1:12.704 1:12.051 28
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:13.490 1:12.499 1:12.094 26
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:13.777 1:12.934 1:12.279 28
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.293 1:12.774 1:12.351 29
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:14.408 1:12.722 1:12.434 25
6

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:14.214 1:13.238 1:12.445 28
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:14.159 1:12.983 1:12.624 29
8

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:13.630 1:12.919 1:12.765 28
9

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:14.469 1:13.762 1:13.226 32
10

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:14.498 1:13.471 1:13.412 29

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. The opening lap battle for supremacy between Antonelli and Verstappen should be epic and the Ferarri duo of Hamilton and Leclerc will be looking to take advantage of any contact between the two. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Antonelli wins fourth on the trot in Canada as frustrated Russell DNFs; Hamilton makes late pass on Verstappen for P2; McLaren gamble on tires and come up snake eyes

Mercedes rising star Kimi Antonelli prevailed for the victory at a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, surviving a fierce 30-lap intra-team battle with his most serious rival, George Russell, that was spicier than a vindaloo curry and then sailing to an easy win after Russell’s Silver Arrow called it quits on Lap 31 of this 68-lap contest. No other cars could challenge Antonelli en route to his fourth victory on the trot and the teen sensation bumped up his points lead over Russell to 43 after five rounds in 2026. Russell’s DNF opened the door to second and third place wide open and Ferarri’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a ding dong battle for second place as then laps ran down. After hunting his old rival’s Red Bull over the course of several circuits, Hamilton was finally able to overtake the Dutch master on Lap 62 while using his full momentum from the start finish straight and steaming past into Turn 1. Verstappen did his best to regain P2 over the course of the final seven laps but Hamilton was able to keep the position for his and the Scuderia’s best finish of the young season. Despite being relegated to third on the day, that final podium spot was also Verstappen and Red Bull’s best finish so far in 2026.The second Ferrari’ of Charles Leclerc was never quite on top of the vicissitudes of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in the masterful manner of Hamilton, a seven-time winner here, and came home a respectable but rather forlorn P4. Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar survived a raft of penalties to take a solid P5, making it a strong double points day for what has been an inconsistent Red Bull campaign so far.

On the other side of the coin, McLaren had a disastrous day, beginning when they decided that the damp but rapidly drying conditions on Île Notre Dame warranted a gamble on wet weather Intermediate Pirellis, making them the only team in the top ten starters to see things that way. While the Papaya duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri did get away quickly from their slick grid spots, with Norris even passing both Mercedes for the lead on Lap 1, any benefit was going to be extremely short lived and the team baled as the track was clearly going to be dry for the foreseeable future. Piastri, who had been complaining about the risky tire choice from even before the formation lap, came into the pit for a switch to slick Mediums before completing his first race lap and Norris followed on the end of Lap 2. From there, McLaren were well and truly behind the eight-ball, with both drivers now having to fight their way back into the points after  qualifying on the second row. Things went from bad to worse when Norris was forced to retire on Lap 40 with a terminal gearbox issue and Piastri, after an incident-filled attempt to flight back to the front, including incurring a ten-second penalty for punting Alexander Albon’s Williams out of the race at the hairpin midway through, could only manage to scramble his way back up to P11. McLaren will be keen to turn the page on their pointless Canadian nightmare as they head to another grand casino in Monaco in two weeks. They’ll be hoping their self-made luck runs better at the principality than the unforced snake eyes they rolled in Montreal.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:28:15.758 68 1 1:14.210 (68)
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +10.768 68 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.276 68 1 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +44.151 68 1 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1 Lap 67 3 —
6

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 67 1 —
8

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
9

Carlos Sainz

 Williams +1 Lap 67 2 —
10

Oliver Bearman

 Haas +1 Lap 67 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight as the F1 circus heads to its most glamorous venue, the Monaco Street Circuit The cars will wend their way through the famously tight streets of the principality for the calendar’s slowest race where qualifying is essentially everything. With Anotnelli looking imperious, it will be interesting to see how the young Italian can pedal it in such tight quarters, and with Russell desperate for a bit of hope, Hamilton and Verstappen surging and the home favorite Monegasque Leclerc. Hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!

 

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Russell nabs pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with last-second flier, Antonelli P2 as Mercedes lock out front row; McLaren claim second row with Norris ahead of Piastri, P3 to P4

Having already aggressively diced with and prevailed over his Mercedes teammate in the Sprint race, George Russell came from down in tenth place to seize pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with a stunning final flying lap during Saturday Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Desperate to reestablish his championship aspirations and get back on terms with his points-leading Silver Arrows stablemate, Kimi Antonelli, Russell was all arms and elbows in the Sprint en route to victory there, earning the ire of the young Italian in the process, and then pulled one out of the bag in the dying moments of Q3 to relegate Antonelli to second on the grid here in Montreal. The opening lap battles between the two Mercedes men should set the tone for a potentially epic internecine fight for glory that could well end in tears for one or both men and potentially open the door for another contender to take advantage of any potential race-altering contacts between the two lead Mercs.

Chief among those trailing rivals appear to be a resurgent McLaren, whose tandem of reigning champion Lando Norris and the always capable Oscar Piastri steadily progressed on pace throughout quali and put themselves firmly ahead of both Ferraris with a P3 for Norris and a P4 for Piastri.  While the McLaren duo couldn’t quite match the pace of mighty Mercedes, team Papaya are inching closer to parity with some already significant early season upgrades. Lewis Hamilton flew the flag for Ferrari at a circuit he loves and where he has seven career victories. While his hopes for pole faded as Mercedes and McLaren showed their true one-lap pace, he put in a time good enough for a solid P5. That was quite a bit more rapid than his normally equal stablemate, Charles Leclerc, who struggled throughout qualifying with the balance of his Prancing Horse and ended up merely P8 on the time sheets. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar split the Scuderia in P6 and P7 respectively, despite Verstappen’s vociferous gripes about the abilities of his RB22. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers for Canada, rookie Arvid Lindblad pedaled his Racing Bull to an impressive P9 and Franco Colapinto was the lead Alpine in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:13.953 1:13.079 1:12.578 24
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.380 1:13.076 1:12.646 24
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:13.503 1:13.049 1:12.729 28
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:13.559 1:13.285 1:12.781 29
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:13.767 1:13.041 1:12.868 27
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:14.067 1:13.479 1:12.907 23
7

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:13.654 1:12.975 1:12.935 22
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.825 1:13.496 1:12.976 29
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:13.895 1:13.548 1:13.280 28
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:14.466 1:13.857 1:13.697 27

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

Sprint Race results are here.

Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix airs live beginning at 4pm Eastern on AppleTV and Netflix here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Russell can keep Antonelli behind him or if the two come to grief amidst their increasingly heated rivalry and open the door to another contender to take victory!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Mercedes still setting early season pace as Antonelli nails down second consecutive pole, Russell starts P2 at Suzuka; McLaren back in the mix with Piastri P3, Norris P5; Ferrari’s Leclerc P4

Flush with the confidence of his first Formula 1 win two weeks ago in China, Mercedes’ rising young star Kimi Antonelli made it two poles in a row with a superb effort at the always challenging Suzuka Circuit during Saturday Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The 19-year-old was able to get just that much more out of his Silver Arrow than his veteran teammate George Russell, to the tune of nearly three-tenths on their fastest respective laps set midway through Q3. To be fair, Russell seemed to struggle all day with an issue with his rear stability throughout quali and, additionally, the track seemed to deteriorate somewhat toward the end of the final round with regards to overall grip. Nevertheless, the current points leader will be keen to retake the momentum from his precocious Mercedes teammate and beat him off the line come race day.

McLaren showed some tentative signs of regaining their footing after a fairly disastrous opening two rounds, with Oscar Piastri a ways away from the Mercs but still good enough for P3 and the second row and teammate and reigning World Champion Lando Norris just off the Aussie’s pace in P5. The specter of mechanical gremlins still hovers over team Papaya, however, as Norris’s car spent nearly all of Free Practice 3 in the garage with a software/battery communication issue plaguing their new power plant. It will be critical that both McLarens run a full race distance in Sunday’s GP no matter where they end up finishing, lest these initial severe teething problems threaten to derail their 2026 campaign, while Mercedes and Ferrari take the opportunity to bury them.

Speaking of Ferrari, Charles Leclerc looked to be on the ragged edge of adhesion pretty much all race weekend so far. But the Monegasque still managed to wring the neck of his SF-26 to the tune of the fourth fastest time, splitting the McLaren’s on the grid. Scuderia teammate Lewis Hamilton was about a tenth and a half slower and slotted in behind Norris in P6. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly came from seemingly nowhere to post an impressive final time good enough for P7, which bodes well for both driver and team after the Frenchman’s impressive sixth place finish in the previous Chinese GP. Red Bull’s new promotion for this year, Isack Hadjar, earned P8, bettering his more decorated stablemate Max Verstappen, who struggled with an unruly mount on his way to an underwhelming P12 and early exit in Q2. The Dutch Master’s mood about the current state of F1 was certainly not improved after he called his RB22 “undriveable” yet again, his new favorite adjective. On the other hand, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoletto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad seemed more than pleased with the new formula, the young guns slotting in at P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese Grand Prix:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 A. AntonelliMercedes 12 15

1’28.778

 S 235.477
2 G. RussellMercedes 63 21

+0.298

1’29.076

 0.298 S 234.689
3 O. PiastriMcLaren 81 20

+0.354

1’29.132

 0.056 S 234.542
4 C. LeclercFerrari 16 18

+0.627

1’29.405

 0.273 S 233.825
5 L. NorrisMcLaren 1 20

+0.631

1’29.409

 0.004 S 233.815
6 L. HamiltonFerrari 44 20

+0.789

1’29.567

 0.158 S 233.402
7 P. GaslyAlpine 10 18

+0.913

1’29.691

 0.124 S 233.080
8 I. HadjarRed Bull Racing 6 17

+1.200

1’29.978

 0.287 S 232.336
9 G. BortoletoAudi 5 20

+1.496

1’30.274

 0.296 S 231.574
10 A. LindbladRacing Bulls 41 21

+1.541

1’30.319

 0.045 S 231.459

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on Apple TV beginning at 1 AM Eastern here in the States. Can McLaren really get their mojo back and take the fight to mighty Mercedes or can Leclerc and Ferrari pull an epic upset?  Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Antonelli makes F1 history as youngest ever pole-sitter in Shanghai; Russell overcomes gremlins to grab last-second P2 for early favorites Mercedes; Hamilton P3, Leclerc P4 for next best Ferrari

In a dramatic final session of Saturday qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, newly mighty Mercedes needed to deploy all of their technical and strategic expertise to both salvage their veteran driver’s Sunday starting position and maximize their junior driver’s best efforts. With what is clearly the virgin season’s best car, last week’s race winner George Russell, who was also victorious in the Sprint race earlier in the day, faced Q3 gremlins that threatened to put him at the bottom of the Top 10. But the team brilliantly got him out of the garage and back onto the track with just enough time for one flying lap. Meanwhile, teammate Kimi Antonelli had already laid down a blistering benchmark provisional pole lap immediately prior to Russell emerging from the pits at Shanghai International Circuit, daring his teammate and any other challengers to better it. While Russell couldn’t catch his Silver Arrows stablemate with his last desperate attempt, he did manage a fantastic nail-biting flier that vaulted him from “No Time” to P2 for Sunday’s grid. Meanwhile, Antonelli hung on in the face of Ferrari’s and McLaren’s best efforts to become Formula 1’s youngest ever pole-sitter, the 19-year, 6-month-old Italian besting the great Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of 21-years and two-months set at Monza back in 2008. The acid test for Antonelli, though, will be a clean getaway from that historic pole when the lights go out on Sunday. The young star has struggled mightily in both race starts under the new format, with another extremely slow start in the Sprint, where he started from second but finished in P6 as a direct result of bogging down again.

Despite looking feisty all race weekend, Ferrari found themselves in the familiar for 2026 runners up role to the Mercs, with Lewis Hamilton besting teammate Charles Leclerc P3 to P4. McLaren have clearly been working very hard and showed improvement since the opener in Melbourne, closing the gap even while still trailing the top two teams. Oscar Piastri claimed P5 on the grid for the Papayas ahead of P6 Lando Norris. The Alpine of Pierre Gasly made his own statement by bettering both Red Bulls and slotting into P7, an impressive effort that relegated Max Verstappen to P8 and Isack Hadjar to P9. Those lowly quali positions show that the Red Bull braintrust have a lot of improvements to unlock to get to terms with both this new car and their new Ford engines. Haas’s Oliver Bearman took P10 with a fine effort for the competitive American midfield team.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

Driver Grid Qual time
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
1
1:32.064
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
2
1:32.286
L. Hamilton
Ferrari

·

#44
3
1:32.415
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
4
1:32.428
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
5
1:32.550
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#1
6
1:32.608
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
7
1:32.873
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#3
8
1:33.002
I. Hadjar
Red Bull

·

#6
9
1:33.121
O. Bearman
Haas

·

#87
10
1:33.292

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 1 AM  Eastern exclusively on Apple TV here in the States. Whether you pull the all-nighter or catch up with the race with an Apple TV replay on demand after a good night’s sleep, Round 2 of Formula 1’s new era will surely be worth a watch to see how the teams are improving and getting to grips with these very tricky and brand new hybrid machines. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Norris prevails to take victory at Silverstone after painful Piastri penalty; Hulkenberg earns first podium after 239 starts in chaotic, rain-affected race

In a thrilling and chaotic British Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept it clean and composed to take victory ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, who dominated the early part of the contest but made a pivotal mistake behind the Safety Car that led to a race-altering 10-second penalty. With heavy rains falling on Silverstone before the race start and more predicted for early in the GP, the field started the Formation Lap on Intermediate wet weather tires on a damp circuit. But Mercedes’ George Russell, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Haas’s Oliver Bearman, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoletto and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar all dove to the pits to gamble on slick tires rather than line up on the grid despite the still quite wet final third of the circuit. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leading away from the pole, followed by Piastri in P2 and Norris just behind in P3, it didn’t take long for the first incident on a day full of them. The second Racing Bul of Liam Lawson tangled with Haas’s Esteban Ocon, sending the Aussie spinning off track and out of the race. A Virtual Safety Car was quickly deployed, and Mercedes also brought Kimi Antonelli in for a set of Hard Pirellis, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also pitting to take Softs. But for some it was too soon for that maneuver, as even the slick-clad Bortoleto spun out into the gravel once the VSC ended on Lap 4, prompting another VSC just two laps later when his car stalled on track. Stroll pitted again for fresh Softs before the VSC ended during Lap 7, a key move for the Aston man that left teammate Fernando Alosno wondering why his side of the garage hadn’t executed the same tactic on the rapidly drying track.

 

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No sooner did racing resume but the rain started to fall in earnest, with Antonelli diving to the pits on Lap 10 to get back on Inters and teammate Russell, Ferrari’s Leclerc and Stroll yet again, having made the most of his Softs to gain valuable track position, following for the same swap a lap later. Verstappen stayed out on his aging set of Inters, however, and promptly ran wide coming out of Chapel, allowing Norris to briefly take P2, with teammate Piastri diving in for fresh Inters. Norris and Verstappen followed Piastri in, with a slow stop by McLaren costing Norris the position and a clean one by Red Bull getting Verstappen out in P3, while Piastri had assumed the lead ahead of the yet-to-pit Williams of Alex Albon. With the rain really chucking it down and visibility terrible by Lap 13 of this 52-lap contest, a full Safety Car was deployed a lap later for the wellbeing of the drivers until the deluge could subside. The SC ended on Lap 17, and Piastri restarted ahead of Verstappen, Norris in P3, Stroll amazingly in P4 and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg suddenly in P5 after an early stop for fresh Inters on Lap 9 paid off handsomely for the German veteran in then increasingly wet conditions thereafter. But a lap later there was yet another Safety Car deployed for the recovery of the crashed Racing Bull of Hadjar at Copse, having run into the back of Antonelli’s Silver Arrow in the blinding spray. While Antonelli came to the pits again for fresh Inters, the rear diffuser of his Mercedes was badly damaged and he would be forced to retire a few laps later.

With the Safety Car coming in on Lap 21, Piastri made the crucial error in judgment that destroyed his race. While controlling the restart from the front, the young Aussie braked far too hard to set up his getaway, nearly causing Verstappen to ram into the back of him such was his excessive deceleration. While Piastri then scooted away, the incident was almost immediately and ominously under review by the stewards. Piastri was eventually penalized 10-seconds for the excessive braking action, a backbreaker for his hopes of victory on the day. But Verstappen was unable to capitalize on this eventuality because he spun out in pursuit at the restart on Lap 21, dropping the Dutch Master all the way down to P10. This all redounded to Norris’s great benefit, because when the penalty was handed down and Piastri eventually had to pit for Medium tries on Lap 43 due to a now-finally drying track, Norris inherited P1 while his teammate sat stationary for that agonizingly slow 10-seconds before any work could be done on his car. So, despite coming in a lap later for his own set of Mediums, he still emerged with the lead of the race, such was the impact of Piastri’s penalty. Controlling the race from the front and with no more incidents to speak of, Norris was able to keep his teammate at bay and take an emotional victory at his home Grand Prix in front of of his adoring countrymen and women in the  grandstands. For Piastri, it was a doubly bitter pill to swallow, as he not only finished P2 in a race he likely should have won but also saw his points advantage to Norris in the Drivers’ Championship slip to just eight. Obviously unhappy with how the day transpired, Piastri will have a lot to stew on before the next race at the end of the month in Belgium, while Norris will be riding high with his confidence fully restored  in the interim after his dream victory here at Silverstone.

With his team’s strategy paying off beautifully, Hulkenberg made a crucial pass on Stroll for P3 and then held off the charging Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton easily to take P3 and his maiden pole in F1 after an astonishing 239 race starts. As the saying goes, better late than never and it was the feel good story of the whole day to see the veteran German pilot rewarded for his years of skillful and professional driving with teams of various quality. Hamilton slotted in at P4 at one of his favorite tracks, bettering by far his Scuderia stablemate Leclerc, who had a miserable day in the wet with a multitude of offs and came home well out of the points in P14. Verstappen managed to recover from his ill-timed spin somewhat to take P5 but it was still a day to forget for the normally flawless four-time champion after starting from the pole. It’s distinctly possible that the team’s decision to really trim the car out hurt him when he most needed downforce during the race, despite netting him the pole. Pierre Gasly had another fine drive for Alpine in P6 and Stroll’s early race tire gambles paid off for Aston Martin even if he faded bit on his final stint, still coming home a solid P7. Teammate Alonso took P9, with Williams’ Albon splitting them in P8, another impressive drive that flew somewhat under the radar amidst all the excitement. Russell took a lone solitary point in P10 after what turned out to be a pretty awful day for the Mercedes factory team. The Monday morning debrief at Brackley should be fairly brutal and they” be looking to get back on form at Spa in three weeks’ time.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

52

1:37:15.735

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

52

+6.812s

18

3

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber

52

+34.742s

15

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

52

+39.812s

12

5

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

52

+56.781s

10

6

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

52

+59.857s

8

7

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin

52

+60.603s

6

8

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

52

+64.135s

4

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

52

+65.858s

2

10

63

George Russell

Mercedes

52

+70.674s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend doesn’t begin until July 25th, as team’s will have loads of time to prepare for the Belgian Grand Prix at the venerable Spa-Francorchamps circuit, including the added pressures of a Sprint weekend there. For Norris, it will mean more time to savor his dream win at his home Grand Prix. For Piastri, it will mean a long time between races to stew on his nightmare penalty and his own culpability for that. And for most of the other drivers, it will mean putting Britain in the rearview and starting fresh in Belgium — except for Hulkenberg, who will surely savor his career achievement and be looking to make it two podiums in a row. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

Verstappen snatches pole from two McLarens with stunning final effort at Silverstone; Piastri settles for P2, Norris P3; Mercedes’ Russell solid in P4, as Ferrari fail to follow up on practice pace

After a disappointing race last week in Austria that saw his day end on Lap 1 due to a crash that was not his fault, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen rebounded big time during Saturday Qualifying for the British Grand Prix. Proving one again that he remains the sport’s most talented pilot even in a car no other driver seems to be able to come to grips with, Verstappen laid down a final flying lap in Q3 that vaulted him ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris and onto the pole for Sunday’s race. If they want to show what a perfect lap looks like at Silverstone in the future, they can simply replay the Flying Dutchman’s sublime effort, which looked smooth and effortless en route to a blistering 1:24.892 time. Contrast that with the other contenders’ final efforts, when they knew the pressure was on to produce and the track was at it’s best, and there were small mistakes aplenty, including from P2 Piastri, who Verstappen knocked off from the top spot, and McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who had to settle for P3 and the second row after getting just that little bit too aggressive over the kerbs of the tricky final sector.

Somewhat lost in all the excitement was another fine effort from Mercedes’ George Russell, who kept it clean enough for a solid P4 time, quite a bit better than teammate Kimi Antonelli’s P7. The Italian Silver Arrows’ rookie will also be demoted three grid spots from there due to the penalty accrued from his ill advised first-lap lurch at the Red Bull Ring last week that took out not only himself but also Verstappen. Ferrari disappointed somewhat after teasing legitimate pole speed throughout the practice sessions. The Prancing Horses receded a bit come crunch time and Lewis Hamilton could only work his way up to P5, with Charles Leclerc just behind in P6, both drivers having slightly scruffy last efforts in Q3. The Ferrari faithful will be hoping that somehow their race pace will be better tomorrow than the one-lap speed in relation to the other top teams today.

Haas’s Oliver Bearman showed both his brilliance by setting a super strong P8 time and also his rookie-ness by picking up a 10-spot grid penalty for hard charging the pit lane entrance under Red Flag conditions at the end of Practice 3. Fernando Alonso got the most from his recently upgraded Aston Martin with the ninth fastest time and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also did yeoman’s work to make it into Q3 even if he could not improve on P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:25.886

1:25.316

1:24.892

18

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:25.963

1:25.316

1:24.995

21

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:26.123

1:25.231

1:25.010

20

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:26.236

1:25.637

1:25.029

19

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:26.296

1:25.084

1:25.095

19

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:26.186

1:25.133

1:25.121

21

7

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:26.265

1:25.620

1:25.374

18

8

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas

1:26.005

1:25.534

1:25.471

18

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

1:26.108

1:25.593

1:25.621

15

10

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

1:26.328

1:25.711

1:25.785

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 10 AM Eastern here in the States. With any of the top six having a legitimate shot at victory, it should be a compelling contest, and if the rain that didn’t come today does come tomorrow, who knows what could happen? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Norris claims pole at Red Bull ring ahead of P2 Leclerc, teammate Piastri in P3

Looking to rebound from the clash with his teammate that ended his race in Canada prematurely two weeks ago, McLaren’s Lando Norris blistered the field to earn pole during Saturday Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Norris mastered the short and tricky Red Bull ring to the tune of a record-setting 1:03.971 fast lap, half a second ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and a few tenths more than that versus McLaren stablemate and current points leader Oscar Piastri. After the the Papaya duo collided late in the race in Quebec a fortnight ago, costing Norris any points at all and nearly taking out Piastri as well in the process, Lando will be desperate to get away and stay away from all of the other contenders, run a clean race and take home maximum points to reignite his championship aspirations. With Leclerc’s Prancing Horse slotting in at P2 and teammate Lewis Hamilton pulling one out of the bag good enough for the fourth fastest time, Piastri could well have his hands full just trying to fend off the Ferraris, let alone getting  back on terms with Norris, who frankly looks like he has the edge here in Spielberg.

Mercedes suffered by comparison when measured against McLaren and the Scuderia, perhaps due to the extremely hot conditions here at the circuit, with George Russell only good enough for P5 and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli scuffling his way to a lowly P9 spot on the grid. Racing Bulls Liam Lawson, who has really come on after a very rough start to the year in the senior Red Bull team, shocked his old teammate Max Verstappen by out-qualifying the Flying Dutchman, P7 to P8. Verstappen may have gotten a taste of what his wingmen usually have to deal with, as the four–time champ complained that his car was literally un-drivable. He struggled with snap oversteer repeatedly over the course of these short but demanding laps, and teammate Yuki Tsunoda fared even worse, coming home a shocking P18 and rueing his lack of front grip. On the other side of the coin, Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto achieved his best-ever qualifying result with a very impressive time good enough for P8. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the Top 10 in P10, unable to improve his time when he spun on his final quali effort.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:04.672

1:04.410

1:03.971

18

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:05.197

1:04.734

1:04.492

21

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:04.966

1:04.556

1:04.554

19

4

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:05.115

1:04.896

1:04.582

21

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:05.189

1:04.860

1:04.763

18

6

30

Liam Lawson

Racing Bulls

1:05.017

1:05.041

1:04.926

17

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:05.106

1:04.836

1:04.929

18

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

1:05.123

1:04.846

1:05.132

21

9

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:05.178

1:05.052

1:05.276

17

10

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine

1:05.054

1:04.846

1:05.649

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep his quali momentum going and get his championship campaign back on track with a victory, or if Lady Luck — and his teammate Piastri and the two charging Ferraris — have other plans in store.