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2026 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paolo — Results & aftermath

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Norris claims victory at Interlagos in wild wet weather race; Verstappen storms from 21st-place start to P2; Hadjar continues to impress putting second Red Bull on podium in tricky conditions

McLaren’s Lando Norris earned his first podium since Round 14 in Spain and his first victory since Round 11 in the Netherlands with a supremely controlled drive in very adverse wet -dry-wet conditions at the Sao Paolo Grand Prix on Sunday. Norris kept his cool amidst the changeable conditions, which saw the field all start on Intermediate wet Pirelli tries, then change to Soft slicks for the middle period and then all back again to Inters for the final stanza as the rains returned to Interlagos for the closing laps. Norris crossed the line over fourteen seconds ahead of Max Verstappen’s second place Red Bull, the McLaren man converting his pole into victory, albeit in anything but a linear fashion amidst the vicissitudes of this 71-lap thriller. But Verstappen’s P2 was also utterly remarkable, with the Dutch Master having clawed his way to the second step of the podium from a penalty-induced 21st on the starting grid. Verstappen’s latest virtuoso performance marked yet another legendary wet weather drive by the four-time champion in Brazil. Red Bull doubled their pleasure on the day, as their second driver, Isack Hadjar, who has been nothing short of impressive this season in what had been something of a cursed seat, also made the podium with a sparkling P3 effort. And although both Mercedes suffered from highly unpredictable balance issues throughout the race which saw both drivers spin durning the GP, a P4 finish for George Russell and a fifth place for newly minted World Champion Kimi Antonelli were still good enough to clinch the 2026 Constructors’ Championship for the Silver Arrows, their first team title since 2021.

The second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who has had a desultory season at best, came home P6 ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Leclerc was then demoted to P8 when he was handed a 5-second penalty for causing a collision while passing Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson on the penultimate lap. With his future in F1 subject to heavy speculation, Lawson continued to show that he belongs and more than earned his eventual P7 with a feisty and combative effort all race long against men in arguably superior equipment. The other Prancing Horse of Lewis Hamilton had a very eventful 400th Formula 1 start, with a slew of overtakes early on after being buried back in P20 on the grid due to his own engine penalties, and then a lurid late spin on Lap 61 amidst the intensifying rain while still on slicks. After all that drama, the seven-time champ finished P9. Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg used all of his veteran guile at a circuit and in weather that he loves to outrun a 10-second penalty for an illegal overtake and take the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paolo GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:35:23.504 71 3 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +14.602 71 3 —
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +24.485 71 3 —
4

George Russell

 Mercedes +33.991 71 2 —
5

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +41.017 71 3 1:12.689 (55)
6

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +56.475 71 3 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1:15.402 71 3 —
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +1:18.586 71 2 —
9

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +1 Lap 70 3 —
10

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 70 3

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Everyone can now catch their breath a bit after all the enjoyable chaos in Sao Paolo, as the teams will have a week off before heading to Las Vegas in a fortnight. Hope to see you then to find out who Lady Luck will smile upon there and who will crap out on the Strip!

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 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 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 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!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Russell tames Red Bull Ring for much needed win; Verstappen holds off Antonelli for P2 on home turf; Ferrari spin wheels on pace & strategy leading to non-podiums for P5 Hamilton, P8 Leclerc

Mercedes’ talented ace George Russell needed a win the way a man in the desert needs a drink of water. And on Sunday the thirsty Briton championship contender got to drink from  big bottle of champagne after his first victory since Round 1, converting a pivotal pole position into the win at the Austrian Grand Prix despite arguably not being the fastest car on track. But Russell drove cleanly from the front at the short and tricky Red Bull Ring, his side of the pit wall made the right strategy calls and he held off all comers to take his second win on the year and vault himself back into contention against his precocious points-leading Silver Arrows teammate, Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli suffered with break unreliability from the time the lights went out in this 71-lap slugfest but was still able to make up one spot over his qualifying position and take the last step of the podium in P3. Splitting the two Mercedes was Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who recovered from binning his car in the last session of Saturday Quali by pushing just that much too hard, starting from fifth as a consequence, to make multiple passes en route to P2 at the checkers, the Dutch master’s best finish of the season so far. With Isack Hadjar working his way up to a P6 finish after starting from P8, it proved to be an encouraging day for the so far underwhelming Red Bull team, albeit at a very short circuit without a lot of long, flat out straights.

On the other side of the coin, Ferrari had a poor race and to at least some degree, pit strategy was to blame. With Leclerc qualifying P2 and Hamilton P3, the Scuderia’s hopes for a big day never came to fruition. Leclerc was slow from the get go and was quickly overtaken by his teammate and then Antonelli shortly thereafter despite the young Italian’s brake issues. Soon Leclerc was mired in a battle with the two McLarens and the second Red Bull of Hadjar. Leclerc lost all those battles in the end after sustaining front wing damage in a early race kerfuffle with McLaren’s Piastri and drifted down the standings, finishing a rather humdrum P8 by the time his race was run. Meanwhile, Hamilton looked to be on for a podium after a ding dong early race battle with Verstappen over second place and then an attempt to undercut the Red Bull with an early stop for Hard tires on Lap 12, with Verstappen running all the way to lap 18 for his first stop for fresh Pirellis. However, the Ferrari braintrust outsmarted themselves when they pitted for a since time under a VSC on Lap 25, choosing to gamble of the short term benefit of the Soft tire but also locking them into a 3-stop race. With that many laps remaining, it didn’t pay off. Hamilton emerged in P7 after that second stop and had to once again get by his teammate Leclerc and also Hadjar, leaving him miles away from the front three by the time he made his third stop on Lap 42. In the end, the seven-time champ and last race’s winner in Barcelona could do no better than a P5 finish with a car — and a strategy — that proved to be inferior to the two Mercedes and Verstappen’s Red Bull. The opportunistic Piastri made the most of Ferrari’s curious strategy calls and his own aggressive efforts against Leclerc to take P4 ahead of both Hamilton and his teammate, Lando Norris.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:26:37.979 71 2 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +1.611 71 2 —
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +1.986 71 2 1:10.374 (59)
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +21.809 71 2 —
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +26.393 71 3 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +29.399 71 2 —
7

Lando Norris

 McLaren +31.505 71 2 —
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +45.659 71 3 —
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 70 2 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 70 2 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The 2026 season finally feels like it has some momentum going now, not to mention a number of possible contenders for victory each race weekend. And the next tilt is just a week away, as the teams head to venerable Silverstone for the British GP. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out and who will be the winner in jolly old England!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya — Results & aftermath

Hamilton earns first Ferrari win with bold 3-stop strategy; Russell P2 as Antonelli suffers late race DNF; Norris inherits P3

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton earned his first win for Scuderia Ferrari with a superb drive and perfect strategy calls from the pit will at Sunday’s Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya. On a hot and sunny day in the northeast of Spain, it was a blast from the past when Hamilton, who qualified P2 just behind Mercedes’ George Russell and ahead of the second Silver Arrow of points leader Kimi Antonelli, drove a perfect opening stint and then made the bold decision to be the first of the top contenders to pit, committing Ferrari and Lewis to a three-stop strategy at this high-deg track. Mercedes, meanwhile, struck with the more conventional two-stopper, but in the end more stops for fresher Pirelli rubber proved superior to running longer and stopping one less time. Hamilton also benefitted greatly from a perfectly timed Virtual Safety Car just about two-thirds of the way through this 66-lap contest that enabled hime to take his third and final stop with his closest competitors all running 30% under their normal speeds. Sir Lewis probably would still have stayed out in front of the pursuing Mercs but this little stroke of luck really tied up the eventual victory with a neat bow. Hamilton steered the car home cleanly and quickly for the final twenty-four laps, crossing the line nearly twenty seconds to the good of Russell and making the dreams of the tifosi — and his own — come true after in his second year with Ferrari.

 

Top 10 finishers of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:32:28.105 66 3 1:20.122 (44)
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +19.561 66 2 —
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren +23.719 66 2 —
4

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +40.497 66 3 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +58.661 66 2 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1 Lap 65 3 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 65 2 —
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 65 2 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 65 2 —
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1 Lap 65 2 —

 

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, as the teams head to Austria and the fast & fierce Red Bull Ring. Can Ferrari keep closing the gap to mighty Mercedes and can Antonelli rebound after his first significant setback in his up til now magical season? Hope top see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya — Qualifying results

Aiming to get ’26 campaign back on track, Russell takes pole in Barcelona just ahead of rapid Lewis Hamilton; Antonelli in P3 off front row for first time this year

Mercedes’ George Russell, the preseason favorite for the Drivers’ title before his upstart teammate Kimi Antonelli put an end to that narrative with an early season salvo of dominance, took the first step in attempting to get his season back on track by laying down a blistering lap at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya good enough for pole position in Sunday’s Grand Prix. After being blanked in terms of points in the last two races in Canada & Monaco, Russell utilized his desperation to hook up a fast lap at the death of Q3 that put him well ahead of  Antonelli by some three-tenths. Somewhat surprisingly, it was a resurgent Lewis Hamilton driving the Ferrari who gave Russell the closest run for his money, displaying a bit of the old seven-time champ magic to slot in just six one-hundredths of a second behind Russell and grab P2 across from his erstwhile teammate come Sunday. That bumped Antonelli off the front row for the first time this year and he will line up side by side with the McLaren of reigning world champion Lando Norris. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were the next fastest, qualifying in P5 and P6 respectively, putting them both ahead of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who could only muster a time good enough for P7. The young Aussie struggled more than his teammate with rear locking and controlling tire temperature under the brutal Catalunyan sun.

Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was P8, veteran Nico Hulkenberg  an impressive P9 for Audi and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc did not set a time after crashing out early in Q3 following a snap of oversteer at Turn 4, bringing out the Red Flag for the cleanup. The Monegasque driver was unhurt aside from his pride, after also crashing out of his home Grand Prix last weekend late in the race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Barcelona-Catalunya GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:15.717 1:15.228 1:14.679 13
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:15.625 1:15.418 1:14.743 14
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:15.977 1:15.295 1:14.998 14
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:16.287 1:15.361 1:15.001 14
5

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:16.352 1:15.484 1:15.021 12
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:16.427 1:15.754 1:15.077 14
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:16.138 1:15.518 1:15.090 15
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:16.673 1:15.585 1:16.542 14
9

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:16.066 1:15.768 1:16.657 17
10

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:15.964 1:15.281 — 8

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Can Russell keep Hamilton and Antonelli behind him and get back into the championship fight? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!