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

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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

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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 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!

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 Hungary — Results & aftermath

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

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

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

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

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

Top 10 finishers of the Hungarian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:39:56.180 70 3 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +15.080 70 2 —
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +18.728 70 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

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

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +24.540 70 3 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +55.488 70 2 —
7

George Russell

 Mercedes +57.503 70 2 —
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 2 —
9

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 69 2 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

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

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

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

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

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

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

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian Gand Prix:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Lando Norris

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

Lewis Hamilton

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

Charles Leclerc

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

Kimi Antonelli

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

Oscar Piastri

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

Max Verstappen

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

George Russell

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

Isack Hadjar

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

Arvid Lindblad

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

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:18.796 1:18.639 1:18.686 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

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

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

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

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

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:24:42.479 44 1 —
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +1.952 44 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.586 44 1 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +17.245 44 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +18.988 44 1 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +23.307 44 3 —
7

Lando Norris

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

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +49.140 44 1 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +50.406 44 1 —
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1:16.037 44 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

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

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

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

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

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

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:27:11.335 52 2 —
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +0.427 52 2 —
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +0.772 52 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +1.149 52 3 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1.598 52 3 —
6

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +2.023 52 2 —
7

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +2.214 52 2 —
8

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +2.413 52 2 —
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +3.229 52 2 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +3.445 52 2 —

Complete race results available via Formula.com.

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

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

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

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

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

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

Charles Leclerc

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

Lewis Hamilton

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

George Russell

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

Isack Hadjar

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

Lando Norris

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

Max Verstappen

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

Oscar Piastri

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

Arvid Lindblad

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

Liam Lawson

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

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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