Andrea Kimi Antonelli took his maiden win on Spanish soil as Lando Norris rued his bad luck. Here’s how the drivers fared at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old may not have “deserved” to win the inaugural race at the Madring circuit, but his triumph now sees him in pole position to wrap up the 2026 drivers’ championship.
Kimi Antonelli: 9
Grid Position: P2, Race Result: P1
Antonelli won his seventh F1 race of the season, consolidating his stronghold on the drivers’ championship.
Despite looking like the fastest package out on track, the Italian wasn’t able to slot his W17 on pole, on Saturday. The race start, against pole-sitter, Lando Norris was also a messy affair.
He went wide into the Turn 1 and 5 chicanes, eventually settling for second on the road behind the McLaren driver. That said, the racing gods favored the 20-year-old when an ill-timed VSC for Norris meant Antonelli took the overall race lead.
Traffic and graining did turn out to be a cause for concern for the Mercedes driver, but he kept his head till the chequered flag, extending his lead over team-mate George Russell to 81 points heading into the race weekend at Baku.
A far from flawless performance, by his own admission, but one that has only furthered his title credentials.
George Russell: 7
Grid Position: P6, Race Result: P5
Russell was in no mans land compared to his team-mate Antonelli once again this season.
Unable to extract pure single lap pace from his car, the Briton was already on the backfoot for the 53-lap race on Sunday.
The Mercedes driver was fighting fair-and-square with Charles Leclerc. Ferrari opted to leave the Monegasque out to extend his stint, and despite a massive undercut attempt he lost out to Leclerc at the chequered flag.
A difficult afternoon for Russell that has seen him relinquish further ground to Antonelli in the title fight.
Max Verstappen: 8.5
Grid Position: P3, Race Result: P2
Verstappen still hasn’t been able to register his first win of the season strapped into a cumbersome RB22.
But the Spanish GP was the closest the Red Bull has gotten to getting up on the top step of the podium. Starting from the second-row of the grid, Verstappen kept himself in contention for the win throughout the 53-lap race.
The final 10 laps saw traffic and the dirty wake from Leclerc’s SF-26, who was yet to pit, push Antonelli into the clutches of the Dutchman.
That said, as soon as Leclerc pitted and Antonelli was released, it was all too much for Verstappen to mount a bid against the Mercedes driver.
At the chequered flag, Verstappen racked up his sixth podium of the season – a testament to the solid work he has put in despite battling his disdain for the 2026 regulations and the driveability of his car.
Liam Lawson: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Result: P6
In only his third outing with the Milton-Keynes-based team this season, the Kiwi driver made further strides as he looks to vindicate himself for his acrimonious ousting from the team, last season.
Qualifying saw Lawson post a respectable eighth-fastest lap during the top 10 shootout. During the race, the Red Bull driver was the quickest of the midfield contenders.
A late-race pit stop gaffe at McLaren saw Lawson jump ahead of Piastri and take the chequered flag in sixth – his best finish for Red Bull.
Lando Norris: 9.5
Grid Position: P1, Race Result: P3
F1 can sometimes be a cruel, cruel sport. No one would relate to that sentiment as strongly as Norris.
The McLaren driver put in a stellar lap on his final flying effort in Q3 to take a shock pole position, his third of the season, for the 53-lap race on Sunday.
That said, while he kept his lead intact out of the first corner, it was an ill-time VSC that unravelled his afternoon at the Madring.
Ceding the net race lead to Antonelli, Norris did attempt to put in an inspired comeback drive. However, he wasn’t able to find a way past the RB22 of Verstappen, and Leclerc’s crucial pit stop on Lap 49 finally released the Italian.
While the McLaren did not put a foot wrong, circumstances and a stubborn Verstappen eventually thwarted Norris.
Oscar Piastri: 6.5
Grid Position: P7, Race Result: P8
While his team-mate has been fighting at the sharp-end of the field, Piastri has been struggling for pace against his midfield rivals.
The Australian lacked single lap pace on Saturday and the race start on Sunday made matters trickier. Picking up damage on his front wing, Piastri was further impeded by a slow pit stop which meant he eventually could only take the chequered flag in eighth.
Charles Leclerc: 7.5
Grid Position: P5, Race Result: P4
Leclerc had a pretty uneventful yet solid Spanish GP, surprisingly out at front. Ferrari’s decision to keep the Monegasque out waiting for a Safety Car meant Leclerc was leading the event for much of the race.
The Ferrari driver was meaningfully only in a battle with the Mercedes of Russell, and at the chequered flag, he did do the job his team had set out for him by finishing ahead of the Briton.
Lewis Hamilton: N/A
Grid Position: P4, Race Result: DNF
Hamilton, before this race weekend, was one of the most successful F1 drivers on Spanish soil.
But brake issues early on in the 53-lap race meant he retired from the Grand Prix on Lap 7 – dealing him a fatal blow in his quest for an unprecedented eighth drivers’ title in 2026.
Credit: F1C
Franco Colapinto: 8
Grid Position: P9, Race Result: P7
Colapinto has been on a great run of form with the Enstone-based team lately. After the heartbreak of the Italian GP, the Argentinian racing driver bounced back exceptionally with a second consecutive Q3 appearance.
During the race, too, he showed some splendid pace to take the chequered flag in seventh.
Colapinto’s resurgence has also come at the right time for Alpine, as the Anglo-French marque looks to re-establish itself as the midfield leader heading into the final phases of the 2026 season.
Pierre Gasly: 7
Grid Position: P14, Race Result: P12
The Frenchman went from pole-sitter to being knocked out of Q2 in a span of just one week.
Out-qualified by his team-mate, Gasly lacked pure pace to ever threaten the top-10 realistically.
On a weekend where a double points finish could have closed Alpine’s gap to Racing Bulls for P5 in the Constructors’, Gasly came up short.
Arvid Lindblad: 7.5
Grid Position: P10, Race Result: P9
It was yet another impressive outing for F1’s rookie of the year at the Madring, last weekend.
Lindblad made his seventh-consecutive Q3 appearance on Saturday, and delivered a rock solid performance during the race to drag his VCARB 03 into the points for the ninth time this season.
While his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda failed to replicate his points-scoring form from Monza, Lindblad ensured Racing Bulls still held a lead over Alpine in the Constructors’.
Yuki Tsunoda: 6.5
Grid Position: P15, Race Result: P14
It has been a steep learning curve for the Japanese racing driver coming to terms with the all-new 2026 cars. At the Madring, it was all too much for Tsunoda.
A brand-new track, and still not quite 100% with the VCARB 03, the former Red Bull driver wasn’t able to make much of an impression during either qualifying or the 53-lap race as he took the chequered flag in 14th.
Nico Hulkenberg: 7.5
Grid Position: P11, Race Result: P10
The German racing driver got himself back into the points after a largely difficult race weekend at Monza.
It was all down to some stellar execution from the Audi pit wall and pit crew, but Hulkenberg did all the right things on track to jump his rivals and take the chequered flag in 10th.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 7
Grid Position: P12, Race Result: P13
While his team-mate was in the points, Bortoleto could only muster 13th at the chequered flag.
That said, it did not mean he lacked pure race pace in the sister Audi. The German marque had decided to split strategies with the Brazilian racing driver, extending his stint in the hopes of late-race Safety Car or VSC.
However, that did not come, and Bortoleto had to settle for a fourth-consecutive race weekend without points for Audi.
Esteban Ocon: 7.5
Grid Position: P13, Race Result: P11
It was an agonising end to the 53-lap race for the Frenchman as he just missed out on points. He executed the start perfectly, jumping the Audi of Hulkenberg and projected to be on course for points.
That said, his race unravelled in the pits as the German marque sent Hulkenberg back out in front of the Frenchman. But there were a bevy of positives for Ocon to take into the Azerbaijan GP weekend – reliability on his VF-26 seemed improved, and tyre degradation, a real concern for his rivals, wasn’t much of a problem for Haas at the Madring.
Oliver Bearman: 5
Grid Position: P22, Race Result: P16
Bearman’s race was destined to be a painful outing from FP3 onwards. The Briton crashed heavily during the final practice session on Friday and the extent of repairs required meant he was not able to take part in qualifying.
A pit lane start later, he never really had the pace nor the opportunities to make any inroads towards the points paying positions.
With Audi creeping up on Haas for seventh in the Constructors’, Bearman cannot afford to make such costly mistakes in the final phases of the 2026 season.
Alex Albon: 4.5
Grid Position: P16, Race Result: P15
It was yet another difficult outing for Albon in the FW48. Williams have been recovering from a very sluggish start to F1’s latest era, and upgrades from the Grove-based team “can’t come soon enough” for the British-Thai driver.
At this point, every race weekend is like a glorified practice session for Albon. While he was able to progress into Q2, the 53-lap race saw him collect his eighth-consecutive point-less finish for Williams in 2026.
Carlos Sainz: N/A
Grid Position: P20, Race Result: DNF
It was a home race weekend to forget for the Madrid-born driver. While the future may look bright for Williams, the Spanish GP coloured the full-extent of the bleak present in front the team.
Sainz was demoted three places down the grid after impeding Valtteri Bottas during Q1. The race also saw him in hot water with the stewards after an incident with Fernando Alonso saw him earn a five-second penalty.
Luckily for him, he was called into the pits by Williams to retire from the race before he could have endured the suffering of jostling the FW48 across the entire 53 laps of the Madring.
Fernando Alonso: 5
Grid Position: P17, Race Result: P17
Coming into the Spanish GP weekend, Alonso hoped the Madring would bring “opportunities” for himself and Aston Martin.
Reality, however, was quite different. A mid-race incident with Carlos Sainz saw him into the wall and requiring a front-wing change. The AMR26, in all fairness though, didn’t have much pace to challenge the midfield anyway.
Lance Stroll: N/A
Grid Position: P21, Race Result: DNF
It was a race weekend impeded by hurdles for the Canadian racing driver. He first took a massive grid penalty for new engine components in the back of his AMR26. Starting from the very back of the grid also meant that the Lap 1 melee was only exacerbated for him.
He picked up substantial floor damage in the opening phases and a long brake pedal finally put him out of his miseries as Aston Martin retired him from the race.
Valtteri Bottas: 4
Grid Position: P19, Race Result: P18
There is a long way to go for Cadillac under F1’s latest regulations. Yet to score a World Championship point, Bottas still was nowhere near troubling the likes of Aston Martin, Audi and Haas.
A frustrating race at the very back of the field ended in an 18th-placed finish, three whole laps behind the leaders.
Sergio Perez: N/A
Grid Position: P18, Race Result: DNF
It was a weekend for relative successes for the General-Motors backed project. While the team is massively off the pace compared to the rest of the grid, Perez felt it was one of the strongest weekends for Cadillac.
That said, it all came to an end when he retired from the 53-lap race from a water leak issue.
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