Loser: Lando Norris Kimi Antonelli made it eight wins in 14 Grands Prix this year as he benefitted from some bad luck for Lando Norris to triumph in Spain. Lawrence Barretto selects his winners and losers from the first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring. “A bit of a masterpiece,” was how McLaren boss Andrea Stella described Lando Norris' lap in Qualifying to take his third pole of the year and 19th of his career....
How the drivers tackled a new challenge The addition of a new circuit brings with it adrenaline, curiosity and a sense of trepidation as no one quite knows how its debut will play out - and the Madring certainly delivered on all of the above. Here are the biggest lessons we’ve taken away from the Spanish Grand Prix weekend… There are so many factors that can influence the success of a driver’s race, from unpredictable changes in the weather to split-second strategy calls, but for most of the season, they can at least rely on the consistency of track layouts they’ve learned by heart over the years....
Formula 3 runner-up Freddie Slater, who is part of the Audi Driver Development Programme, will make the step up to Formula 2 with Invicta Racing for the 2027 campaign. After a standout rookie season that included one Feature Race victory, three pole positions and eight podiums, Slater narrowly lost out on claiming this year’s F3 title by 14 points to Ugo Ugochukwu. Having signed as the first member of the Audi Driver Development Programme earlier this year, the 18-year-old will move into F2 with Invicta Racing, the squad that won back-to-back Drivers' and Teams' Championships in 2024 and 2025....
Laurent Mekies has praised Liam Lawson’s “very strong” stint with Red Bull, with the New Zealander standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar across the last three race weekends. Lawson’s promotion back to Red Bull, albeit on a temporary basis, has been a chance of redemption after the 24-year-old managed just two race weekends for the team at the start of the 2025 season before being sent back to Racing Bulls....
Franco Colapinto believes that his seventh-place finish in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix culminated in “probably my best race weekend” for Alpine this season. The Argentinian finished best of the rest behind the leading teams on Formula 1’s first visit to the Madring after a strong weekend overall. Colapinto out-qualified Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly for only the second time this season in P9. Having jumped ahead of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at the start and benefitted when Lewis Hamilton retired his Ferrari, a pit stop under the race’s only Virtual Safety Car ensured Colapinto remained in the points at the chequered flag....
Esteban Ocon was left “disappointed” after just missing out on points with his 11th-placed finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, the closest he has come to scoring since Monaco. However, the American squad took the silver linings from their disappointment given their latest raft of upgrades are seemingly delivering. The team’s last big package of parts was all the way back in Canada, and did not have the desired effect as a strong start to the season petered out into plenty of Q1 exits and fighting with the likes of Williams and Aston Martin....
Yuki Tsunoda endured a race to forget in Madrid, as the Racing Bulls stand-in finished down in 14th on a day that could end up being his final Formula 1 start. After being hit by Carlos Sainz at the first corner, he was left driving a damaged Racing Bulls car and thus never had a chance to make any progress. The Madring was Tsunoda’s third outing as replacement for Liam Lawson, who in turn was drafted into Red Bull to deputise for the injured Isack Hadjar....
Fred Vasseur was confident that Charles Leclerc could’ve won the Spanish Grand Prix if an incident had disrupted the latter stages of the race, with the Ferrari Team Principal believing that “the potential is there” for the team. Leclerc qualified fifth and gained an early position from the retirement of his team mate Lewis Hamilton, but unlike those around him, he and the team opted not to pit for fresh tyres when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed....
Oscar Piastri had a race to forget in Madrid after a first lap incident derailed his afternoon on a day where Lando Norris showed the McLaren had the pace to fight for the win. The Australian finished down in eighth place, behind the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, and while the unlucky timing of the Virtual Safety Car prevented his team mate from fighting for the win, Piastri had his own slice of misfortune....
Toto Wolff has explained how Mercedes need to work with George Russell to “unleash his potential” after he endured another setback in the title fight in Madrid, with team mate Kimi Antonelli outscoring him once again. Russell was open about his struggles with tyre degradation over the weekend at the new circuit, which contributed to him missing out on the fight for pole position and settling for sixth place in Qualifying....
Liam Lawson believes “overall it’s been a strong three weekends” with Red Bull since replacing the injured Isack Hadjar midway through the season. The Kiwi made his third start for Red Bull this season in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, and achieved his best result since swapping his Racing Bulls machine by finishing sixth. Lawson was one of the few drivers to make an overtake on the Madring street circuit, before making a late pit stop to claim his second points finish with Red Bull, having finished seventh in the Netherlands....
Laurent Mekies has explained Red Bull’s decision after the team told Max Verstappen to give back places at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix. The four-time World Champion tangled with Lewis Hamilton after lights out at the start of the race in Madrid, as the Ferrari driver got ahead before Verstappen kept his P3 starting position, but only after cutting the first turn. The Dutchman said on the radio that Hamilton “almost shunted him” and tried to resist team instructions to give the place back to avoid a potential penalty, especially after he had since overtaken Kimi Antonelli for P2....
Another race weekend and another masterclass from Kimi Antonelli, who won the Spanish Grand Prix in its first edition at the Madring. An element of luck in the Virtual Safety Car timing allowed the Mercedes driver to move past McLaren’s Lando Norris, while a pit stop under the VSC also benefited Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished second behind the Italian youngster. It was a solid race for Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, finishing fourth after leading the race for more than 30 laps, but home hero Carlos Sainz had to retire his Williams, while another Spaniard, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, finished only in 17th place....
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has explained why McLaren opted to pit Lando Norris for fresh tyres just as the Virtual Safety Car period came to an end, admitting that “there was no option to retain the lead” of the Spanish Grand Prix. With overtaking set to be a challenge at the Madring, Norris had already put himself in a strong position to chase down a potential third victory of the season as he topped Qualifying with a memorable last-gasp effort....
Mercedes Kimi Antonelli got a great start from P2, but when challenging for the lead cut the apex of the corner and was forced to cede position. His attempts to do so were messy and he briefly fell behind Verstappen until the Dutchman had to do the same thing. That left Antonelli second, a few seconds behind race leader Norris. But when the Italian got a cheap pit stop under the VSC, he became the de facto leader and from there he kept his race pretty clean to take his eighth win of the year....
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has backed the decision to bring George Russell into the pits twice during the Spanish Grand Prix after the strategy choice was questioned by the driver during the race. The Briton made two stops during Sunday’s event at the Madring on his way to a fifth-placed finish - firstly to change onto a new set of medium tyres during the Virtual Safety Car period and then again onto the hard tyre....