Formula One Gradebook: Spanish Grand Prix
For Round 14 of the 2026 Formula One world championship, all 11 teams and 22 drivers arrived in Madrid for the first time in four decades for the Spanish Grand Prix. Taking place at the brand new Madring, the opportunity to write their names into the history books as the inaugural pole-sitter and race winner was up for grabs for everyone.
Taking his eighth victory of the season, and of his career, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took the chequered flag ahead of the rest of the grid. Extending his championship lead for a fifth consecutive weekend, the Italian driver now holds an 81 point advantage over his teammate in second.
Elsewhere on the grid, there were plenty of driver reactions to the new track as they shared their thoughts on F1’s newest circuit. Here’s how all 22 drivers performed on race day.
Mercedes
George Russell: B
The British driver’s race was quickly thrown into disarray after opening lap contact with one of the McLaren drivers although he managed to retain his opening position. Despite having started on the hard tyre, the championship hopeful made his way to the pits to swap onto the medium tyres under Virtual Safety Car (VSC) conditions.
Throughout the race, Russell demonstrated decent pace but was unable to make an impression on those ahead in the closing stages. After a second stop to swap off the medium tyres, Russell dropped down into fifth where he finished the race. Post-race, the Mercedes driver revealed that he believes that “realistically I’m not in the fight” against his teammate who currently leads in the championship standings.
Kimi Antonelli: A-
Being pipped for pole position, Antonelli was set to start the race in second on a weekend where Mercedes was one of the fastest cars on-track. Despite not having the greatest pace in the first stint, the Italian driver benefitted from the timing of the VSC and was able to come in for a pit-stop where he lost less time than average.
Following the Ferrari ahead for a majority of the race, Antonelli was set to inherit the lead by default. Towards the closing stages of the race, there were faster cars behind however with the battle between second and third going right to the line, Antonelli benefitted and was able to retain his lead. In the end, he crossed the line ahead of the rest of the field to become the first winner in Madrid.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc: B+
On a weekend where Ferrari were not the fastest car, it was a surprise for Leclerc to find himself in the lead for a majority of the race having opted to stay out during VSC conditions. Starting fifth, Leclerc was able to keep out of trouble with the cars ahead in the opening lap.
Adding a new milestone to his career with more than 1000 racing laps led, there can be no doubt that the Monégasque driver would have been hoping to celebrate the occasion with a podium. However, Ferrari’s hesitation in strategy when it came to Leclerc’s pit-stop which he was forced to do under normal racing conditions, potentially cost the driver a podium. In the end, having held off Russell behind, Leclerc came home in fourth.
Lewis Hamilton: B
In a similar situation to his teammate, Hamilton was not at his best this weekend and did not seem to be comfortable in the car. Although he started ahead of Leclerc in fourth, the seven-time former world champion found himself involved in an extended battle with one of the Red Bulls. However, Hamilton’s opportunity to turn his weekend around fast disappeared as began reporting brake issues to his race engineer almost immediately. Eventually, on Lap 7, Hamilton was forced to retire from the race.
McLaren
Lando Norris: A-
As the Madring’s first pole-sitter, Norris seemed on course to convert that pole position into a race win having created a considerable gap to second within the first handful of laps. However, Norris was not able to benefit from the timing of the VSC and after a longer pit-stop of seven seconds, the reigning world champion saw his chance of a third win this season slowly slipping away.
For the rest of the race, Norris demonstrated considerable pace and was often the fastest man on the track. With the track layout not providing many overtaking opportunities, Norris was unable to challenge for second-place despite having more pace and so the British driver had to settle for a third-place finish.
Oscar Piastri: B
Following the trend from the rest of the season so far, it was another difficult weekend for the Australian driver who failed to match his teammate’s pace. Having been involved in an incident on the opening lap, Piastri sustained damage which he carried for the rest of the race. As a result of the damage, he dropped out of the top 10 and McLaren had to find an alternative way to bring him back into the points-scoring position.
In a similar situation to Norris, it was clear that the Australian driver had considerable pace compared to the cars around him, along with a tyre advantage, but was still unable to overtake the Alpine ahead. Ultimately, Piastri finished the weekend in eighth which is the best he could have done within the circumstances.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen: A-
One of the drivers who was caught up in opening lap action, Verstappen challenged for the win early on after starting in third. After, in his own view, being forced off-track by Hamilton, Verstappen was told to return a space to his one-time championship rival although he later gained it back after the latter’s retirement.
Having come in for his pit-stop under VSC conditions, Verstappen was able to get ahead of Norris in the pit-lane which gave him the opportunity to challenge Antonelli once again. Although his pace soon fell away to fight for the lead, the last part of the Dutch driver’s stint was occupied with keeping Norris at bay in which he was successful. Crossing the line in second, the four-time world champion scored his second consecutive podium of the season so far.
Liam Lawson: B+
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, it was a relatively lonely race for the replacement driver who was not involved in much action. Additionally, he did not have much opportunity to try and move up the order. However, even with the lack of action, Lawson showed an impressive amount of pace on the hard compound tyre.
Towards the end of the race, Lawson was an integral part of other people’s races as he found himself overtaken by Russell’s Mercedes who was on fresher tyres behind. On a more successful note, the driver from New Zealand managed to pass one of the Alpines for his final move of the afternoon. On what was likely to be his final outing for the senior Red Bull team, Lawson crossed the line in sixth and contributed an important haul of points to the team’s overall tally.
Haas
Ollie Bearman: C
With the knowledge that he would face a grid penalty for taking part outside of his allocation, Bearman was one of two drivers who failed to set a time during qualifying. Having started from the pit-lane, and with Haas’ obvious pace deficit to the rest of the midfield, a clean and smooth race would have been the driver’s objective.
The timing of the VSC meant that Bearman was not able to take advantage of a cheaper pit-stop. On the bright side, Haas said they saw some development in pace when the car was running in clear air. In the end, Bearman crossed the line in 16th.
Esteban Ocon: B-
Starting in 13th on the medium tyres, Ocon had an impressive opening lap where he managed to stay out of trouble and climb up the order by a few places. Crucially for their fight in the World Constructors’ Championship, the French driver passed both of the Audis.
Unfortunately, Ocon was unable to hold his position ahead as he dropped down the order during his pit-stop. Like so many others, the lack of overtaking opportunities meant that he was unable to challenge for the final points scoring position and settled for 11th.
Racing Bulls
Arvid Lindblad: A
Another Q3 appearance meant that rookie Lindblad started in the top 10 in 10th on this occasion. As one of the cars who opted to come into the pit-lane during the VSC, the British driver lost places however was able to gain them back as those ahead changed their tyres.
With the lack of overtaking opportunities, racing action was effectively nullified however Lindblad made sure to be in the right position to capitalise on any available opportunities. For his 10th points finish of the season, Lindblad crossed the line in ninth.
Yuki Tsunoda: B
Like some of the other drivers up and down the grid, Tsunoda’s race was thrown into array after he made contact with a Williams in the opening lap. Having sustained damage as a result of the contact, it was soon clear that the rest of his race would be compromised as a result of having lost positions.
Dropping from his starting position of 15th, the difficulty in overtaking meant that he could not climb back up into the top 10. It was only with the retirement of the cars across the field that the Japanese driver was able to recover from his opening lap incident. Ultimately, 14th was the best that Tsunoda could manage on what is likely to be his final outing for the team.
Audi
Gabriel Bortoleto: B
On another occasion where the Audis qualified next to each other, the team opted to split strategies for their drivers to cover their bases. On the fringes of the points in 12th, Bortoleto started on the hard compound tyres. Given how close the battle was in the midfield, there was little pace difference which meant that there were no overtakes to have.
Having started on the hard compound tyres, the Audi pit wall decided to keep the Brazilian driver out in the hope of another VSC or Safety Car. Despite having run in the points-scoring positions, Bortoleto dropped down the order after pitting under normal conditions. A 13th place finish was all that the team could manage with the Brazilian.
Nico Hülkenberg: A+
As the lead Audi starting in 11th, the pit-wall made the choice to start Hülkenberg on the soft compound tyres. With the timing of the VSC, and the German driver’s position on track, the team opted to swap Hülkenberg onto hard compound tyres for the remainder of the race.
Crucially, the Audi pit crew were able to get Hülkenberg ahead of Ocon in the pit-lane which was the most important part of his race. Crossing the line in 10th for his third points finish of the season, the German driver put Audi’s total for the season so far to 17 points.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly: B-
With the uncertainty of a new track, the Alpine pit wall opted to commit one of their cars to an entirely alternative strategy. Having started outside the top 10 in 14th on hard compound tyres, Gasly had the longest stint on his opening tyres out of all 22 drivers on the grid.
With the team deciding to hold off on his pit-stop in case of a second VSC or a Safety Car, the French driver was not brought into the pit-lane until the penultimate lap of the race. Returning to the track outside of the top 10, Gasly’s chances of scoring points became even more difficult after he was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit-lane. As a result of the penalty, Gasly finished in 12th.
Franco Colapinto: A+
On one of his strongest weekends so far this season, Colapinto was the lead Alpine having qualified in 9th with another Q3 appearance. Making up places on the opening lap, Colapinto followed many of the other drivers into the pit-lane under VSC conditions where he briefly dropped out of the top 10.
With movement taking place ahead of him, Colapinto slowly made his way back into the top 10 to score points. One of the most important parts of his race was managing to keep Piastri behind despite the Australian driver being on fresher tyres and with quicker pace. Equalling his best ever finish in F1, the Argentinian driver crossed the line in 7th.
Williams
Carlos Sainz: C
As the ambassador for the Madring, it was a disappointing outing for one of two home-town heroes on the grid. With a disappointing outing in qualifying, having been eliminated in Q1 and starting in 20th, Sainz’s race was made harder after contact with Tsunoda on the opening lap.
After being involved in little racing action, Sainz’s race was made more difficult after he made contact with his fellow Spanish driver for which he was given a five-second time penalty. Having served the penalty, the four-time Grand Prix winner’s weekend was brought to a premature end when he retired from the race due to damage sustained in both incidents.
Alex Albon: C+
Compared to his teammate, Albon had a smoother experience during the race. After reaching Q2 and starting in 16th, Albon stayed out of much of the action during the race given the lack of competitive pace in the car. Ultimately, the Thai driver crossed the line in 15th with little more to add but confirmed that the team’s priority “has shifted to next year”.
Cadillac
Sergio Pérez: C-
The American outfit had yet another difficult weekend with both of their drivers as they struggled to adjust to the new circuit. For Pérez, who started the race in 18th, his outing in Madrid was cut short as he retired from the race due to a suspect issue with the water pump system. Having only been on-track for 33 laps, this retirement was Cadillac’s 11th for the season so far.
Valtteri Bottas: C-
On the other side of the Cadillac garage, Bottas did not fare much better. With a starting position of 19th, the Finnish driver revealed on his radio that he was managing issues with brake temperatures for a majority of the race.
Crossing the line in 18th, and two laps down on the race leader, it was another difficult session for Cadillac.
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso: C-
As the second Spanish driver, Alonso no doubt would have wanted to have enjoyed his second home Grand Prix more than he did. Starting in 17th, it was going to be a tough ask for the two-time former world champion to make his way into the points.
Any chance of a successful Grand Prix was later undone after the incident with Sainz. During the tussle with his fellow Spanish driver, Alonso sustained front-wing damage which majorly impacted the aero-dynamics of his Aston Martin. In the end, a 17th place finish was the most that could be salvaged from his weekend.
Lance Stroll: C-
Starting 21st, Stroll was set for another difficult weekend as he dealt with issues across all sessions. In the opening lap, the Canadian driver picked up some damage which hampered his attempts to move up the grid. To further add to his issues in the race, Stroll also started experiencing issues with his brakes.
On Lap 14, he retired from the race and subsequently caused the VSC which changed the course of the race for all the other drivers still on-track.
Looking Ahead
Coming up next is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where all 22 drivers and 11 teams will be tested by one of the most technical street circuits on the calendar. With championship glory in touching distance for Antonelli, only time will tell if the Italian will get one step closer to his maiden title or if there could be a change in plans coming his way.
Edited by Meghana Sree
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