The Madring’s Grand Prix debut, Norris vs Antonelli, red flags and more: What to expect in the Spanish Grand Prix

Lando Norris secured the first Grand Prix pole at the Madring | Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

The time has come to experience the first ever Grand Prix at Formula One’s newest venue, the Madring. Contentious in its arrival and still yet to prove its worth, this Spanish Grand Prix will provide the first verdict on racing action around the purpose-built Madring.

After an electric qualifying session that saw Lando Norris steal pole from Kimi Antonelli, the grid is now set for the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix hosted at the Madring.

With plenty of excitement and expectations ahead of us, here are five things to keep an eye on for the first ever F1 race at the Madring.

First glimpse of F1 racing action at the Madring

There’s no doubt some speculation about the quality of racing that the Madring can produce, especially with the current generation of F1 cars. With some European classics being brushed aside in favour of this venue, the Madring certainly has some justifying to do.

With very limited opportunities to encourage overtaking and a distinct lack of character as backdrop to the track, opinions have already been divided as to whether or not the Madring can deliver competitive racing action and spectacle.

First impressions go a long way, and for the Madring, today’s race will set expectations for the remaining years to come on its contract with F1 — due till 2035 at least.

A thrilling front row

Both Norris and Antonelli have been on a hot streak of finding success lately. Norris has won two of the last four races, with Antonelli taking victory in the other two. Norris’ rapid pole lap on Saturday was the stuff of champions, and on a track with limited overtaking opportunities, Norris will hope to secure a straightforward lights-to-flag victory.

Meanwhile, Antonelli has shown time and time again that he’s unafraid to go wheel-to-wheel to snatch the lead from his rivals. Moreover, with a healthy 66-point lead over his nearest Drivers’ Championship competitor George Russell, the Mercedes driver can certainly afford to be more aggressive in his approach this weekend to mount a challenge to the defending world champion.

Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

However, all of this is not to forget the threat of Verstappen starting third. The Red Bull driver has secured three podiums out of the last four races, and is undoubtedly on the hunt for his first win of 2026 to end his win-less drought. Strategy and interventions in the race can give Verstappen the upper-hand to chase victory, but keeping the much quicker Mercedes or McLaren cars behind if he finds himself in the race lead at any point will be challenging — though nothing that the Dutchman is unfamiliar with.

Can Russell turn his luck around?

Russell has experienced nothing but torrid luck lately, and paired with several underwhelming qualifying results such as his sixth place this weekend despite a strong weekend until Q3, the Briton’s title hopes are swiftly fading.

While a comeback this late in the season seems nigh impossible, Russell’s hopes today will be to get back on track with a podium in his sights, and possibly a win if his cards are played right.

Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

Expect Russell to take on an alternative strategy to increase his odds of returning to the top positions, or even make up some ground during potential Safety Car periods.

Alpine vs Racing Bulls

No matter the round, the midfield teams have never disappointed when it comes to racing action and all-out battles on track.

Alpine and Racing Bulls’ rivalry has been steadily mounting, and the gap between the two stands at 13 points going into this race. The two teams have been closely matched in recent races, with the latest Italian Grand Prix results having their four drivers finish from seventh to 10th — Pierre Gasly leading the pack followed by Arvid Lindblad, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda.

For this round, the teams are in striking distance of one another again, with Colapinto qualifying ninth as the best of the rest, Lindblad joining his company in 10th.

Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

Meanwhile, Gasly is further back but still within striking distance of the points in 14th, and Tsunoda returns to start this race from 15th as Isack Hadjar is still on the bench in recovery. 

Safe to say that plenty of action between these two match-ups can be expected to keep things exciting.

Red flags galore

One of the most prominent stories coming into this weekend was the number of red flags that can be expected over the course of the weekend on this brand new track that drivers have barely any significant running on.

We’ve had several red flags already through practice, with a particularly long one during FP3 when Lewis Hamilton crashed at the final corner. With this being a new venue, barrier repairs, recovery of cars, and marshalling are all also being put into practice for the first time.

Credit: Luca Martini / WHYOUT Media

The key area of concern ahead of the race is the lack of long running due to the hampered FP2 and FP3 sessions. This opens up the possibility for more error, and thus more chances of lengthy interventions over the course of the race.

The Formula 2 and Formula 3 rounds have also seen several crashes and help set expectations for the Grand Prix, which is that it’ll likely be just as riddled with incidents given the novelty of this circuit and dearth of data for teams to plan with.