Five quick takeaways from the F1 Spanish GP

September 13, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Faultless Kimi Antonelli takes another title step

Guess what? When all is said and done, Kimi Antonelli is the winner of the weekend. It's not the first time this year that Mercedes hasn't been the dominant force. In fact, it has been beaten to pole for the fourth straight race.

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There are a number of ways F1's first visit to the Madring could have gone wrong for an inexperienced driver like the 20-year-old Italian. But when rivals faltered or suffered misfortune, Antonelli was in the right place to pick up the bits and pieces again, and did so with aplomb and a faultless 57-lap race.

Outperforming Russell once more, while Lewis Hamilton retired from the race with brake trouble, Antonelli took another big step towards his maiden world championship.

- Fil Cleeren

Norris confirms he's in the form of his life

Forget the result, Lando Norris did all he could from his side to take home a third win in just four races. His lap at the end of Q3 was nearly spoiled by a mistake at the final corner - but as the rest of it was nothing short of sensational, Lando still took pole, by the tiniest of margins. And then he was firmly in control of the race before Lance Stroll's retirement triggered the VSC.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Whether Norris was simply unlucky or McLaren could've done something better with its strategy - apart from the obvious delay during the pitstop - is difficult to tell, but without that intervention Norris should've won easily.

Yes, McLaren wasn't competitive at Monza, so the world champion's winning streak came to an end, but he was quick to confirm he's still in top form in Madrid.

- Oleg Karpov

Madring is a missed opportunity

Madring's F1 debut was either going to be complete chaos or a dull tyre saving procession. It turned into the latter, though with a virtual safety car that jumbled up the ordered and ended up costing Norris.

With tyre wear high on the hot asphalt, drivers were more worried about keeping the front-left tyre under control than racing anyone else, as the race confirmed expectations that the 5.4km simply wasn't suitable for any sort of overtaking.

Alexander Albon, Williams

While the Madring got off to a reasonable off-track start as a venue and proved a hair-raising driving challenge over one lap, the new home of the Spanish Grand Prix is providing even less action than the circuit it succeeds in Barcelona. Having been built from scratch, it is a waste of an opportunity.

- Fil Cleeren

Title ambitions over for Lewis Hamilton

It’s funny how some things work out because Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 Formula 1 title hopes both started and ended in Spain. It was only seven rounds ago that the seven-time world champion took his first, long-awaited win for Ferrari by nailing a three-stop strategy to take his seventh victory in Barcelona.

Hamilton was no doubt emotional and while the storyline was obviously him winning for Ferrari, it also opened up the possibility of a charge towards his eighth world title. A retirement for Antonelli that day left a 41-point gap between the championship leader and his new nearest challenger Hamilton, who was in sublime form with three consecutive podiums.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Williams

But such promise has since failed to materialise with Hamilton taking just one podium since - ending in his early retirement at Madrid. The Ferrari driver is now going backwards in the championship standings, not forwards, and all hopes of a record-breaking eighth crown in 2026 are basically over.

- Ed Hardy

Another horror weekend for Piastri

Oscar Piastri is now well over a year removed from his last F1 win, and there is little to suggest that is about to change anytime soon. At least, he never looked close to ending that drought this weekend at the Madring circuit.

It is true that McLaren never really looked to be in contention in Spain, at least until Norris surprised everyone with a brilliant lap to take pole position, leaving Piastri half a second off the pace in seventh. But the gap between the two was already evident earlier in the session.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

In the race, Piastri made contact with Russell at the start while trying to go for a gap that simply wasn’t there, leaving him with front-wing damage and dropping him down to 10th. His ninth-place finish, on a day when his teammate was once again fighting for the win, will do little to ease the pressure on him.

- Federico Faturos

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