The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 TAG Heuer Gran Premio de España 2026) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 13 September 2026, at the Madring in Madrid, Spain, as the first running of the Spanish Grand Prix at the recently-constructed Madring track. It was the fourteenth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship. Lando Norris (McLaren) took pole position for the race, but lost out to Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes). Max Verstappen (Red Bull) completed the podium alongside Norris.
Background The event was held at the Madring in Madrid for the first time in the circuit's history, and for the first time as a host for the Spanish Grand Prix, across the weekend of 11–13 September. The most recent venue to hold the Spanish Grand Prix was the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at Montmeló, Spain, which currently hosts the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on rotation with the Belgian Grand Prix. The Grand Prix was the fourteenth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship and the 56th running of the Spanish Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
Championship standings before the race Going into the weekend, Kimi Antonelli led the Drivers' Championship with 267 points, 66 points ahead of teammate George Russell in second and 76 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third. Mercedes, with 468 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who were second and third with 346 and 287 points, respectively.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list, with the exception of Isack Hadjar at Red Bull, who injured his wrist leading into the Dutch Grand Prix and was again unable to compete. Like the previous two Grands Prix, he was again replaced by Liam Lawson. Red Bull reserve driver Yuki Tsunoda replaced Lawson at Racing Bulls.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli selected its C2, C3, and C4 compounds—the middle three in its range—for the event, designating them as hard, medium, and soft, respectively.
Practice Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 11 September 2026, at 13:30 local time (UTC+2), and was topped by George Russell (Mercedes) ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Antonelli ahead of Leclerc and his teammate Lewis Hamilton. A red flag was observed due to Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) hitting the wall at turn 13. The third free practice session was held on 12 September 2026, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Antonelli ahead of Leclerc and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). The session was red-flagged twice; the first came after Hamilton crashed into the wall at turn 22, while the second was observed in the closing stages due to Oliver Bearman (Haas) hitting the wall at turns 10.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 12 September 2026, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2), and determined the starting grid order for the race.
Qualifying report Q1, the opening part of qualifying, began with the Cadillac drivers leading the field out of the pit lane. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) set the initial pace on soft tyres, while Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and the Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, used the medium compound. Liam Lawson (Red Bull) subsequently moved to the top, while Antonelli abandoned another attempt after locking up and narrowly avoiding the barrier. George Russell (Mercedes) brushed the wall but improved on his final run to lead Antonelli, Lawson and Verstappen. Alexander Albon (Williams) secured the final place in Q2 (the second part of qualifying) by 0.005 seconds over team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr., who was eliminated alongside Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas (both Cadillac). Oliver Bearman (Haas) did not participate because his car could not be repaired in time following his crash in final practice, while Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) was unable to run owing to a suspected water-pressure problem. Sainz subsequently received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Bottas.
Antonelli again established the early benchmark in Q2, before Verstappen moved ahead by 0.046 seconds. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) abandoned his opening attempt after a slide through the banked La Monumental corner, leaving both Alpine drivers without a time until the closing minutes. Colapinto recovered to advance in eighth, while Verstappen finished fastest, 0.160 seconds ahead of Antonelli, followed by Hamilton, Leclerc, Lawson, Russell and Lando Norris (McLaren). Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) took the final two places in Q3 (the final part of qualifying) with identical times of 1:33.204. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) was the fastest driver eliminated, missing the cutoff by 0.019 seconds; he was followed by team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) and Albon. Gasly lost an earlier attempt to double yellow flags, while Tsunoda had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits.
Hamilton held provisional pole after the opening Q3 runs with a time of 1:32.079, ahead of Antonelli and Russell; Leclerc was fourth, followed by Verstappen and the two McLarens, with Norris sixth. Antonelli moved to the top on his final attempt with a 1:31.835, while Hamilton improved but was unable to reclaim first place. Norris then set a 1:31.824 despite a slide at the final corner, beating Antonelli by 0.011 seconds. Verstappen improved to third, 0.140 seconds behind Norris, while Hamilton and Leclerc qualified fourth and fifth, separated by 0.006 seconds. Russell finished sixth, ahead of Piastri and Lawson, with Colapinto and Lindblad completing the top ten. Despite the crashes during practice, qualifying passed without a red-flag interruption. Norris's pole was his third of the season and the 19th Grand Prix pole of his career.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.469 1:32.873 1:31.8241212 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:33.267 1:32.591 1:31.835233 Max Verstappen 1:33.381 1:32.431 1:31.9643444 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:33.531 1:32.710 1:32.0134516 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.532 1:32.755 1:32.0195663 George Russell Mercedes 1:33.211 1:32.850 1:32.1496781 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.829 1:33.204 1:32.2947830 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 1:33.310 1:32.780 1:32.3168943 Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.963 1:33.038 1:32.90391041 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:34.340 1:33.204 1:33.041101127 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:34.417 1:33.223N/A11125 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.986 1:33.388N/A121331 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:34.667 1:33.667N/A131410 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:34.246 1:33.753N/A141522 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:34.311 1:34.084N/A151623 Alexander Albon Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 1:35.307 1:35.532N/A161755 Carlos Sainz Jr. Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 1:35.312N/AN/A201814 Fernando Alonso 1:35.388N/AN/A171911 Sergio Pérez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:35.913N/AN/A182077 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:38.011N/AN/A19107% time: 1:39.735—87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari No timeN/AN/A—18 Lance Stroll No timeN/AN/A21Source: Notes – Carlos Sainz Jr. received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Valtteri Bottas in Q1. – Oliver Bearman did not take part in qualifying. He was allowed to race at the stewards' discretion, but was required to start from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions. – Lance Stroll failed to set a time during qualifying. He was allowed to race at the stewards' discretion. He also received a 40-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.
Race The race was held on 13 September 2026, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), and was run for 57 laps.
Race report Pre-race Lando Norris (McLaren) started from pole position, with Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) alongside him and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) on the second row. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and George Russell (Mercedes) occupied the third row. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) started 20th following a three-place penalty for impeding in qualifying. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) was 21st after a power unit penalty, while Oliver Bearman (Haas) started from the pit lane following changes to his car and power unit components under parc fermé conditions.
The race began in hot, dry conditions, with the track temperature around 52 °C before the start. All three dry-weather tyre compounds were represented on the grid. Norris and Antonelli chose medium tyres, while Verstappen and Hamilton started on softs. Leclerc, Russell, Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Liam Lawson (Red Bull) selected hards, giving the leading teams differing options for the opening stint. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) was the other soft-tyre starter. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) joined the front-row starters on mediums, while most of the remaining field chose hards. Tyre graining and degradation were expected to influence the choice between one and two stops.
Start and opening laps Antonelli challenged Norris at the start but cut the opening chicane and returned the lead. He then attempted another move at turns 5 and 6, again leaving the track and conceding the position. Verstappen took advantage of the second incident to pass Antonelli at turn 7. Norris emerged from the opening exchanges ahead of Verstappen, Antonelli and Hamilton and began to pull away. Verstappen had also gone off the circuit during his opening-corner contest with Hamilton, however, leaving his position ahead of the Ferrari in question.
Red Bull instructed Verstappen to restore the position to Hamilton to avoid a possible penalty. With Antonelli between them, this required Verstappen to surrender two places. He complied on lap 4, dropping from second to fourth despite disputing the instruction over the radio. Hamilton was briefly third but soon began losing pace because of braking problems. Verstappen recovered the place, and Hamilton continued to fall through the field before retiring, ending his run of finishes in every Grand Prix in the season. Hamilton later described the brake pedal losing its normal response as he approached turn 5, followed by contact with a barrier and a further deterioration a few corners later. The failure forced him to abandon the race despite having qualified within two tenths of pole position. His retirement left Leclerc as Ferrari's sole remaining driver.
Piastri's race was also compromised immediately; contact with Russell damaged his front wing and cost him positions. Further back, Sainz and Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) made contact at turn 1. As the opening order settled, Colapinto ran ahead of Lawson, but the Red Bull driver passed the Alpine at turn 5 on lap 10 to take sixth.
Norris continued to extend his advantage over Antonelli, while Verstappen lost further ground behind the Mercedes. Leclerc and Russell followed, with Russell discussing a possible early stop to gain track position over the Ferrari. Antonelli had another excursion, and McLaren informed Norris that his rival was struggling more with his tyres. These developments allowed Norris to maintain control of the opening stint as the leading drivers considered their first stops.
Sainz and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) subsequently collided while contesting 17th place. Alonso's front wing was damaged, and Sainz received a five-second time penalty. The incident further complicated the home drivers' races, with both outside the points.
Virtual safety car and first pit stops