Source : the age
Oscar Piastri’s increasingly underwhelming and unlucky 2026 season has taken another hit, finishing eighth after an early contact in the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
In a race marred by safety cars, botched pitstops and ill-time safety cars, Kimi Antonelli came out on top piloting his Mercedes to victory, to strengthen his championship lead.
Dutchman Max Verstappen finished in second, with pole sitter Lando Norris in third.
“It was a very difficult race – not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres,” the Antonelli said in a post-race interview.
“I think today it’s good to win but it doesn’t feel as good because I think Lando today deserved the win but overall, we [will] take it.”
It was an unfortunate day for McLaren, with Piastri suffering early contact on the opening lap and Lando Norris losing the lead of the race after missing the pitstop window during a virtual safety car.
Norris then weathered an agonisingly slow seven second pitstop – a mixture of human error and a wheel gun problem. The reigning world champion still managed to salvage his race to secure a podium position.
Meanwhile Piastri– who started in seventh after a self-described “pretty shocking qualifying session” – had a solid start, but was hit twice by George Russell in the opening lap, before the first corner.
The Mercedes cut it in front of Piastri and the impact sent debris flying. It left Piastri with damage to his left front wing and marooned him back to 11th place.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown summarised the situation perfectly, noting the racing gods “were cruel today”.
Piastri still produced a commendable drive, showcasing stunning overtakes on Arvid Lindblad and had a great battle with Franco Colapinto.
He managed to get back into the points and clinch eighth place.
This weekend marks the first time F1 has raced at the Madring – the first track to debut on the F1 calendar since Las Vegas was added in 2023
The 57-lap circuit is 5.44km long and has incredibly fast corners and basically no margin for error, with limited overtaking opportunities.
Turn eight – “El Bunker” – is named after La Mata Espesa, two bunkers built in 1936 by the Republican forces to protect the eastern flank Madrid from attack during the Spanish Civil War.
The new hybrid street circuit has been one of the most highly anticipated tracks this year, with George Russell describing it as the “the most risky” track on the calendar and Lewis Hamilton characterising it as “massively challenging circuit”.
Meanwhile, Alpine driver Pierre joked that he’d hit the wall multiple times during his simulation trials for the new track.
Overall, most of the drivers fared reasonably well – excluding Lewis Hamilton and Lance stroll who both retired from the race.
The next race will be the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on September 26.
Kimi Antonelli leads the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship by 81 points.
Anything can happen in F1. But so far, the Italian is on track to be the youngest world champion in history.
Thanks for joining us folks and have a lovely morning
Oscar Piastri’s increasingly underwhelming and unlucky 2026 season has taken another hit, finishing eighth after an early contact in the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
In a race marred by safety cars, botched pitstops and ill-time safety cars, Kimi Antonelli came out on top piloting his Mercedes to victory, to strengthen his championship lead.
Dutchman Max Verstappen finished in second, with pole sitter Lando Norris in third.
“It was a very difficult race – not straightforward at all, especially trying to manage tyres,” the Antonelli said in a post-race interview.
Mercedes prodigy Kimi Antonelli has furthered his championship lead, winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid in a race marred by safety cars, botched pitstops and ill-time safety cars.
The Italian youngster piloted his Mercedes to victory, taking the lead with 17 laps to go after race-leader Charles Leclerc was forced to pit.
Dutchman Max Verstappen finished second, with Lando Norris in third.
It was a miserable day for McLaren, with Oscar Piastri suffering early contact with George Russell on the opening lap and Lando Norris losing the lead of the race after a slow pits stop.
Despite the slow pitstop – a mixture of human error and a problem with a wheel gun – Norris managed to recover his race to secure third.
The same could not be said for Piastri. The unlucky Australian finished eighth after starting seventh.
We’ve only got a few laps left and Max Verstappen and Norris are running out of time to catch Antonelli.
The Italian is looking very comfortable. Meanwhile, Norris has just locked up briefly and is losing time to Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc is in fourth, but seems unlikely to sneak back into the podium.
Charles Leclerc has finally pitted which means it’s game on.
We’ve got 17 laps to go and Kimi Antonelli is now our race leader.
Max Verstappen is still in the hunt with Lando Norris in third.
Piastri is giving it his absolute all on these new medium tyres, trying repeatedly to overtake Franco Colapinto.
Charles Leclerc is still leading but Antonelli, Norris and Verstappen are gaining on him.
Charles Leclerc still needs to pit and will not win this race.
That means it’s a fight between Verstappen, Antonelli and a resurgent Norris
Oscar Piastri is still in seventh and is within reach of Liam Lawson.
Never mind. McLaren has called the Australian in to the pits and have also done some quick repairs on his wing.
Mclaren would have hoped for Piastri to emerge ahead of Bortoleto, however he doesn’t make it in time.
The Aussie is now in 11th place, but gets his elbows out to overtake the Racing Bull to snatch ninth.
Lando Norris continues to steadily close in on Max Verstappen, however the McLaren champion said he “has zero pace”.
Verstappen is sitting in third, with Antonelli in second.
Charles Leclerc needs to pit still, and will lose the lead of the race, but may be able to recover a podium position on fresh medium tyres.
It’s lap 36/57 and Leclerc is still leading the Spanish Grand Prix, with Antonelli in the chase.
Looking further down the grid, we have Valtteri Bottas in last place (following the two retirements of Stroll and Hamilton). Carlos Sainz is in 19th place – a disappointing day for the Spaniard’s home race.
We are more than halfway through the race and Charles Leclerc is flying.
However, Kimi Antonelli is hunting and will likely snatch first place before the race is over.
Meanwhile, Piastri has voiced his frustrations on his damaged wing over the radio, after clipping the barrier.
