History was made in Madrid on Sunday, and the man making most of it this season made sure he was at the front of it too.
Kimi Antonelli won the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid's new MADRING circuit, crossing the line first to claim his eighth victory of the 2026 season — extending his commanding lead atop the Formula 1 drivers' championship as the sport's newest venue delivered its debut race. Lando Norris and Max Verstappen completed the podium, having battled for the lead through the opening laps after Norris converted his pole position into an early advantage.
The race marked a genuinely historic occasion for Formula 1, with Madrid hosting a Grand Prix for the first time in roughly 40 years, and the very first competitive race at the purpose-built MADRING circuit. Every driver on the grid went into Sunday with zero prior race experience at the venue, making Antonelli's win at a completely unfamiliar track all the more notable for a driver already dominating the championship standings.
Not every story from the weekend was a positive one. Seven-time constructors' champions Mercedes saw their other driver, Lewis Hamilton, retire from the race with brake issues, a technical problem he later addressed directly in post-race comments. Ferrari, meanwhile, confirmed changes to the leadership of Honda's power unit programme following the weekend, part of the broader technical reshuffling teams continue making as the season heads into its closing stretch.
For Red Bull's Liam Lawson, continuing to fill in for the injured Isack Hadjar, Sunday brought a genuinely strong result — a sixth-place finish that Lawson himself described as a positive step, reflecting afterward on his recent run of races standing in for his sidelined teammate.
With the Spanish Grand Prix marking the final European round of the 2026 season, the championship now heads into its closing overseas stretch with Antonelli holding a substantial points advantage over his nearest rivals — a lead built on a season that's included eight wins so far, the latest coming on a circuit nobody on the grid had ever raced before Sunday.
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