Kimi Antonelli wins the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix for Mercedes
Antonelli finished ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris with a winning margin of 4.351 seconds. Antonelli leads the championship by 81 points.
Kimi Antonelli won the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix for Mercedes from P2, 4.351 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. It is the 8th Grand Prix win for Antonelli in our archive, all of them this season.
Verstappen finished as runner-up from P3, and Lando Norris completed the podium from pole position.
The result extends a championship lead that now stands at 81 points.
How the race turned
Antonelli started P2 and finished first. Pole-sitter Lando Norris finished P3.
The biggest gain in the field belonged to Oliver Bearman, up six places from P22 to P16. In all, 14 classified cars finished ahead of where they started.
The race had four retirements from 22 starters: Carlos Sainz, Sergio Pérez, Lance Stroll and Lewis Hamilton. The season average is 4.7 per race.
George Russell set the fastest lap, 1:35.587 on lap 49. Antonelli made one pit stop.
The decisive data
At the flag Verstappen was 4.351 seconds behind. Antonelli covered 57 laps in 1:34:23.754. On points, Mercedes took 35 points from the weekend, Red Bull Racing 26 points and McLaren 19 points.
Team by team
For Mercedes, Antonelli P1 from P2 and Russell P5 from P6, worth 35 points. Red Bull Racing scored 26 points: Verstappen P2 from P3, Lawson P6 from P8. For McLaren, Norris P3 from P1 and Piastri P8 from P7, worth 19 points.
Ferrari scored 12 points: Leclerc P4 from P5, Hamilton out on lap 6 from P4. For Alpine, Colapinto P7 from P9 and Gasly P12 from P14, worth 6 points.
The profile behind it
Antonelli's strongest Driver DNA dimension is Positions Gained, at the 80th percentile in the 2025–2026 window. On the car side, Mercedes rank at the 95th percentile for Qualifying Speed in Constructor DNA this season.
In the five races before this one, Antonelli had scored 96 points with two wins, finishing P15, P1, P3, P2, P1. Over the same races Verstappen had 54 points and three podiums.
It is the first win for Antonelli at Madring in our archive.
Inside the teams
Teammate George Russell finished P5. At Mercedes, Antonelli now leads Russell 8–6 in qualifying and 8–3 in races where both were classified, with a median qualifying gap of 0.29%; the full comparison is on the Russell vs Antonelli page.
At Red Bull Racing, Verstappen now leads Hadjar 8–3 in qualifying and 6–0 in races where both were classified, with a median qualifying gap of 0.13%; the full comparison is on the Hadjar vs Verstappen page.
Championship effect
Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' championship on 292 points, 81 points clear of George Russell.
With 9 rounds left, including one sprint, one driver can still score 233 points, and nine drivers remain mathematically in reach of the lead. The lead is 35% of what remains. After round 9 it was 25 points, so the trend still runs toward the leader.
In the constructors' standings Mercedes lead on 503 points, 145 points ahead of Ferrari.
The circuit's record
In our archive, Madring had hosted one previous Grand Prix. Of the classified editions, 1 of 1 were won from pole and 1 of 1 from the front row, which this result follows. The previous edition, the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, went to Oscar Piastri from P1.
The result
The full classification for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix, round 14 of the season, with grid slots and points.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Grid | Time / gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 2 | 1:34:23.754 | 25 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 3 | +4.351 | 18 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1 | +5.089 | 15 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 5 | +29.116 | 12 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 6 | +29.829 | 10 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing | 8 | +1:26.746 | 8 |
| 7 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 9 | +1:34.281 | 6 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 7 | +1:35.839 | 4 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 10 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 11 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 13 | +1 lap | |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 14 | +1 lap | |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 12 | +1 lap | |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | 15 | +1 lap | |
| 15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 16 | +1 lap | |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 22 | +1 lap | |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 17 | +2 laps | |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 19 | +3 laps | |
| DNF | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 20 | Out, lap 43 | |
| DNF | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 18 | Out, lap 31 | |
| DNF | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 21 | Out, lap 12 | |
| DNF | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 4 | Out, lap 6 |
Grid to finish
Each line joins a points finisher's starting slot to the finishing position.
Follow the championship
The season moves on to the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which starts on 2 October 2026. The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix page has every session, the 2026 championship standings page the updated table, and F1 Intelligence the form, team and DNA view of the grid, including every teammate battle.
Evidence & methodology
Every number and name in this story comes from a frozen fact packet built from the PropSports F1 data plane. The draft passed the factual gate (no unsupported numbers, names, causes or outcomes) and the editorial gate before publication.
Limits
- Driver DNA is quoted from the 2025–2026 window as of publication, not as it stood before this event.
- Lap-by-lap order is not available for this race, so how the race turned is described from the classification: grid, finish, laps led, pit stops and fastest lap.
- Pit-stop counts are as published in the classification; stop timing and tyre choices are not sourced.
Facts used (81)
- Event: 2026 Spanish Grand Prix (projection: events)
- Championship round: round 14 (projection: events)
- Kimi Antonelli starting position: P2 (projection: race classification (grid))
- Max Verstappen starting position: P3 (projection: race classification (grid))
- Lando Norris starting position: pole position (projection: race classification (grid))
- Winning race time: 1:34:23.754 (projection: race classification)
- Laps completed by the winner: 57 laps (projection: race classification)
- Winner pit stops: one pit stop (projection: race classification (pit stops))
- Winning margin over second place: 4.351 seconds (projection: race classification (gap))
- Pole-sitter Lando Norris race result: P3 (projection: race classification)
- Fastest lap of the race: 1:35.587 (projection: race classification (fastest lap))
- Lap the fastest lap was set on: lap 49 (projection: race classification)
- Biggest climber starting position: P22 (projection: race classification (grid))
- Biggest climber finishing position: P16 (projection: race classification)
- Positions gained by the biggest climber: six places (derived: grid minus finish from climber_grid, climber_finish)
- Cars that retired: four retirements (projection: race classification (status))
- Cars classified or retired: 22 starters (projection: race classification)
- Average retirements per race this season (to date): 4.7 (derived: race classification)
- Winner teammate result: P5 (projection: race classification)
- Mercedes qualifying head-to-head this season (leader first): 8–6 (derived: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes race head-to-head this season, both classified (leader first): 8–3 (derived: race classification)
- Mercedes median qualifying gap this season: 0.29% (derived: qualifying classification)
- Red Bull Racing qualifying head-to-head this season (leader first): 8–3 (derived: qualifying classification)
- Red Bull Racing race head-to-head this season, both classified (leader first): 6–0 (derived: race classification)
- Red Bull Racing median qualifying gap this season: 0.13% (derived: qualifying classification)
- Mercedes points this weekend: 35 points (derived: race classification)
- Red Bull Racing points this weekend: 26 points (derived: race classification)
- McLaren points this weekend: 19 points (derived: race classification)
- Kimi Antonelli grid: P2 (projection: race classification)
- Kimi Antonelli result: P1 (projection: race classification)
- George Russell grid: P6 (projection: race classification)
- George Russell result: P5 (projection: race classification)
- Mercedes points this weekend: 35 points (derived: race classification)
- Max Verstappen grid: P3 (projection: race classification)
- Max Verstappen result: P2 (projection: race classification)
- Liam Lawson grid: P8 (projection: race classification)
- Liam Lawson result: P6 (projection: race classification)
- Red Bull Racing points this weekend: 26 points (derived: race classification)
- Lando Norris grid: P1 (projection: race classification)
- Lando Norris result: P3 (projection: race classification)
- Oscar Piastri grid: P7 (projection: race classification)
- Oscar Piastri result: P8 (projection: race classification)
- McLaren points this weekend: 19 points (derived: race classification)
- Charles Leclerc grid: P5 (projection: race classification)
- Charles Leclerc result: P4 (projection: race classification)
- Lewis Hamilton grid: P4 (projection: race classification)
- Lewis Hamilton result: out on lap 6 (projection: race classification)
- Ferrari points this weekend: 12 points (derived: race classification)
- Franco Colapinto grid: P9 (projection: race classification)
- Franco Colapinto result: P7 (projection: race classification)
- Pierre Gasly grid: P14 (projection: race classification)
- Pierre Gasly result: P12 (projection: race classification)
- Alpine points this weekend: 6 points (derived: race classification)
- Classified cars that finished ahead of their grid slot: 14 (derived: race classification)
- Leader points after this round: 292 points (projection: standings progression)
- George Russell deficit to the leader: 81 points (derived: difference from leader_points, c2_points)
- Rounds remaining after this one: 9 rounds (projection: events)
- Sprint weekends remaining: one sprint (projection: events)
- Most points one driver can still score: 233 points (derived: rounds × race maximum + sprints × sprint maximum from rounds_left, sprints_left, race_max)
- Drivers who can still mathematically reach the leader: nine (derived: points + max_left ≥ leader points from max_left)
- Lead as a share of the points still available: 35% (derived: lead ÷ max_left from c2_gap, max_left)
- Championship lead after round 9: 25 points (projection: standings progression)
- Comparison round: round 9 (projection: standings progression)
- Constructors' leader points: 503 points (projection: standings progression)
- Constructors' lead: 145 points (derived: difference from standings progression)
- Winner career race wins including this one (our archive): 8th Grand Prix win (derived: our race archive 1950–present)
- Grands Prix held here before this one (our archive): one previous Grand Prix (derived: our race archive)
- Earlier races here won from pole: 1 of 1 (derived: our race archive)
- Earlier races here won from the front row: 1 of 1 (derived: our race archive)
- Winner's grid slot in 2025: P1 (derived: our race archive)
- Form window: the five races before this one (projection: events)
- Kimi Antonelli points in the form window: 96 points (derived: race classification)
- Kimi Antonelli form-window finishes, oldest first: P15, P1, P3, P2, P1 (derived: race classification)
- Kimi Antonelli wins in the form window: two wins (derived: race classification)
- Max Verstappen points in the form window: 54 points (derived: race classification)
- Max Verstappen podiums in the form window: three podiums (derived: race classification)
- Driver DNA window: 2025–2026 (projection: dna-driver)
- Kimi Antonelli strongest Driver DNA dimension: Positions Gained (projection: dna-driver)
- Kimi Antonelli Positions Gained percentile: 80th percentile (projection: dna-driver)
- Mercedes Constructor DNA, Qualifying Speed (2026): 95th percentile (projection: dna-constructor)
- Next event start: 2 October 2026 (projection: events)