Month: June 2026

Lewis Hamilton scored his first win in red thanks to a strategy masterclass by Ferrari to give the seven-time world champion his maiden victory for the Scuderia at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli was set to finish in second position behind Hamilton before an engine issue occurred with three laps remaining, handing the runner-up place to teammate George Russell.

Antonelli’s retirement meant Lando Norris completed the podium, one which saw Hamilton finally achieve victory on his 31st Ferrari start.

The seven-time world champion arrived in Barcelona after two consecutive P2 finishes to Antonelli and said after Monaco last weekend that his 106th Formula 1 career victory “couldn’t be closer”.

But he was made to work for it, as a “big reset” led to Russell beating his former teammate to pole after slipping 68 points behind Antonelli who rounded out the top three starting positions.

Different strategies were shown during the race, as Mercedes chose the favourable medium compound compared to Hamilton on softs, which had previously shown tyre deg in the heat.

So it did not take long for that to show in the hot conditions, as Russell held firm at race start before moving three seconds clear of Hamilton during the opening ten laps.

The driver who made the most places was Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc who jumped from tenth to sixth on mediums, before starting to apply pressure on Max Verstappen with softs.

Hamilton and Verstappen therefore respectively pitted for hard and medium tyres quite quickly, coming in on lap 12 with Russell following on the next lap, though against his wish.

The Mercedes driver was worried he would been “exposed” to Antonelli who had extended his first stint, but race engineer Marcus Dudley confirmed there was “nothing to worry about”.

That’s because Antonelli only stayed out for two extra laps before fitting the hard compound, where he rejoined in third to keep the order as it was during an expected two-stop race.

But Ferrari made a masterstroke with Hamilton’s strategy by pitting him for mediums on lap 28, having initially struggled to close on Russell across a very stationary second stint.

The seven-time world champion rejoined in seventh, quickly taking sixth from Oscar Piastri at Turn 4, before fifth on lap 30 as Verstappen suffered a slow 4.5 seconds pitstop for hard tyre.

Yet going for a three-stopper turned into a masterclass from Ferrari, as it allowed a rapid Antonelli to close to within half a second of Russell after being caught out by traffic.

The championship leader therefore launched an attack, each time Russell holding firm, but it caused the Silver Arrows drivers to take time off each other while Leclerc easily let Hamilton by into fourth on lap 32.

“Am I catching them?” was Hamilton’s response, sensing his best chance yet of a maiden Ferrari win as he continuously reduced the gap on fresh mediums – helped by Norris pitting from third.

Third soon became the race lead as Mercedes pitted both drivers for hards come lap 38, leaving Russell and Antonelli respectively 16 seconds and 17 seconds behind the Ferrari driver before a lap 41 VSC.

That happened as Fernando Alonso had to stop at Turn 9, giving Hamilton a timely opportunity to pit for hards and rejoin two-seconds ahead of Russell just as the VSC ended.

“Great job guys” Hamilton reacted, before gradually building his advantage across a controlled final stage as Mercedes had no answer to the pace of the Ferrari.

So the Scuderia eventually ended the Silver Arrows’ perfect start to 2026, taking victory at round seven and its first since Carlos Sainz’s win at the Mexico Grand Prix in October 2024.

As for Hamilton, this was his first victory since July of that same 2024 season in Belgium, crossing the finishing line 19.5 seconds ahead of Russell who had briefly dropped to third after a late overtake from Antonelli down the pit straight.

But only two laps later, on lap 63, trouble hit Antonelli as it did Leclerc who had lost the power steering in the other Ferrari to retire from sixth.

So it left an all-British podium of Hamilton, Russell and Norris, ahead of fourth-placed Verstappen, fifth-placed Piastri and Isack Hadjar in sixth for Red Bull.

Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were respectively seventh and eighth, with Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completing the top ten.

So congratulations to Lewis Hamilton in winning his first Grand Prix as Ferrari driver. Back in 1996, Michael Schumacher achieved his first for the Scuderia at this track. Fast forward 30 years, the seven-time champion is victorious. It will be fascinating if Ferrari can continue this challenge to Mercedes over the course of the season. If so, Lewis has an opportunity to go at his eighth drivers’ title.

Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32:28.105
2 George Russell Mercedes +19.561s
3 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +23.719s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +40.497s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +58.661s
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +1 lap
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
8 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +2 laps
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
13 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +2 laps
14 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +3 laps
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNF
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF

George Russell scored an important pole position for the Barclona-Catalunya Grand Prix with a front row starting position over his championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.

Russell set a time of one minute, 14.679 seconds for his first pole since the season opener at Melbourne, 0.064 seconds quicker than second-placed Lewis Hamilton with Antonelli in third and three tenths behind his Mercedes teammate.

The Mercedes driver’s pole this weekend is no surprise after topping two of the three practice sessions, while also going fastest in Q2 after finishing second in the opening qualifying segment.

In Q3, meanwhile, drivers had to overcome an early red flag as Charles Leclerc crashed at the Turn 4 exit after drifting onto the dirty line which suddenly caused him to lose the back end of his Ferrari.

By that point only two laps were completed, Oscar Piastri’s one minute, 15.176 seconds to Max Verstappen’s one minute, 15.328 seconds, both of which were subsequently beaten to provisional pole by Russell.

Russell set a time of one minute, 15.145 seconds, 0.031 seconds quicker than Piastri, while teammate Antonelli could only achieve a provisional fourth after going 0.269 seconds slower.

Antonelli improved with a time of one minute, 14.998 seconds on his second run though, initially jumping ahead of his teammate, before Russell took pole back moments later by 0.319 seconds.

The championship leader dropped again after Hamilton’s late time, with one minute, 14.743 seconds, meaning he will share the second row with Lando Norris who set a time of one minute, 15.001 seconds at the end for McLaren.

Verstappen ultimately qualified fifth, improving to a one minute, 15.021 seconds late on, with his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar 0.056 seconds behind in sixth to complete the third row.

It was a scrappy end for Piastri who slipped down to seventh, having only improved to one minute, 15.090 seconds, and his McLaren will be joined on the fourth row by in-form Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.

Lawson set a time of one minute, 16.542 seconds, still some way off the top four teams, but more important a tenth ahead of ninth-placed Nico Hulkenberg for Audi with P10 going to Leclerc.

It could have been worse for McLaren though as both of its cars were at risk at the end of Q2 with Norris eighth and Piastri only tenth, but the pair improved to survive the elimination.

So P11 went to Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad, 0.161 seconds ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto for Audi and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.

It means Colapinto has now outqualified teammate Pierre Gasly in five of the last six sessions – including sprints – as P14, a day after his Monaco podium was reinstated.

Oliver Bearman ultimately took P15 for Haas with P16 going to Carlos Sainz in a Q2 session topped by Russell, who was second to former Mercedes teammate Hamilton in Q1.

Q1 saw Esteban Ocon qualify P17 for the third consecutive race after being pushed into the elimination zone late on by Sainz, whose Williams teammate Alex Albon took P18.

It is a Cadillac tenth row with Sergio Perez in P19, again outqualifying Valtteri Bottas in P20, while Aston Martin was a second behind the new outfit at the back.

For the first time in 2026, Lance Stroll qualified ahead of Fernando Alonso by taking P21, while last place P22 went to the world champion and the 2013 race winner.

Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.679
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:14.743
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:14.998
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.001
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:15.021
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:15.077
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.090
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:16.542
9 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:16.657
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari No time
11 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:15.840
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:16.001
13 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:16.191
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:16.261
15 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:16.389
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:17.827
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:17.073
18 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:17.424
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:17.545
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:17.757
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:18.758
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:18.815

Kimi Antonelli scored his fifth consecutive victory in Formula 1 in a dramatic race in Monaco in which many drivers received a penalty for speeding in the pits and cars crashing out due to the track surface breaking up.

The Mercedes driver was in full control from the start, making a clean getaway while Max Verstappen – who qualified second on the grid – was forced to retire with a technical issue.

At lights out in Monaco, the championship leader calmly maintained first place as Verstappen faced a depressing issue at the start that saw him slide down the order before he became the first to retire.

While others struggled with various mechanical problems that forced them out of the action, including Valtteri Bottas and McLaren driver Lando Norris, Antonelli consistently opened up his advantage over the Ferrari duo of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

However, his win was threatened with around 20 laps remaining when Lance Stroll crashed at the final corner of the Circuit de Monaco, bringing out a safety car that allowed many to take a second pit stop without losing too much time.

It may have threaten Antonelli’s race, but it offered a brilliant opportunity for those who had been handed time penalties for speeding in the pit lane to serve them during the race.

The restart was short-lived as home favourite Leclerc experienced an identical crash to Stroll’s and the race was halted to inspect track break-up at Turn 19. His retirement helped promote Hadjar to his first Red Bull podium – Pierre Gasly finished ahead on the track but dropped down the order thanks to two five-second penalties – with Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson taking fourth and fifth place.

Arvid Lindblad finished in P6 scoring some great result for Racing Bulls. Gasly is classified in seventh, Alex Albon in eighth and Esteban Ocon in ninth. Cadillac achieved their first points with Sergio Perez, although Checo is still under investigation for a false start.

Initially, the race was a processional affair until the final part of the Monaco Grand Prix when Stroll hit the wall and prompted the emergence of the safety car on lap 60.

This led to a series of action in the pitlane ahead of the lap 66 restart, but Leclerc’s crash at the same corner prompted the safety car’s return followed by the red flag.

The issue was a recently resurfaced layer of track on the entry to the final corner, which had broken up and left a sprinkling of asphalt on the racing line.

Neither driver agreed that this was the cause of their crashes, however with Stroll saying that an engine braking issue was behind his crash, with Leclerc blaming the brakes.

After the track was cleaned up and inspected by race officials, the Monaco Grand Prix was resumed after a 40-minute pause, with the cars instructed to perform a standing start where Antonelli led Lewis Hamilton on the front row.

Despite Ferrari’s getaway off the line, Antonelli kept calm in the face of chaos and covered off Hamilton into the first corner.

The championship leader had led every lap up until that point. There were hints of an early battle between him and fellow front-row driver Max Verstappen but was dashed immediately, when the Red Bull struggling off the grid and prompted the field behind to take evasive action.

This put the Ferraris, Hamilton from Leclerc, behind Antonelli, but the polesitter fled the scene immediately and gathered more than the required one-second advantage to escape from a potential challenge from the seven-time world champion.

Antonelli’s lead was up to five seconds by the end of lap 10. The gap between he and Hamilton closed up over the next ten laps, briefly reducing to below three seconds as Antonelli had to tackle with the early stoppers queuing up to be lapped.

Yet, once the traffic had been cleared and when Antonelli had managed his brake temperatures, the gap over Hamilton quickly began to swell by over a second per lap.

The Mercedes driver looked in control running P1 in the race, continuing to run at a pace that was not viable for Ferrari to match.

After pitting at half distance, a few laps after both Ferraris had conducted their stops, Antonelli returned to the circuit with 17.3 seconds in hand over Hamilton.

From there, it looked increasingly easy for Antonelli. Despite a minor scare emerged when his Mercedes powertrain suffered a small derate on the run to Massenet, but the team was able to identify the issue.

Yet, Stroll’s crash was late race drama, producing the safety car which wiped out Antonelli’s now nearly-30-second lead over Hamilton.

After five laps in formation while the Aston Martin was being cleared, Antonelli appeared to have kept the Ferrari behind him covered off through the opening laps, although the race was halted when Leclerc also crashed at the final corner.

Antonelli maintained his cool to keep Hamilton in check on the eventual final restart.

Hamilton had been one of many drivers to pick up a penalty for speeding in the pitlane, although he was able to serve this correctly when switching to the softs during the safety car period.

Isack Hadjar crossed the finishing line behind Pierre Gasly, but was promoted to third when the Alpine driver was hit with two five-second penalties – although for speeding in the pitlane.

Hadjar initially had an investigation dangling over his head for a safety car infringement, where the Red Bull driver appeared to slow down ahead of George Russell and conceded more than ten car lengths to the car ahead. But following the race, the officials decided that no further investigation was needed meaning Isack keeps his P3 finish.

Oscar Piastri was classified in fourth even though it was a difficult weekend for McLaren, which was celebrating their 1000th Grand Prix, which had to retire Lando Norris as the reigning champion battled a problematic battery.

The Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad captured a big set of points. Lindblad had earlier interrupted the hold-up play by Williams to get both cars into the points, and did not make a single pitstop. Instead, he benefitted from a red flag, where he was able to switch to the softs for the final stage of the race.

Gasly was demoted to seventh ahead of Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon, while a late 10-second penalty awarded to Nico Hulkenberg promoted Sergio Perez into the top ten to provisionally score Cadillac’s first Formula 1 point – although he is also awaiting the stewards to make a call on whether he false-started on the restart.

Checo had earlier served a penalty for mistakenly starting in Gabriel Bortoleto’s empty grid box, as the Audi driver started the race from the pitlane. However, post race the officials have added a ten-second penalty for Perez for being out of position at the second start of the Monaco race. Which means Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is promoted to P10 and scores one point.

Hulkenberg had hit Carlos Sainz on the first lap of the lap 71 restart at the hairpin, tagging the Williams driver into the wall. Sainz’s race was ruined further when he was hit by Franco Colapinto moments later at Portier.

Russell endured a miserable race after failing to serve a five-second speeding penalty during his second stop under the safety car. The Mercedes mechanics immediately got to work on the car, rather than wait for five seconds.

After dropping to a net fourth after his stop under the safety car, Russell’s chances of points was a non issue when he was awarded a drive-through penalty after the team unable to clear the five-second arrears – and he crossed the line in P13, behind Fernando Alonso and Bortoleto.

So an eventful Monaco Grand Prix. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has achieved his first win around the streets of Monte Carlo with a controlled drive and with his teammate finishing outside in the points, the championship leader has built up more important points.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 2:23:31.243
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +6.271s
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +23.394s
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +24.261s
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +26.553s
6 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +29.010s
7 Pierre Gasla Alpine-Mercedes +30.369s
8 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +33.413s
9 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +37.140s
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +41.899s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +42.748s
12 George Russell Mercedes +43.353s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +44.102s
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +48.964s
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +49.153s*
Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
*Ten-second time penalty for being out of position at the second start

Kimi Antonelli wins an important qualifying session in Monaco from two champions to take the top grid spot at Formula 1’s most glamorous street circuit.

The championship leader driver set a lap time of one minute, 12.375 seconds, which was just 0.043 seconds quicker than Verstappen for his fourth pole in five Grands Prix while Ferrari struggled.

That was despite the Scuderia dominating Friday practice with a 1-2 result, but Saturday saw Mercedes recovering as Antonelli topped FP3.

Antonelli then took provisional pole with a time of one minute, 12.375 seconds on his first Q3 lap, putting him just 0.001 seconds ahead of Verstappen who had Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton 0.177 seconds behind in third.

Under pressure was Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who aborted his opening lap after almost hitting the barriers at Massenet, so he quickly came out for a second lap.

The Ferrari driver backed off on that one too, so Leclerc went for a third push lap, where there was minimal traffic, and he managed to beat Antonelli’s initial time by only 0.024 seconds.

That was with one minute remaining though, as other were not finished and first to jump ahead was Verstappen with one minute, 12.094 seconds, just before Hamilton went 0.185 seconds slower.

Then came Antonelli with a time of one minute, 12.051 seconds to snatch pole from Verstappen and Hamilton, who will share the second row alongside Leclerc who hit the barriers in the final sector at the end.

Fifth went to Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar with one minute, 12.434 seconds, while it was another disappointing result for Antonelli’s teammate George Russell in sixth.

The Mercedes driver was 0.394 seconds off the pace ahead of an all-McLaren fourth row with Oscar Piastri seventh and Lando Norris eighth, while ninth went to Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson took tenth.

It was a close battle to reach Q3 as just two thousandths of a second separated Gasly in P11 and Alex Albon P12, who will share the sixth row with Williams teammate Carlos Sainz.

That marked only the second time that Williams had both cars reach Q2 this season after Miami, the second qualifying session in Miami also being topped by Verstappen.

In Monaco P13 went to Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is set to be joined on the seventh row by Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto, while Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad took P15.

Although Gabriel Bortoleto progressed to Q2, he was unable to set a lap in the second appearance so he has claimed P16 for the grid following his crash at Nouvelle Chicane late in Q1.

The Audi driver was having a strong weekend up to then, but he clipped the inside barrier upon entry and caused a red flag with approximately two minutes left in the session.

That caused a chaotic end to Q1, topped by Leclerc, where Sainz managed to move his Williams out of the elimination zone and push Esteban Ocon into P17.

That was part of a shock double Q1 exit for Haas with Oliver Bearman in P19, but outside of that the usual suspects were eliminated early with Cadillac’s Sergio Perez splitting the Haas cars.

In P20 was his teammate Valtteri Bottas ahead of an all Aston Martin back row with Fernando Alonso in P21 and Lance Stroll taking P22.

So a thrilling end to qualifying with the Mercedes driver beating two legendary drivers to get pole position at Monaco. As overtaking is so tricky around this tight street circuit, winning pole is a major step in securing race victory.

Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:12.051
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:12.094
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.279
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.351
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:12.434
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.445
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.624
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.765
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:13.226
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:13.412
11 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:13.787
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:13.815
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:13.902
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:13.995
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:14.248
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi No time
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:14.722
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:14.747
19 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:14.814
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:15.283
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:15.349
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:16.061