Kimi Antonelli achieves his sixth victory of the season with a great drive at Spa-Francorchamps. The Mercedes driver beat Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to score 50 points over his teammate and rival George Russell at the Belgian Grand Prix.

As the five red lights went out, it was actually Verstappen who made a solid getaway on the grid and he took the lead on Antonelli on the opening lap at Eau Rouge, but he was unable to stay ahead of the Mercedes driver and quickly gave up the lead on the Kemmel straight.

While Antonelli went to the front, there was heartbreak for his teammate who fell behind both Ferraris and made contact with Lewis Hamilton, spinning George Russell into the gravel and bringing his race to an end. This non-finish will be an important factor in terms of the championship.

Kimi resisted the pressure of a safety car restart as well as a late challenge from Charles after retaking the lead to take the chequered flag by 1.9 seconds, securing his sixth race win of the 2026 season and first since the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc missed out on claiming consecutive victories following his Silverstone success but confidently held onto second position ahead of Verstappen, who crossed the finishing line ahead of Hamilton – who had to serve a five-second time penalty for the collision with Russell and will also be investigated after the race for an unsafe pitstop release – and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

The top five were followed by Isack Hadjar, the Red Bull driver charging from the back of the grid to P6, with Lando Norris similarly improving from P13 to P7. Gabriel Bortoleto scored for Audi in eighth, while Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto rounded out the top ten.

Just two laps after Antonelli had made his switch to the hard tyre, a virtual safety car was called on lap 20 to clear debris at Blanchimont, which offered a wide enough window for Ferrari to pit both cars. Leclerc, who had been behind both Antonelli and Verstappen, used this opportunity to switch to the hard tyre and moved out ahead for the lead.

The Ferrari driver was able to build a lead gap once he had cleared the off-strategy Lando Norris, who was yet to pit after starting on the hard tyre, as Antonelli also needed a few laps to clear the McLaren.

There was about three seconds between them once Norris was cleared, but Antonelli demonstrated the strong pace and closed in on the Ferrari, helped when Leclerc stuck by Valtteri Bottas through Turn 15. Antonelli broke past at Turn 5 on the following lap after chasing the Ferrari up the hill.

Leclerc stayed with Antonelli for a few laps of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, just about holding on in overtake range, but had been unable to seek an opportunity to return to the lead. Instead, Antonelli maintained enough speed in hand to open the gap beyond the one-second bap needed to avoid a potential Leclerc fightback.

Antonelli continued to manage his lead, ultimately finishing 1.9 seconds ahead of Leclerc to extend his championship lead as Russell unable to score following his first-lap contact with Hamilton’s Ferrari.

Russell had been battling Leclerc through the first couple of corners. Misfortune struck when he ran out of battery deployment half-way along the Kemmel Straight on the opening lap, which led to the Mercedes driver being swamped by the cars around him on the entry to Les Combes. He was side-by-side with Hamilton – the Ferrari driver’s snap of oversteer led to contact between the two, pitching Russell into the gravel.

Verstappen finished third, despite a somewhat distant to the leading pair after being passed by Leclerc during the VSC pitstops. The four-time champion had put pressure on Antonelli in the opening laps, but fell back as Leclerc began to find pace ahead of the pit phase.

Hamilton took fourth, despite serving a five-second penalty for the contact with Russell. Another potential penalty could be a threat following an unsafe release. The seven-time champion had the green signal from his pit gantry post-stop, and had not seen a mechanic attempting to make a last-minute front wing adjustment.

Lewis passed Oscar to reach fourth, but the McLaren had been able to hang onto the Ferrari’s tail in the event of a penalty. Piastri had suffered contact earlier in the race with Leclerc, causing minor damage to his car which hurt his race pace.

Isack Hadjar worked his way up to sixth after using the early safety car to conduct his mandatory tyre change, later using the VSC to pick up a lightly used set of hard tyres in the middle of the race. This helped the Red Bull driver avoid a late fightback from Norris, whose alternate strategy was undone by a very slow pit stop. A slow left-rear wheel change put the defending champion behind Gabriel Bortoleto on-track, but he soon passed the Audi for seventh.

Bortoleto finished eighth ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who at one point was investigated for potential contact with teammate Liam Lawson, while Franco Colapinto pulled off a two-for-one move on Pierre Gasly and Lawson along the Kemmel Straight to take the final championship point.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli with victory number six in this season. With a non-finish for George Russell, there is now a fifty points gap between the Silver Arrows drivers. The Hungarian Grand Prix is next before the summer break.

Belgian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:24:42.479
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +1.952s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +11.586s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +17.245s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +18.988s
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Ford +23.307s
7 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +24.014s
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +49.140s
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +50.406s
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +76.037s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +76.991s
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +77.523s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +78.348s
14 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +94.465s
15 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +104.684s
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +105.856s
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +110.925s
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +2 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
George Russell Mercedes DNF

Kimi Antonelli achieved his sixth Formula 1 pole position of the season with the quickest lap at Spa-Francorchamps, edging out Max Verstappen by 0.317 seconds.

The Mercedes driver continued the Silver Arrows’ lock-out of pole positions despite having to chase Verstappen’s second lap, as the four time champion made use of a “tow and a half” from Isack Hadjar – following a series of grid penalties for power unit changes – to briefly move to the top.

Antonelli then pushed to gain three tenths over Verstappen’s lap to set a time of one minute, 44.361 seconds, which none of the remaining drivers were able to get close to across their final laps. Thus, the championship leader booked his top spot alongside Verstappen on the front row, who praised the efforts of Red Bull to use Hadjar for slipstreaming purposes.

Largely against the run of play, Lando Norris had set the quickest time of the first runs after finding 0.039 seconds on Antonelli’s opening effort, while Charles Leclerc also put himself into the contention with a lap within the same hundredth of the cars ahead.

A red flag emerged between runs to clear gravel which emerged on-track at Stavelot, producing a slightly extended gap between the first and second runs of Q3.

Both Antonelli and Verstappen moved ahead of Norris on their final laps, but the McLaren driver’s opening Q3 effort remained good enough for third. The McLaren driver later aborting his second lap after running across the gravel at Turn 13. To his relief, he managed to avoid the wall-clipping fate of Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton in similar incidents at that corner in practice.

Norris, however, takes a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix and will start P13 on the grid when accounting for other penalties. George Russell thus moves up to third after finishing fourth in the session, alongside Leclerc on the second row.

Hamilton qualified sixth and will move up to fifth alongside Oscar Piastri, who improved late to move ahead of an impressive Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls driver will start seventh, alongside Gabriel Bortoleto. Hadjar did not get a qualifying time in, knowing that he will start the race from the last row of the grid.

Liam Lawson improved on his second run of Q2, but just fell four-hundredths short of overturning Bortoleto and could not join his teammate Lindblad in the top ten. Lawson, not running the team’s updated car this weekend as only one set of parts was available, ended up half a second off.

Both Alpines qualified P12 and P13, Gasly from Franco Colapinto, as the latter found time on his last lap to move ahead of Nico Hulkenberg – whose car stopped on track during his in-lap with a hydraulic leak to produce a delay to Q3. Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman had just 0.002 seconds between them as they completed the Q2 drop zone.

Alex Albon was knocked out at the climax of Q1, as both Alpine drivers improved on their final laps. Colapinto had been in the drop zone after the opening runs, but he pulled himself out over Albon’s expense.

The Williams driver was just 0.007 seconds off Bearman at the end of the first stage, while the other Haas driver – Esteban Ocon – struggled to make use of a slipstream from the cars ahead and fell out in P18.

Valtteri Bottas was just 0.022 seconds behind Ocon and led the finishing line for Cadillac, moving Sergio Perez in their second runs. Perez had been a full two seconds clear of Fernando Alonso, the fastest of the Aston Martins, while Lance Stroll propped up the qualifying order.

Alonso will start at the back regardless, after taking a series of power unit changes for this weekend.

The run up to the Les Combes corner on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix is going to be fascinating thanks to the slipstream effect. So expect Kimi Antonelli versus Max Verstappen to lead. Bring on the race!

Belgian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:44.361
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:44.678
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:44.869
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:44.893
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:44.895
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:45.016
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:45.143
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:45.628
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:46.120
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:46.331
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:46.392
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:46.671
13 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:44.801*
14 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:46.777
15 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:46.779
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:47.120
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:47.801
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:47.823
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:47.971
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:50.177
21 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 2:03.555*
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:50.002*
*Ten-place grid penalty for power unit change

Charles Leclerc drove a fantastic race for Ferrari to win the British Grand Prix despite the Silverstone race ending behind the safety car.

The Ferrari driver headed George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to take P1 while championship leader Kimi Antonelli lost second position with late reliability troubles.

Leclerc had snatched the lead away from polesitter Kimi Antonelli at the start, with third-placed starter Hamilton also following his Ferrari teammate through.

While Charles made his only pitstop, Kimi stayed out with a ten-lap tyre-life advantage offset on the Ferrari driver, only pitting on lap 35 of 52. But on lap 41 Antonelli reported “something is broken” on his Mercedes. It emerged Antonelli’s left wheel shield failed, causing handling issues that made him pit twice to fix the issue but saw Kimi drop outside the top ten, losing 18 crucial points in the drivers’ standings.

Antonelli’s misfortunate sealed the first win of the 2026 season for Leclerc, with a comfortable 20-second lead on teammate Lewis Hamilton.

From third on the grid, Hamilton took a five-second time penalty for a false start, but after sitting out his punishment during his pitstop the seven-time world champion easily came out on top of a three-way fight with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the Mercedes of George Russell.

Verstappen looked set to claim an unlikely podium despite struggling with his Red Bull’s handling, gearbox and power unit deployment, but the four-time champion dramatically spun off the road at Stowe with six laps to go, beaching himself in the gravel.

Verstappen’s off brought out the safety car, which looked like it was going to set up a manic one-lap shoot-out as the majority of the field pitted for soft tyres. It was like a repeat of the Abu Dhabi 2021 with a final lap shootout.

Russell stayed out on mediums, however, giving his track position on old mediums in second, ahead of Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

But while race control reported the safety car would come in at the end of the penultimate lap, the Mercedes safety car continued on, with Leclerc heading Russell and Hamilton locked into the podium positions.

Hamilton is still to face the FIA race stewards for a yellow-flag infringement. After a post-race investigation, the stewards decided there was no issue and Lewis keeps his podium finish.

Norris ended up in fourth, benefitting from Verstappen’s and Antonelli’s misfortune after the reigning world champion was struggling with his McLaren, in which he was unable to keep up with the competition on Silverstone’s demanding layout.

Isack Hadjar was fifth for Red Bull, ahead of midfield leaders Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad for the impressive Racing Bulls outfit.

Gabriel Bortoleto finally scored hard-earned points for Audi with eighth, with Alpine duo Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten for Alpine.

Antonelli crossed the finish line in P16, seeing his championship lead on teammate Russell reduced to 25 points.

So congratulations to Charles Leclerc in winning at Silverstone. It was anticlimactic end to the British Grand Prix with the leading Ferrari finishing behind the safety car. There was no Abu Dhabi 2021 final lap shootout. Race control denied the opportunity for a thrilling conclusion.

British Grand Prix, race results:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27:11.335
2 George Russell Mercedes +0.427s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.772s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +1.149s
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +1.598s
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +2.023s
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +2.214s
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +2.413s
9 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +3.229s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +3.445s
11 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +4.014s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +4.391s
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +5.245s
14 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +5.512s
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +7.403s
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +8.005s
17 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +8.162s
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF

After winning the sprint race earlier, championship leader Kimi Antonelli signed off a perfect Saturday at Silverstone with pole position for the British Grand Prix.

The Ferraris could only settle with P2 and P3 with Charles Leclerc taking a front row slot, ahead of his teammate and home favourite Lewis Hamilton.

Antonelli improved on his first Q3 run to secure his fifth pole of the season, while a much-needed improvement for Leclerc to grab P2 and qualify ahead of teammate Hamilton and Russell.

The Silver Arrows had yet to be defeated in Grand Prix qualifying this year, and a surprisingly strong pole lap from Hamilton in sprint qualifying suggested the Mercedes streak could be broken in Silverstone. But after Antonelli passed Hamilton to win the sprint, the points leader further backed with pole.

Russell was second after the first of two Q3 runs but was unable to improve on his second lap, which was over half a second slower than Antonelli. That dropped him to fourth position behind Leclerc and Hamilton, who did improve but only found one tenth compared to his first effort.

Isack Hadjar was fifth in the Red Bull ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, as both teams suffered a significant pace deficit compared to Mercedes and Ferrari. Max Verstappen was only seventh after reporting issues with his power unit deployment, while Oscar Piastri unable to find grip on his way to eighth.

Racing Bulls duo Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson again locked out row five as the best of the midfield runners.

Antonelli also topped Q2 with a time of one minute, 28.493 seconds lap despite going off track on his first effort. The Mercedes driver then went a tenth clear of Leclerc with Hamilton and Russell third and fourth.

The McLarens showed early signs of performance issues with Norris only ninth, while Piastri was in the drop zone after run one, but Oscar managed to find a way through in seventh as he drove around a lack of grip and balance.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto missed Q3 to Lawson by just 0.032 seconds, apologising to his team for not extracting more out of the car. Pierre Gasly was P12 on a tricky weekend for Alpine, followed by Nico Hulkenberg.

Oliver Bearman was P14, disappointed by his Haas car that he felt had been outdeveloped by its midfield rivals, while the Williams team continued to struggle with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon qualified P15 and P16.

In Q1 the gusty wind conditions made the start of qualifying challenging, with a 20km/h tailwind into Copse and a corresponding crosswind blowing into the Maggotts-Becketts complex. Franco Colapinto suffered a huge spin there on his final attempt as his rear end snapped, which left the Alpine driver unable to improve on P19.

Russell also had a “weird” scare when he went off into the gravel at Luffield on his first attempt as his car locked up, damaging his front wing. That meant he had to set a lap time in the final minutes of the session to advance, but George did so relatively comfortably.

There were also immediate issues for Audi’s Bortoleto, who reported he could not grab sixth gear on his out-lap and returned to the garage with a suspected gearbox problem, but the team managed to get him back out to qualify for Q2.

Esteban Ocon was not so lucky, the Haas driver again being handed a qualifying defeat by his teammate Oliver Bearman, who narrowly advanced to Q2 at Ocon’s expense.

Colapinto got split by the Cadillac drivers of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, with an off-the-pace Aston Martin team again at the rear end of the grid.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli. His confidence is sky high at the moment by being so quick over his rivals and teammate. Let’s see how the race will go at Silverstone on race day.

British Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.111
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.286
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.458
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.481
5 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:28.746
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.877
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:28.893
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.032
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:29.305
10 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:29.716
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.461
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:30.063
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:30.076
14 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:30.501
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:30.623
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:31.341
17 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:30.680
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.227
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:31.321
20 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.451
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.863
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:33.025

The current Formula 1 championship points leader Kimi Antonelli wins the Silverstone sprint after passing Lewis Hamilton to finish P1 in an action-packed British Grand Prix sprint event.

The Mercedes driver crossed the finishing line 2.7 seconds ahead of the seven-time world champion in a race where Antonelli and Hamilton had proven dominant over the rest of the 22-car field.

McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the podium, but was seven seconds behind the Ferrari driver as two separate front-running groups quickly emerged during the 17-lap sprint.

This was true right from the start as Hamilton and Antonelli dashed clear as the five red lights went out and built a four-second gap across the opening three laps, with a battle behind emerging over third position.

That was a five-way battle between Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who all continuously traded positions in the return of yo-yo racing at the high-energy Silverstone.

Drivers were running with different levels of energy deployment through the lap and this led to overtakes at various parts of the Silverstone circuit, whether it be Verstappen’s move on Russell at Abbey, or Leclerc on Piastri at Brooklands.

The duel for third started to slow down come the halfway point and in the end, it was Norris who emerged victorious, but as he locked down his podium, the battle for the lead finally heated up.

That came after Hamilton had built a steady one-second advantage over Antonelli, who closed in come lap eight and made his first attack on the home favourite crowddown into Brooklands.

Hamilton held firm but not for too long, as the Mercedes driver eventually moved by into the lead on Hangar Straight before soon pulled clear from the Ferrari.

It was around this point on lap 10 when the fight behind Norris incresed once more, as Verstappen dropped into sixth behind Russell and Leclerc before a steady final seven laps.

Russell therefore took fourth behind Norris, finished a second behind the McLaren, ahead of fifth-placed Leclerc and Verstappen in sixth, with Piastri taking two points for seventh.

The final points position went to the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, who moved into the top eight Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar fell out of the points-paying positions at the start. Lawson defended the point from his former teammate late, by squeezing under braking at Stowe.

This all leaves Antonelli with a 43-point championship advantage over second-placed Russell ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix, with third-placed Hamilton now four behind.

British Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 26:12.129
2 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +2.745s
3 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +9.783s
4 George Russell Mercedes +10.639s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.620s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +16.550s
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +17.551s
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +30.233s
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +30.953s
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +35.110s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +40.273s
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +41.026s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +41.680s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +42.499s
15 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +45.784s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +49.810s
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +50.379s
18 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +50.757s
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +75.117s
20 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +91.872s
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
22 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton achieved pole position at his home race, Silverstone, fending off his Mercedes successor Kimi Antonelli.

In a single-lap shoot-out on the soft compound, Antonelli set the provisionally quickest time, only for Hamilton to go faster by a tiny margin of 0.011 seconds to take his first sprint pole since last year’s Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s one minute, 28.376 seconds lap was a full three tenths quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with the four-time champion narrowly beating Charles Leclerc to fourth.

Austrian Grand Prix winner George Russell suffered a difficult SQ3 segment, losing two tenths through Silverstone’s first sector on his way to fifth on the grid.

As expected before the British Grand Prix weekend, McLaren struggled for performance compared to Mercedes and Ferrari, with a less aerodynamically efficient car. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took sixth and seventh respectively.

Isack Hadjar was ninth, while Racing Bulls continued its impressive form by making it into SQ3 with both cars as Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten.

Hamilton led the first series of laps from Antonelli in SQ2, which was run on Pirelli’s medium tyres. Last year’s British Grand Prix winner Norris survived a scare when he only just managed to go through in P10.

There was some improvement at Alpine after a tough weekend at the Red Bull Ring, but Pierre Gasly was still knocked out in P11, followed by Audi duo Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. Franco Colapinto was P14, ahead of the Williams cars of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.

In SQ1, none of the heavy hitters were under significant pressure, although Lando’s effort only left him P10 as Lewis led Charles – foreshadowing what would be a tricky session for the world champion.

At the back of the grid, Williams survived the segment with both cars, as Sainz held off a disappointed Oliver Bearman by 0.010 seconds for the P16 and final position. Both Haas cars were eliminated with Esteban Ocon in P19, followed by both drivers from Cadillac and Aston Martin.

So the home crowd favourite will start the British Grand Prix sprint race in pole position. There’s only 17 laps in the sprint and if Lewis Hamilton can resist the pressure from Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, then it will be popular result.

British Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.376
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.387
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:28.697
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.703
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.733
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.740
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.772
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:28.835
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:28.927
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:29.367
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.482
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:29.679
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:29.707
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.983
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:30.197
16 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:30.650
17 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:31.083
18 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:31.714
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:31.776
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.020
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.910
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.988

George Russell is back in the winners’ circle after a solid drive in the class-leading Silver Arrows to take victory at the Austrian Grand Prix. He finished ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Kimi Antonelli, his Mercedes teammate and championship contender.

The Mercedes driver crossed the finishing line 1.6 seconds clear of the four-time world champion with Antonelli completing the podium.

This has given Russell his first win since the Melbourne season opener after an disappointing start to 2026, as Antonelli ha taken five victories during that time to claim the championship lead.

But Kimi’s retirement in Barcelona last time out, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, gave Russell the perfect opportunity to strike back his points deficit after finishing second in Spain.

Russell followed that up by snatching pole from Charles Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring after Verstappen’s late crash, with Hamilton and Antonelli behind on the second row.

All four started on the medium tyres and it was a frantic opening lap that saw Russell holding track position, Antonelli go wide at Turns 1 and 3, before Hamilton overtook Ferrari teammate Leclerc at Turn 5.

That put Charles immediately under pressure from Kimi, who had still managed to keep fourth, and the championship leader launched his attack at Turn 1 on the second lap.

Although he briefly got ahead, he went off in the process much like lap one, so was forced to hand third position back heading into Turn 3 but this left room for fifth-placed Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver therefore made quick progress by overtaking Antonelli at Turn 5, before passing Leclerc the following corner, and subsequently closing in on Hamilton.

This set up an awesome fight between the former title rivals with Verstappen lunging down the inside of Turn 3 on lap 11, before Hamilton strike back at Turn 5 and completed his move the following corner.

It put Verstappen onto the gravel at the exit, prompting complaints from the four-time world champion, before the fight resumed after the first pit window where drivers all kept position.

On this occasion, however, Verstappen finally took second from Hamilton by again going down the inside of the Turn 3 hairpin on lap 22, before the Ferrari driver reclaimed place at Turn 5.

But having learnt from the previous occasion where he was on the outside into Turn 6, this time Verstappen moved down the inside of that corner to finally end the wheel-to-wheel duel.

It was only three laps later that Hamilton made his second pitstop though, moving from hards to softs, after Carlos Sainz suddenly lost power and stopped next to the pit wall to cause a VSC.

Yet Hamilton’s rivals stayed out – though Antonelli pitted seconds before the VSC – and in clean air Verstappen began to close on leader Russell while drivers fighting behind.

On lap 30, Antonelli overtook Leclerc for third at Turn 5 before the Ferrari driver dropped into sixth behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton just seven laps later.

By this point Ferrari had resigned to fighting in the mid-points positions, as the Mercedes duo and Verstappen had moved clear come the second pit window.

It saw Russell stop for hards again on lap 44, just as Verstappen had got within two-seconds, but instead of instantly reacting, Red Bull opted to keep Max out for five extra laps.

That was ultimately the wrong strategy decision though as Verstappen left the pitlane ten seconds behind Russell, who had benefitted from fresher tyres during that window to all-but end hopes of Red Bull victory.

Red Bull was therefore left ruing what could have been and despite Max closing the gap across the final stages, George had done enough to take victory.

But Antonelli was not far behind Verstappen either, just 0.3 seconds, after late pressure, while a further 19.823 seconds off the podium was fourth-placed Piastri with Hamilton completing the top five.

Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Lando Norris completed late overtakes on Leclerc to take sixth and seventh, the Ferrari in eighth, while Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten.

This leaves Antonelli top of the championship on 171 points, 40 clear of second-placed Russell, who has now moved ahead of third-placed Hamilton with 125 points.

Silverstone is the next race and with two British winners in the previous two races, the home fans will be cheering for another popular winner at the British Grand Prix.

Austrian Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:26:37.979
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +1.611s
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1.986s
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +21.809s
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +26.393s
6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +29.399s
7 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +31.505s
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +45.659s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1 lap
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1 lap
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
14 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
16 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +2 laps
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +3 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes DNF
Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF

George Russell has taken a controversial pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after avoiding an investigation for setting his lap time under yellow flag conditions following Max Verstappen’s crash.

The Red Bull driver spun into the barrier at the penultimate corner, benefitting those who had already set their lap or Russell, who was just behind Verstappen as it happened.

Russell confirmed “I lifted at the entry into that corner” and that he “lost a lot of time” under single-waved yellow flags and not double, so he kept his fourth pole of the season.

The Mercedes driver recorded a time of one minute, 06.113 seconds, meaning he will share the front row with Charles Leclerc, who set his one minute, 06.349 seconds before Verstappen’s crash.

The Ferrari driver edged out teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.059 seconds and the seven-time world champion is set to share the second row with Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli.

Antonelli lost out the most by Verstappen’s crash as he was on provisional pole with a time of one minute, 06.414 seconds, but the championship leader aborted his final lap to take fourth position.

Verstappen had produced a brilliant opening Q3 run with one minute, 06.475 seconds, which put him third behind the Mercedes duo, but his crash dropped him to fifth ahead of sixth-placed Lando Norris.

The reigning world champion qualified 0.009 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in seventh, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completing the top ten.

Verstappen had already survived a scare in Q2, having not left his garage for a second push lap based on Red Bull projections that his one minute, 07.183 seconds was good enough to progress.

That was also done to save an extra set of fresh softs, but the four-time world champion still gradually slipped from seventh to tenth, Hadjar and the Racing Bulls pair jumping ahead of him.

As he dropped into P10, Verstappen could do nothing but hope for survival and Pierre Gasly was a threat, being up in the middle sector, but he ended up 0.040 seconds off to take P11.

That put him ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who was 0.110 seconds off the cut, with Oliver Bearman subsequently in P13 and Nico Hulkenberg in P14.

The under-pressure Esteban Ocon avoided a fourth, consecutive Q1 exit to take P15, while Franco Colapinto qualified P16 to round out a Q2 session topped by Antonelli.

Carlos Sainz suffered from a snap of oversteer at the final corner to only take P17, one position ahead of teammate Alexander Albon in the first Williams double Q1 elimination since China.

Debutant outfit Cadillac once again showed signs of progress as both cars qualified a second ahead of Aston Martin, with Sergio Perez in P19 and Valtteri Bottas taking P20.

That resulted in Aston Martin occupying the back row for the third, consecutive qualifying session, as Fernando Alonso claimed P21 ahead of Lance Stroll, who was three seconds off Antonelli’s Q1 benchmark.

So a dramatic and controversial end to Q3. The Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton were on the front row. Verstappen pushed too hard and lost control in Turn 9 and crashed his Red Bull. This caused a yellow flag but significantly not double yellow. Russell lifted through this section and yet went through to take pole…

Austrian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:06.113
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:06.349
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:06.408
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Ferrari 1:06.414
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:06.475
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:06.502
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:06.511
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:06.632
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:06.955
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:07.007
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:07.223
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:07.293
13 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:07.523
14 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:07.611
15 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:07.817
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:08.171
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:08.252
18 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:08.509
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:08.945
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:09.030
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:09.942
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:10.363

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