The first sprint race of the 2026 season adds pressure on the drivers, as they have only 1 practice session before it counts. Some exciting news from Ferrari as they test out the so-called ‘Macarena’ rear wing in practice, but they elect not to have it in the races this weekend.
The only practice session finishes with both Mercedes on top. Russell, after last week’s win, comes in with confidence. Hamilton had a big lock-up, sending him off track. Luckily, there was no visible damage to the car. Colapinto also locks up and has a spin; there are still some kinks to sort out.
There’s not much time to sort out any issues, as sprint qualifying has begun and only 21 cars will be taking part, with Perez for Cadillac having a fuel issue that won’t be fixed in time. In SQ1, Mercedes looks strong, but so do Ferrari and McLaren. Bortoleto goes wide and onto the gravel in the final corner, but there’s still time for him to set a better lap.
With a minute to go, the Mercedes finished early with confidence in their performance; however, Aston Martin’s cars were in the danger zone. Joining Perez are Bottas, Stroll, Alonso, Albon, and Sainz. Huge disappointment for Williams, but both Alpines make it through to SQ2.
In SQ2, Leclerc sets a very quick lap to beat, but Russel tops his score as Bearman goes wide at the final corner, kicking up a lot of dust for the drivers behind him. Lawson and Ocon try desperately to get into SQ3 but fall short and are out along with both Audis and Colapinto.
SQ3 went by rapidly, then the top 10 drivers left fighting for the best spot, and it’s no surprise that Medercedes came out on top. They’ve had a strong start to the 2026 season, and it’s only continuing. Russel secures another pole position, and Antonelli is just behind in 2nd place.
McLaren looked quick but couldn’t hold it together, but Norris came 3rd, and his teammate starts 5th. Will the reigning champions be able to make some risky moves tomorrow? Ferrari in 4th and 6th, followed by Gasly in 7th and Verstappen in 8th. Haas will be happy with Bearman in 9th, and Hadjar took the final place for the sprint.
Time to Sprint!
Only Hadjar has the soft tyre to start the sprint race, and 3 drivers have the hard tyre, with the majority using the medium tyre as the best strategy. Albon is starting from the pit lane. The first sprint in 2026, and Russel is quick off the line, but his teammate is falling behind. Hamilton and Norris had an excellent start, with Hamilton gaining 2nd place ahead of Norris, with Leclerc just behind.
Antonelli drops to 7th, then contacts Hadjar after locking up. Mercedes receives a 10-second penalty, hurting its sprint race. Hamilton swiftly overtakes Russel on the outside. It has been some time since Ferrari last led.
Lindblad spins but manages to keep going in last place as down the straight Russell retakes the lead on the first lap, 1, as the leader, but not for long, as Hamilton swoops ahead and regains 1st. Russel is sandwiched by Ferraris.
Antonelli makes a place up going ahead of Bearman and Gasly. Albon is up to 16th from last, a good start for him just behind his teammate, but Verstappen has had a disastrous start, down to 14th from 8th.
Russel uses his battery to overtake Hamilton and is now the leader on lap 3, with a tough battle between ex-teammates as they continue to swap places, and the Ferrari leads. On lap 5, Antonelli pushes through and overtakes the first McLaren in his way, but then down the straight, Piastri takes the place back. Russel gets past Hamilton going through the inside, and on lap 6, is now the leader.
Both Ferraris are now fighting for 2nd place, which is allowing Russel to build a gap between them. As Antonelli passes Piastri again. Leclerc overtakes his teammate on lap 8 and moves into 2nd place.
Antonelli has now overtaken Norris and is trying to overtake Hamilton. He needs to work hard since he’s got a 10-second penalty. Lawson overtakes Hadjar and is up into 8th, which is the last place to score points for the sprint race. On lap 11, Antonelli overtakes Hamilton and is up into 3rd, but has to defend hard.
Lindblad is told to retire the car, likely due to earlier damage. Gasly passes Hadjar, who suffers from previous damage. Bottas is also asked to retire. Verstappen and Hadjar battle on track.
At lap 13, Hulkenberg stops on the track and brings out a safety car, prompting several teams to pit. McLaren did a double stack, but Ferrari did not complete a quick stop as Hamilton came out 4th behind Norris. Antonelli serves his penalty and comes out 7th as Verstappen overtakes 2 cars on the pit exit.
Russel is the leader on a soft tyre with only 4 more laps to go. Leclerc and Norris make up the top 3, but Hamilton is desperate to take his 3rd place back. Lawson is up into 5th, and it’s Bearman in 6th. Sainz and Ocon nearly collide under the safety car while weaving around.
The safety car ends at lap 16, and Russel is off as Leclerc suffers a big wheel spin. Antonelli again has another bad start, and Piastri overtakes him. Hamilton overtakes Norris on the straight and is back up into 3rd place. Perez receives a 5-second penalty, but he’s already running in last place.
Antonelli says that Piastri jumped him on the restart, and McLaren tells Piastri to give back the place to Antonelli, so he’s now in 5th place behind Norris. Russel is pushing hard, desperate to keep his 1st place. On the last lap, Leclerc is gaining, but it’s too late as Russel wins the sprint race. Both Ferraris are on the podium, followed by Norris and Antonelli. A stressful race for him. Piastri in 6th; Lawson just beats Bearman to the line, taking the last few available points.
Will Russel take pole again?
We begin qualifying with Red Bull setting some quick times and Hamilton nearly losing his rear, but he manages to save his car. Lindblad is called in halfway through Q1 for an issue, and Verstappen is fighting the car hard. The cars out in Q1 are the 2 Cadillac drivers and 2 Aston Martin drivers, taking the bottom 4, joined by both the Williams drivers. A good lap from Colapinto, who made it into Q2.
Bortoleto flies off into the barrier and is stuck on the gravel. A brief double-waved yellow comes out, but Bortoleto manages to get back to the pits, ruining Lindblad’s lap, which gets deleted due to the double yellow. He finishes in 15th. Bortoleto ends Q2 in 16th. Lawson and Ocon also lose time due to the incident and don’t make it through to Q3.
Colapinto just loses out, luckily for Hadjar, who managed to hang onto 10th place and survive another round of qualifying. Hulkenberg was going strong into the 11th. At the end of Q2, Russell says there’s something wrong with the car, and the engineers need to check it. Hopefully, it will all be sorted before Q3. We later find out his active aero wasn’t functioning correctly.
Q3 is on the way, but there’s drama as Russel sits motionless on track and a yellow flag comes out, but he manages to get it going back to the pits. We can hear that Russel’s car isn’t switching gears. Norris and Piastri put in a quick lap sitting behind Antonelli ahead of both Ferraris.
Russel makes it out of the garage with only enough time for one final quick lap. Antonelli puts in an even quicker lap and takes provisional pole. Hamilton and Leclerc settle for 2nd and 3rd. It’s all down to Russel as he’s the final car on track, but he can’t beat his teammate and sits just behind in 2nd. Antonelli has his first-ever pole position, an exceptional job.
He is the youngest ever pole sitter for a grand prix, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record. Mercedes has a front row lockout, followed by both Ferraris, then both McLarens. Gasly does well, taking 7th. Verstappen and Hadjar are next, and Bearman takes the final place in the top 10.
Mercedes Vs Ferrari
We only started the race with 18 cars on track, as both McLarens had different electronic failures, Bortoleto had a technical issue, and Albon was meant to start from the pit lane but had a hydraulic issue that could not be fixed in time.
Hamilton takes the lead from Antonelli, with a quick start from the Ferrari. Russel is fighting Leclerc, but Leclerc goes around and slips into 3rd place. Hadjar tries to overtake Bearman but then spins off the track and nearly crashes into Bearman. Hadjar is called into the box but is in last place. Perez and Bottas collide in the first corner as Perez dives for a space that isn’t there, and some damage comes off both cars. Not a good start for Cadillac.
Gasly and Colapinto have had an excellent start, with Gasly in 5th and Colapinto in 6th. On the 3rd lap, Antonelli manages to take his 1st place back from Hamilton, but the top 4 are all in a tight battle. Russel on the straight deploys his battery and swoops ahead of Hamilton. On lap 8, Verstappen complains that his soft tyres are useless.
Lawson and Lindblad are fighting each other; the RB’s are losing time. Verstappen and Lawson are called into the pit on lap 10. They’re planning on doing a 2-stop strategy. Stroll has stopped on track (presumably an engine issue), and lots of cars are pitting under the safety car and getting a cheat stop, but unfortunately for Verstappen and Lawson, who had just pitted before and have now lost out.
Colapinto and Ocon did not pit as they’re on hard tyres and they’re now in 2nd and 3rd with Russel behind them. Alpine are desperate to score maximum points. The safety car ends on lap 13, and Antonelli goes off quickly. Colapinto and Ocon are trying to hold onto their positions. Hamilton manages to get ahead of Russel up into 4th. Verstappen overtakes Lawson on the restart.
Hamilton overtakes Ocon down the straight, and Leclerc now overtakes Russell. He seems to be suffering now in 6th place; he says he’s lacking grip in these new tyres. Ferrari is capitalising on this, with Leclerc moving up to 3rd. Lindblad overtakes Bearman into 7th place. Russel has now overtaken Ocon and is up into 5th, but is over 4 seconds away from Antonelli in 1st.
Hulkenburg has made places back and is up into 10th, but not for long as Verstappen swoops in and takes it off him, and Russel is now behind Leclerc in 4th. Double-waved yellow flags come out briefly on lap 18 due to some debris, but it’s gone quickly. The Alpines are fighting the Haas’s as Colapinto runs 5th and Ocon is behind him. Then Bearman in 7th and Gasly are on his tail.
Colapinto manages to defend as Bearman makes a move on his teammate and overtakes Ocon with some very close moves between the Haas drivers and Alpine’s. Verstappen gets involved, overtakes Gasly and Ocon, and is now up to 7th place. Bearman gets ahead of Colapinto, as does Verstappen. Colapinto’s old tyres are now showing.
We’re halfway through the race, and Antonelli is striding ahead in 1st, followed by both Ferraris and then Russel. Bearman up into 5th with Verstappen on his tail. Colapinto in 7th and Ocon in 8th. Gasly is in 9th, and Hulkenberg is just holding onto 10th place.
Leclerc has just overtaken Hamilton, but Hamilton won’t let him go as he fights back, and then Russel is gaining. Antonelli is nearly 5 seconds ahead, which will help him in the battle between the two Ferraris and Russel.
A lap later, Hamilton dives down the outside of Leclerc and moves up into 2nd, but on the straight, Leclerc uses his battery power to regain the place. They are still fighting throughout the lap, swapping positions. Russel takes advantage and is up into 2nd place, but this battle is not over. The longer these 3 cars fight, the more time they lose each lap, allowing Antonelli to steam ahead.
Lindblad takes a bad spin on lap 28, but manages to get going again, and is down in 14th place. Ocon manages to get past both Alpines and is up into 7th. On lap 30, Russell dives down on the straight and gets ahead of Leclerc, and we now have a 1-2 Mercedes podium in sight. Leclerc and Hamilton are now fighting each other for 3rd position.
Colapinto comes out of the pits trying to warm his tyres, and Ocon dives on the inside but has no time to back out because Colapinto doesn’t see him. Both cars collide and spin, damaging their liveries, but both continue running far down. Ocon has been given a 10-second penalty for the collision.
Alonso retired on lap 35, very unfortunate for Aston Martin. Alonso said he was starting to lose feeling in his hands. I wonder if the FIA should be allowing Aston Martin’s cars to race since this could be causing irreparable damage to these drivers?
Hamilton is complaining about not having any power, but Leclerc locks up, and Hamilton tries to get a head start. Leclerc tries to fight back, going around the outside, but Hamilton manages to defend his position. On lap 40, Leclerc gets back up to 3rd place ahead of Hamilton, but the fight is not over, and Hamilton takes his place back.
10 laps to go, and Verstappen had to retire the car; it seems he’s losing power and going incredibly slow. His dashboard turned off, but he managed to get back into the pits. Sainz has now gone up to 9th. 5 laps to go, and Russel says his rear tyres are gone, worrying for him and Antonelli, who pitted at the same time.
Antonelli has a lock-up and goes wide; he rejoins the circuit, but the gap between him and Russel is smaller. Bono is trying to keep Antonelli calm with only 3 laps to go, and he’ll win his first Grand Prix. All cars are trying to keep a cool head as the tyres struggle. Colapinto is catching up to Sainz, but he’s running out of time.
Antonelli wins his first-ever Grand Prix for Mercedes, followed by Russel in 2nd and Hamilton in 3rd, with Hamilton’s first-ever podium for Ferrari. Leclerc takes 4th place, and Bearman secures 5th place, a brilliant job and a good amount of points for the team. Gasly secured points in 6th, Lawson in 7th, Hadjar in 8th, and Sainz in 9th, gaining Williams’ first points, and Colapinto snagged the last point for Alpine.
A beautiful scene as Antonelli celebrates with his team and his father. The emotion pouring out of him in tears shows how much it means to these drivers. The first Italian driver to win in 20 years.
See you in 2 weeks at Suzuka!
Brilliant full review of sprint & F1 race. I find I’m seeing the race in my head as I read it. Keep up the reviews as I enjoy reliving the experience.