IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix

How time flies, as we reach the end of the European season with a second visit to Spain and a brand new venue in Madrid. Off the back of Kimi Antonelli’s remarkable victory in Monza, it’s time for the drivers and teams to reset for a different challenge as we head to the Madring.

A new track!

Who doesn’t love a new circuit to see the drivers put through their paces? From the iconic venue of Monza – the track that has hosted more Formula 1 World Championship races than any other – we head to the newest circuit on the calendar and the 3.365-mile Madring.

Located at the IFEMA Exhibition Centre to the north east of the centre of Madrid, the Madring is part-street circuit, part-permanent venue and will provide a very different test compared to last week’s race. There are tight and twisting complexes, flowing sections and even the heavily banked La Monumental corner that will see fans flanking both sides of the circuit as the cars turn through more than 180 degrees.

Given the proximity of the walls in so many parts of the track, mistakes will certainly be severely punished, but the drivers will need to get up to speed quickly. And they’ll do so at a track that will put a premium on slow-speed corner performance and traction, as well as how well a car can ride bumps and kerbs.

It’s going to be a steep learning curve from the moment the teams hit the track on Friday for Free Practice 1.

Advantage Antonelli in the title race

It’s true that Kimi Antonelli was in an extremely strong position in the Drivers’ Championship even before the Italian Grand Prix, but his remarkable win on Sunday has only increased his hopes of winning his first title.

Antonelli was expected to be in damage limitation mode starting 19th, with George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris all hoping to take points off the championship leader. But with the Italian winning his home race on the same weekend he took a power unit penalty, Antonelli now has a 66-point advantage over Russell, that extends to 76 over Hamilton and 96 over Norris.

As impressive as Antonelli’s drive was at Monza, we’ve seen multiple occasions this season where reliability or circumstance has led to big swings in terms of points, and there are still 10 rounds remaining as we arrive in the Spanish capital.

For Russell, the form has been more consistent since the summer break, but he needs to find that little bit more performance to put pressure on Antonelli and take regular points off his team mate. There’s still plenty of time left in the season, but the chasing pack will want to hit back quickly.

Can McLaren return to winning ways?

Given recent form, it is perhaps Norris who is likely to offer the biggest threat over the coming races, with the McLaren most competitive on the recent higher-downforce circuits of the Hungaroring and Zandvoort. Norris won on both occasions, and could be in with a chance of doing so again in Madrid.

The layout should suit McLaren more than Monza did, and despite dampening expectations before the Italian Grand Prix, both cars were in the mix for a podium until the closing stages.

That was also thanks to a strong performance from Oscar Piastri, who has yet to win this season but outqualified Norris for the first time since Monaco, and was fighting with his team mate right up to the flag.

While Mercedes appeared to be in a league of their own for spells of the race in Monza, McLaren know Madrid is the type of venue that they should be more competitive relative to the Constructors’ Championship leaders, and will look to hit back this weekend.

Another chance for Lawson and Tsunoda

After an impressive first half of the season at Red Bull, it has been a frustrating few weeks for Isack Hadjar as he has been unable to race since the summer break due to an injured wrist.

The Frenchman missed the Dutch Grand Prix soon after sustaining the injury in training, and then Red Bull opted to not rush him back for Monza as his recovery continues. While the team say his progress has been positive, they made an even earlier call this week to continue with an unchanged line-up, rather than unnecessarily take a risk with Hadjar returning on a street circuit at this stage.

That means another opportunity for Liam Lawson alongside Max Verstappen, after a frustrating weekend in Monza. Lawson took a power unit penalty so always faced a tough afternoon trying to climb through the field, but picked up damage and needed an extra pit stop that prevented him from scoring points.

Lawson did score at Zandvoort, however, and will look to repeat that result in Madrid, while Yuki Tsunoda has also been in the points since returning to VCARB. The Red Bull reserve was just one place outside the top 10 in Zandvoort, and then went one better with 10th place at Monza to secure double points for the team.

The F3 championship showdown

The European season might be coming to an end for Formula 1 this weekend, but it’s the entire 2026 championship that is concluding in Formula 3. And what a final round it promises to be.

The Madring was always scheduled to host the finale, but the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this year has led to a bumper weekend as an extra Qualifying session and Feature Race will take place in Spain.

The Qualifying sessions run back-to-back on Friday, with a Sprint Race on Saturday morning and then the first Feature in the evening after F1 Qualifying. Then Sunday morning will see the final round that could well prove to be a title decider.

Audi-backed junior Freddie Slater arrives with a 15-point advantage over American Ugo Ugochukwu, with the pair having been locked in a close championship battle all year.

Slater looked set to open up a big lead in Monza as he started the Feature Race from pole position and Ugochukwu languished at the back following a grid penalty and early contact, but a dramatic turn of events saw Slater retire and Ugochukwu recover to finish eighth.

There is a maximum of 67 points available over the weekend - 25 for a Feature Race win, 10 for a Sprint, plus a fastest lap point in every race and two points for pole position for each Feature Race - plus Ernesto Rivera and Theophile Nael are both mathematically still in contention but both need a hugely improbable combination of results.

That means it’s likely to be a fight between rookie Slater and second-year Ugochukwu to follow in the footsteps of Rafael Camara and join the likes of Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto as an F3 champion.