A weekend at the Madring. Brand new track, producing some of the same old dramas.
The Madring was a track with various mixed reviews. Some fans loved it, but most were not overly impressed. The race itself provided very little overtaking opportunity and produced racing like that of Monaco.
Kimi Antonelli secured yet another win under his belt, the first win at the Madring. His teammate George Russell had a strong showing but couldn’t get himself to the podium, managing to finish P5.
Max Verstappen had a strong result with a P2 finish. Verstappen started from P3 and managed to make up a position from very early on in the race. Another race weekend in the RedBull for Liam Lawson was able to secure him a P6 finish, which was a decent result having started P8.
Lando Norris started on pole but ended up dropping two positions to finish P3, whilst still a podium, Norris would’ve been hoping for a much cleaner start and better result for himself. Oscar Piastri had a tough race. Starting P7 there was very little he could do in the race, not being able to make up any spots, losing out and finishing P8.
For Ferrari it was a mixed bag weekend. Charles Leclerc had a strong finish ending up just shy of the podium in P4. For teammate Lewis Hamilton however, his race was unfortunately over by lap 3, with a brake issue that caused him to DNF. He was the only driver still having not had a DNF all season long, till Madrid.
Alpine were a team with some mixed bag results too. Franco Colapinto was able to get some solid points finishing in P7, ahead of Piastri. Whilst Pierre Gasly had trouble and received a five second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane and ultimately couldn’t get much higher, finishing P12.
Arvid Lindblad continues to show his strength in the Racing Bulls with another points finish and finishing ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Lindblad finished in P9, whilst Yuki Tsunoda only managed to finish P14.
Nico Hulkenberg was the last driver scoring points at the Madring, finishing in P10. His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto couldn’t do much to gain track position and was forced to settle for a P13 finish.
Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman couldn’t do much to help Haas in the constructor’s fight, with Ocon finishing just outside of the top 10, finishing P11. Bearman continues to have difficulty in the 2026 season, only managing to finish P16.
Alex Albon, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas were the only sole runners for their teams. Williams, Aston Martin and Cadillac continue to also struggle in this season, fighting at the lower half of the constructors and having difficulty with consistently fighting for points. Albon finished P15 for Williams, Fernando Alonso finished P17 for Aston Martin and Valtteri Bottas finished P18 for Cadillac.
Carlos Sainz officially retired his car on lap 43 after an opening lap crash with Yuki Tsunoda significantly damaged the floor. Sergio Perez was forced to retire on lap 33 after a mechanical failure linked to water system and brakes forced him to pull the car into the garage, ending his day early. Lance Stroll retired his car on lap 12 also due to a brake failure like Hamilton and Perez.
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