The 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix; Hamilton helps Ferrari to first win in 2026, Mercedes face difficulties whilst the contenders begin to close in.

The weekend in Barcelona was an extremely successful one, especially for a driver determined to get his first win with his team. With some very smart pit strategy calls, Lewis Hamilton rose to the occasion and got his first win with Ferrari. Although Hamilton had a great result, it would not be the same for the other side of the garage. Despite a crash in qualifying, Charles Leclerc was still able to compete in the race starting P10, but due to a Hydraulic issue he was forced to retire on lap 62.

A brilliant weekend out for the Brits with a 1,2,3 finish; Lewis Hamilton, George Russell & Lando Norris.

The Mercedes pairing had a difficult day out, despite leading majority of the race, the pit strategies from Ferrari were too good. George Russell was able to secure P2 whilst his teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli had an engine failure which ultimately ended his race on lap 61.

Lando Norris had a great weekend out. With the track appearing like it would favour the Mercedes and McLaren in terms of engine capabilities, it was still interesting to see him finish P3.  His teammate Oscar Piastri faced a quiet race, sitting by himself for most of the race until the end, which he would finish P5.

Red Bull Racing had a strong weekend with a double point scoring result. Max Verstappen was looking to redeem himself after that difficult result in Monaco and impressed everyone with a P4 finish. His teammate Isack Hadjar also had an impressive showing, finishing P6.

Alpine finished the race weekend on a positive. From the beginning of the weekend, there was excitement at Alpine with the reinstatement of Pierre Gasly’s Podium in Monaco, right up until a double point scoring result in Barcelona. Pierre Gasly finished his weekend strong in P7, whilst teammate Franco Colapinto scooped up that final point scoring position, finishing P10.

A strong weekend out at Barcelona for Alpine driver Pierre Gasly with another points finish, along with teammate Franco Colapinto.

Racing Bulls was our final team to round out the top 10, also with a double point scoring weekend. Despite a good start to the race, it ended up being rather quiet for the two young drivers. Liam Lawson finished ahead of his teammate in P8, whilst Arvid Lindblad finished P9.

Finishing just outside of the points in P11 was Gabriel Bortoleto; despite having a good race, Audi unfortunately would receive no points for this hard work. Similarly, Williams also faced a similar situation with Carlos Sainz who finished p12, even though Sainz had done well, starting the race in P16.

Our last two drivers were Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Cadillac driver Sergio Perez. Both drivers had a tough weekend. With very little pace in the cars, it proved to be a very difficult task. Esteban Ocon finished P13 for Haas, whilst Sergio Perez finished P14.

A quiet weekend for the Cadillac drivers as Bottas DNFs, whilst Sergio Perez completes the race.

For some drivers however, the weekend was anything but great. from minor situations to major incidents, these were the drivers who did not finish the race:

Aston Martin had another tough weekend, despite out qualifying his teammate Fernando Alonso after a 42-race qualifying head-to-head, but despite all that Lance Stroll would become the first DNF due to what appeared to be a gearbox issue on lap 5. Fernando Alonso later joined his teammate amongst the many DNFs, with a battery issue on lap 37.

Audi was having a difficult weekend, especially being caught in the firing line. Nico Hulkenberg was forced to DNF from the race due to an unfortunate incident where a rock flicked up from Liam Lawsons car, hit the ERS switch and forced Hulkenberg’s car to stop. Hulkenberg was close to his first point scoring weekend up until that incident.

The damages to Nico Hulkenbergs car that ultimately caused his unfortunate DNF.

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas had another one of those weekends. Despite looking to have a good race and be able to finish it, the team forced him to DNF on lap 15 from a precautionary standpoint, related to a mechanical issue.

Alex Albon faced a weird weekend. With difficulties already being faced related to balance and unpredictability of his car, he was expected to start P18. By the race however he was forced to DNF on lap 55 with a loose T-cam, which once fixed brought him back out, but by the end of the race he would be 11 laps down.

Oliver Bearman was looking to have a good weekend. Making it through to Q2 was already a big result, with issues related to the car during the Free Practice sessions. The result would not turn out however, with a power related issue causing him to DNF on lap 60 of the race in Barcelona.