Ferrari or Mercedes, that was the question of the first sessions on the new track in Madrid. Sometimes a pilot in a red suit, sometimes a pilot in a black suit was ahead. McLaren, the men in papaya, drove behind. They looked like drivers for the third or fourth row.
In the last minute of qualifying, however, the world champion suddenly found himself at the front. With his first strong lap, Lando Norris (McLaren) moved to the front of the field, which he will also lead in the race. When he looked at the display at the finish line, the man from Bristol said he was "shocked and surprised": "But there are sometimes rides where everything works. That was one of the best laps of my life."
It is doubtful whether this also applies to the 57 laps, the more than 300 kilometers of racing on Sunday. Ferrari and Mercedes seemed too stable on Friday and Saturday. Norris, however, has two arguments on his side: It is very difficult to overtake in the narrow streets of Madrid. And even if the 2025 world champion will probably no longer be the 2026 world champion, he is at least the world champion of the late summer - Norris has won two of the last three races (Hungary, Netherlands).
Is Kimi Antonelli consolidating his World Cup lead?
As a reminder: Kimi Antonelli's first victory was six months ago. The young Italian now has seven Grand Prix successes. The highlight for now was the journey from 19th place to first place last week in Monza. It wasn't just in the racing car that he behaved like a champion. Antonelli, who had just turned 20, was surfing on the hands of his fans. And he spoke into the microphone: The best is yet to come.
At least this season the best would no longer have to come. Antonelli is way ahead. He even distanced himself from his teammate; George Russell admitted at the race weekend in Madrid that Antonelli was the better guy at the moment. This gives Antonelli the freedom to do what he currently does better than anyone else: race.
Russell set the first best time on the new course. Afterwards, Antonelli won the training sessions and only lost pole position to Norris at the last second. Nothing seems to unsettle the Italian, not even the unfamiliar course in Spain. There is a lot to be said for the fastest driver in the fastest car.
Will there be a chaos race on the new route?
In the days before the race, in addition to the hunt for the best starting positions, there was a second, unofficial discipline. Who can think of the best description for the new route at the trade fair? You can choose from:
“the roller coaster” (Nico Hülkenberg)
“an unforgiving route” (Hülkenberg again)
“the more complicated Monaco” (Kimi Antonelli)
“Adrenaline for the drivers” (Fernando Alonso)
“a slope that doesn’t forgive” (Sergio Perez)
There is a lot of talk about Turn 12, nicknamed “La Monumental”. With a bank gradient of 24 percent, the drivers race along the semicircle at 280km/h. It could soon become iconic, they say, like the hairpin curve in Monaco or the Parabolica in Monza. But very few curves have become iconic because someone called them that. Usually something iconic has happened on them. So “La Monumental” is still one thing above all: worth seeing. “She looks great in the photos,” praised Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
Turn 12 could be important for the race because it offers one of the few overtaking opportunities at the end. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Verstappen had already warned that there was no possibility of overtaking on the entire route. World Championship leader Antonelli is therefore expecting a strategic race, not a chaotic one. The pit lane, which is longer than on all other tracks, could play a role. A stop lasts up to 25 seconds.
The feared chaos did not break out in the sessions on Friday and Saturday. There was a serious collision during the Formula 3 race on Saturday. The Formula 1 drivers, however, drove more concentratedly on the narrow track with its many chicanes and few run-off areas. Only Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad and Haas driver Oliver Bearman let the red flags fly; record world champion Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) braked once and drove into the barriers.
Will Leclerc and Hamilton get along again?
Speaking of Hamilton: In Monza a week ago, the record world champion almost collided with his Ferrari colleague Charles Leclerc. Hamilton, who is closer to Antonelli in the drivers' championship than Leclerc, then called for “rules”. Some interpreted this as a desire for a stable order. Leclerc, Hamilton and team boss Fred Vasseur appeased in Madrid: everything was said, “face to face”, and no new agreement.
The old chess buddies Hamilton and Leclerc seemed more peaceful in Madrid than in Monza. Unfortunate for Ferrari: This also applied to their journeys on the track. After strong training performances, Hamilton and Leclerc are in positions 4 and 5 at the start of the race. So even the most sophisticated set of rules doesn't help in getting closer to Antonelli.
How will Hülkenberg fare?
In the unofficial metaphor competition, the only German, Nico Hülkenberg, fought for the top position. He was eliminated in qualifying just before the last lap, and the 39-year-old driver starts the race in 11th place. From there he has a decent chance of collecting points. There are only six this season.
Is that enough to stay in the Audi cockpit in 2027? The car company's CEO, Gernot Döllner, made it clear in Madrid that a German driver in a German car was not an end in itself - even if the line-up helped to establish the team and he was "incredibly happy" with the two Audi drivers. “We will always focus on performance and the driver market,” said Döllner. Hülkenberg has to stretch.
Do Alonso and Sainz have a home advantage?
Two Spaniards are driving a Formula 1 race in Madrid, and both have a nice story to tell. The first goes like this: When a little boy named Fernando wanted to watch a car race in his parents' living room, they pressed the remote control, perplexed. No Spanish TV station showed Formula 1. But the boy knew a trick: he turned on RTL, “the German station, you know.” Decades later, he says this proudly, smiling mischievously.
Today the boy sits in front of the international press as a two-time world champion and talks about Formula 1. Most fans talk about him, Fernando Alonso. About what he leaves behind when he no longer rides. “My greatest legacy is the change in Spain,” says the boy himself, now 45 years old.
A room further on, the second Spaniard, a Madrilenian in fact, tells his story. “When I was 10, I wanted to be like him,” says Carlos Sainz, referring to Alonso. His compatriot changed Formula 1, even motorsport. Many fans in Spain follow their two drivers. Alonso and Sainz pursue the fast cars in front of them in vain. So no home advantage. It would be a surprise if either of them scored.
