F1 starting grid: What is the order for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix?
Lando Norris took pole in Madrid, citing his effort as one of the best laps of his career.
The F1 starting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix has been set, after the inaugural qualifying session at the brand-new Madring in Madrid.
Much had been made ahead of the weekend by how much of a challenge the circuit would be, and after red flags in free practice and the support series, qualifying would be a different prospect altogether.
Lando Norris takes Spanish Grand Prix pole
A heavy crash in FP3 for Haas driver Ollie Bearman ruled him out of the session, after a side-on shunt through the high-speed Turn 10/11 section.
A difficult start to qualifying for the home fans in attendance came, too, when both Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz dropped into the elimination zone at the end of Q1.
They were joined by the Cadillac duo, with Sergio Perez ending a run of races being outqualified by Valtteri Bottas, while neither Bearman nor Lance Stroll set a time, with a suspected water pressure issue hindering his progress. The Aston Martin driver has also taken new power unit elements this weekend beyond his allocation, which would prompt a grid penalty.
Red Bull showed up with a turn of pace in the early part of qualifying, too, having largely been the fourth-quickest package throughout the practice sessions.
Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson continued that into Q2, too, going first and forurth after the initial runs. Franco Colapinto in his Alpine, meanwhile, appeared to bottom out through the high-speed Turn 12, La Monumental, which caused him to abort his run.
Colapinto did recover to put his Alpine into the top 10, however, with Arvid Lindblad getting through once again alongside the drivers from the top four teams, setting up an open Q3 session where pole was by no means guaranteed.
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Only two-and-a-half tenths separated the top five after the first runs, of Q3, too, as Lewis Hamilton came to the fore to set provisional pole, six hundredths clear of Kimi Antonelli.
Final runs were to come, with the grid creeping out onto the Madring for one last blast of qualifying.
Charles Leclerc lowered the bar for Ferrari, and Antonelli set what looked like the potential pole time, before Lando Norris came through at the last to nab pole position by just 11 thousandths of a second at the Madring.
F1 starting grid: 2026 Spanish Grand Prix
1 – Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.824
2 – Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.835
3 – Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31.964
4 – Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.013
5 – Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.019
6 – George Russell Mercedes 1:32.149
7 – Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32.294
8 – Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.316
9 – Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:32.903
10 – Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:33.041
11 – Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:33.223
12 – Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.388
13 – Esteban Ocon Haas 1:33.667
14 – Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:33.753
15 – Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:34.084
16 – Alex Albon Williams 1:35.532
17 – Carlos Sainz Williams 1:35.312
18 – Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:35.388
19 – Sergio Perez Cadillac 1:35.913
20 – Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:38.011
21 – Lance Stroll Aston Martin NO TIME (grid penalty, power unit)
22 – Ollie Bearman Haas NO TIME (crash damage)
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