Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli will be starting the 2026 F1 Spanish GP on the front row in P2 behind McLaren’s Lando Norris. This will mark the Italian driver’s seventh of his very dominant 2026 F1 season to date.
Despite narrowly missing out on pole, Antonelli reflected that due to the challenging nature of the Madring circuit, he was content that he managed to produce a clean lap. Looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Antonelli also shared his insights on the challenges of the circuit and how a strong start will be vital for a victory.
Antonelli on his final flying lap of the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
After topping two out of the three free practice sessions at the 2026 F1 Spanish GP, Antonelli was one of the top contenders for pole in qualifying. However, the Italian driver missed out on pole by a mere 0.011s against pole sitter Norris.
The current championship leader admitted that the main reason he lost time was due to a lack of confidence when running his final flying lap of the session. The sudden dip in confidence was due to a moment he had in his first flying attempt which prevented him from pushing as hard on the last attempt. Turn 13 is a high-speed, commitment corner.
“A little bit first chicane and then Turn 13 after the banking, I had a big moment, lap one in Q3. And yeah, just didn’t really have the confidence to push the entry as much again. But overall, it was a clean lap. Nothing to say. It’s a track that is not easy to put things together. And of course, Lando did a great job, especially catching up after missing FP2 and putting things together. So yeah, obviously it’s a shame to miss out on pole for so close. But yeah, we’ll try to do a good race tomorrow.”
Challenges of the Madring circuit
Antonelli then highlighted the difficulties he and Mercedes had when it came to his W17’s set-up. As explained by the 20-year-old, the diverse mix of corners of the Madring circuit meant engineers struggled to find a compromise set-up to “get the car in the right window”.
Another factor that proved to be challenging was tyre overheating and management through the lap due to the high track temperatures. Antonelli is anticipating tyre degradation to be challenging during the 2026 F1 Spanish GP but remains hopeful that it may be lower during the race.
“Yeah, not easy also because it’s a track where you have many kind of corners, high speed, low speed, chicanes. So not easy to get the car in the right window. And as well with tyres, I think was not easy to find the right balance between first sector and, you know, end of lap. So tricky track. But I think the biggest challenge is going to be tomorrow because, yeah, degradation seems to be quite high.
“Yeah, probably is going to be grandmother driving in the first ten laps. But let’s see. You know, we saw in the long run how steep the degradation can be, especially if you push too early. So let’s see. We’ll try to see in the moment. Maybe tomorrow we’re going to race and the degradation is going to be much lower. So we just need to see in the moment.”
Looking ahead to the 2026 F1 Spanish GP
Coming to the Madring circuit, many drivers, including Antonelli, had expected qualifying to be chaotic with potentially a couple of red flags. However, the grid was surprised by the clean driving during the 2026 F1 Spanish GP qualifying session.
The Italian driver also highlighted the circuit’s high grip, a factor he really appreciated. Ahead of the main event of the weekend, Antonelli shared that he is expecting Mercedes to have a multiple pit stop strategy but stressed that they are unware how the hard tyre will perform.
“Yeah, it was a bit better than expected, to be fair. Still tricky. When you have to put things together. But yeah, it was I think for everyone was better than anticipated.
“Also, it’s high grip. So that helps for sure. And yeah, tomorrow is going to be a lot about managing the tires and not taking off so much as well. We don’t really know how the hard tire is, how resilient it is. So tomorrow we might have two stops, three stops. We’ll see. But the key is, especially in that first thing is to try and manage as much as without giving up too much time trying to manage the tyres.”
Comparing Madrid to other tracks on the calendar
When asked to compare the Madring circuit to an existing circuit on the 2026 F1 calendar, Lando Norris compared the track to the Circuit de Monaco due to the small margin for error. Antonelli agreed with the Briton, sharing that while Monaco was “still a bit more intense”, it was harder to find the optimum set-up for his Mercedes at the Madring.
“Yeah, I think Monaco is probably still a bit more intense, but also this track takes quite a bit of effort just to try and put the lap together.”
Antonelli also revealed that he anticipates overtaking to be difficult during the 2026 F1 Spanish GP. As noted by the Italian driver, the only way to overtake the car ahead would be to force them to degrade their tyres more to open up an opportunity.
“And overtaking, yes, I think it’s going to be very difficult. In practice, I spent two laps behind the Williams, trying to painfully get past, but just really difficult, especially because already the gap is quite big. And when you’re behind, you start sliding more and it just makes your life a bit tougher. So yeah, the only thing you can do is trying to put pressure on the car in front, trying to make them do a mistake or make them deg a bit more. And then you try to play with strategy. But yeah, especially when you have a very similar pace, it’s difficult to make a move.”
Enjoying the Madring circuit
Antonelli then shared his opinions on the Madring circuit, weighing in on the layout and drivability of the track. While he admits the track is enjoyable, the Italian driver suggested that there were corners that could be corrected to allow more wheel-to-wheel racing to improve the overall racing experience.
“I think it’s, you know, like Lando said, it’s a track that has a lot of character. You know, some corners are very tricky. Some of the braking as well, where you brake while turning. So I think the track is good fun. But as Lando said, there’s some corners that could be changed just to make the experience even better and also to help racing. But I think overall it’s a fun track.”
Focusing on the 2026 F1 Spanish GP opening lap
Antonelli also stressed the importance of a strong start to the 2026 F1 Spanish GP. Due to the lack of overtaking opportunities around the track, he believes a strong start could be the key to his eighth win of the 2026 F1 season.
“Yeah, [the] start is very important for sure. And running to turn five is going to be important. But then after that, if you have similar paces, unless they make a mistake or you’re able to have a better deg and do something different strategy, then you can create opportunities. But, you know, when the gaps are so close, it’s really hard to create overtake opportunity. But that’s why, you know, the start is going to be very important tomorrow.”
