Kimi Antonelli Dominates Practice at the Madring
Kimi Antonelli carried the swagger of a world championship leader into Madrid and stamped it all over Formula 1’s newest and most unforgiving stage.
On a day when the Madring finally revealed its teeth, the Italian topped the timesheets in Practice Two with a 1:33.662, edging the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton by just over a tenth. It was a lap that underlined why he sits 66 points clear in the 2026 standings and why the rest of the grid are chasing shadows as the season heads into its final 10 rounds.
Antonelli sets the tone on the Madring
Antonelli had been shaded by his Mercedes team-mate George Russell in first practice, but the response in the afternoon was emphatic. With qualifying simulations in full swing, he pieced together a clean, committed lap around a circuit that is already being talked about as one of the most demanding on the calendar.
The confidence is hardly surprising. He arrives in Spain fresh from a sensational victory at Monza, where he won his home Grand Prix from 19th on the grid. That comeback has already entered paddock folklore; Friday in Madrid suggested the momentum is still very much his.
Behind him, Ferrari looked sharp. Leclerc and Hamilton hustled their cars around the tight, punishing layout to sit within touching distance of Antonelli’s benchmark, reinforcing the sense that Mercedes and Ferrari are locked on roughly equal terms here. If Friday is any guide, pole position on Saturday could be decided by the smallest of margins and the bravest of final-sector commitments.
All of this is playing out against the backdrop of Formula 1’s first visit to Madrid since 1981. The Spanish capital has thrown itself at the event, and the new street-style Madring is already dictating the storyline.
Madring bites as Lindblad crashes hard
Predictions of chaos had circled the weekend from the moment the circuit map was released. Tight walls, blind entries, zero historical data. The expectation was simple: red flags, and plenty of them.
The junior series obliged. F2 and F3 both produced multiple crashes and stoppages as drivers wrestled with grip, lines, and nerve. When F1 rolled out, the sport’s elite initially rose above the mayhem. First practice passed without major incident, the field feeling their way into a track that punishes the slightest misjudgement.
Then Arvid Lindblad pushed a fraction too far.
The 19-year-old British rookie had been one of the stories of the afternoon, climbing to fourth on the timesheets and looking entirely at home on a circuit that had already caught out more experienced drivers in the support races. On his next flying lap, he went harder again. Turn 13 didn’t forgive him.
He lost the rear, spun, and slammed into the barriers at high speed. The impact triggered a red flag and a delay of just over 10 minutes, abruptly halting the qualifying simulations that were in full flow. The stoppage effectively locked in Antonelli’s time at the top and froze the order at a critical moment in the session.
It also served as a stark reminder: the Madring is not a place to bluff.
Russell searches, Verstappen and McLaren chase
Russell, so strong in FP1, never quite found the same rhythm in the afternoon. Setup changes for FP2 didn’t land as hoped and he slipped to fifth, though still ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
“It was fun to drive the track for the first time,” Russell said afterwards. “It’s always a great experience driving a new circuit. FP1 was a strong session. FP2 we made some setup changes which weren’t quite as good, so we will probably revert back on that. So far so good.”
Those words told their own story. Mercedes know there’s pace in the car. The trick now is to unlock it without sacrificing the stability that the Madring demands.
Verstappen, lurking just behind, never looked fully unleashed but remains within range. Over a single lap, Red Bull have often found a late step across a weekend; Mercedes and Ferrari will be wary of assuming this is a two-team fight too early.
For McLaren, the day brought more frustration than promise. Reigning world champion Lando Norris managed only two laps before a gearbox failure sidelined him, preventing him from setting a time. At any circuit that would be costly. At a brand-new one, it’s a heavy blow.
McLaren had every reason to expect a strong weekend in Madrid. Norris arrived on the back of consecutive victories before Antonelli’s Monza heroics interrupted his run, and the car has generally been a match for anything on the grid. On Friday, that form was nowhere to be seen.
Piastri’s lap put him in the mix but without Norris’s data, McLaren head into Saturday with one hand tied. Norris has usually held the upper hand over his team-mate in recent races; now he must attack qualifying with almost no meaningful running under his belt.
A capital poised for a qualifying showdown
As the sun dipped over Madrid, the picture was clear enough. The new circuit is brutal, the margins are tiny, and the usual hierarchy is under real pressure.
Antonelli sits exactly where a dominant championship leader should: at the top, calm, and quick. Ferrari smell an opportunity to disrupt Mercedes’ control of the weekend. Red Bull hover, waiting for the door to open. McLaren are scrambling to get their title holder back on track.
The Madring has already claimed its first big mistake. On Saturday, with pole on the line and the walls even closer in the drivers’ minds, who dares to push that little bit harder?
