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Hamilton looking cheekily at Norris who is smiling, stood under the same umbrella in Ferrari and McLaren kit respectively — Photo: © IMAGO
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The starting grid is set for the first ever Spanish Grand Prix to take place at the new Madring circuit later today (Sunday September 13).

Defending world champion Lando Norris (McLaren) will start from P1 after qualifying on pole by just one hundredth of a second from championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes).

Max Verstappen produced a terrific lap for Red Bull to claim P3, ahead of Ferrari pair Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The entire world will be looking out for more first-lap fireworks after that early contact at Monza between the men from Maranello.

George Russell's fading title hopes suffered another major blow as he could only qualify P6 - four places behind his Mercedes team-mate Antonelli.

We have three penalties to sport, starting with Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. He takes a 40-place penalty for using engine components outside his allotted allowance, and he will line up in P21.

There is also bad news for local hero Carlos Sainz, who picked up a three-place grid penalty for impeding Cadillac star Valtteri Bottas during qualifying. He drops from P17 to P20.

The final penalty to report is Haas star Ollie Bearman starting from the pit lane after changing engine components under parc fermé after qualifying.

Carlos Sainz gets a three-place grid penalty for impeding.
Carlos Sainz gets a three-place grid penalty for impeding.

MADRING CIRCUIT GUIDE: Why F1's newest track is going to be WILD this weekend

F1 Starting Grid - 2026 Spanish Grand Prix

The final starting grid, subject to final confirmation by the FIA, is as follows:

F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid
Pos Driver Team
1 Lando Norris McLaren
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
6 George Russell Mercedes
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren
8 Liam Lawson Red Bull
9 Franco Colapinto Alpine
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi
13 Esteban Ocon Haas
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine
15 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls
16 Alex Albon Williams
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
18 Sergio Perez Cadilac
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac
20 *Carlos Sainz Williams
21 ** Lance Stroll Aston Martin
Pit Lane ***Ollie Bearman Haas

* Carlos Sainz starts P20 after a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying.

** Lance Stroll starts P22 after a 40-place grid penalty for using power unit components outside of his allotted allowance.

*** Ollie Bearman stars from the pit lane after changing engine components under parc fermé after qualifying.

READ MORE: Where do F1 drivers live, and why so many choose Monaco?

Graham Shaw
Written by
Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor
Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.
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