2026 Spanish Grand Prix Preview: 5 Big Talking Points Heading into the Weekend

Linus O'Howell

10 minutes ago

4 min read

Bienvenido Madrid

The Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona is no more, as the Madring is set to make its debut this weekend! After first making preliminary contact at the end of 2022, Formula 1 officially confirmed in January 2024 that they would be moving the Spanish Grand Prix from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to a new purpose-built circuit around the IFEMA Exhibition Centre in the country’s capital, Madrid! Since then, grandstands have been made, and a circuit layout has been established. The layout itself has created a ton of buzz, both positive and negative, with the track actually debuting earlier this year in the official Formula 1 Game! Ultimately, we won’t know whether or not the racing around this circuit is going to be any good until we see the first Grand Prix this Sunday, but it seems very common amongst the F1 community that chaos is expected! So, who can win at the Madring as the legacy of the Spanish Grand Prix continues!

Where Does George Russell Go From Here?

Out of all of the drivers in Monza, perhaps nobody lost out more than George Russell! With it already being decided heading into the weekend that teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli was going to start at the back of the grid, the Italian Grand Prix had to be the weekend where George won to restart his charge at this year’s World Championship! Instead, Russell only went and saw his gap increase, as he finished second to his teammate in one of the most iconic wins of recent memory! Of course, Kimi winning from P19 was always going to hurt, but it perhaps stings even more for Russell given the fact that he didn’t really put a foot wrong! In fact, George’s pace in each of the two weekends since we came back from the Summer Break has been good; the two Mercs have been pretty evenly matched, but on both occasions, Antonelli finished the Race ahead! I sometimes think that George Russell’s approach to everything is all about him winning the World Championship in 2027, like he’s already given up on this year’s Title, and whilst he definitely shouldn’t do that, who can really blame him after how Monza played out!

Another Home Race for Fernando Alonso

At this point, Fernando Alonso is collecting Home Race Infinity Stones! Of course, Fernando has competed around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya a ridiculous 23 times (just on a Grand Prix Weekend, let alone Pre-Season Testing), whilst he also competed in 5 European Grand Prix’s held in Valencia! Now, at the age of 45, Alonso is set for a rare first: driving around the streets of Madrid! Unfortunately for Fernando, he’s not exactly driving a particularly good car, although with the Madring’s characteristics resulting in outright power not being as critical, Aston Martin will hope to be slightly more competitive at the Spanish Grand Prix! Also, if there is a bit of carnage, expect Fernando Alonso to capitalise!

Alpine’s Whirlwind of a Monza

Out of all of the teams, Alpine perhaps had the craziest few days in Monza! I mean, the weekend literally started with Pierre Gasly losing his Podium from Monaco, something that would’ve hurt both the driver and the team a ton! Then, on Saturday, Gasly rebounded in the best way possible by taking a stunning Pole Position; the first of Pierre’s entire Formula 1 career! Franco Colapinto would also qualify 8th, whilst at the start of the second restart, Alpine had two cars running in the Podium-paying positions! Unfortunately, a mistake by Colapinto saw the Argentine tumble down the order, whilst Gasly simply didn’t have the pace to keep with the leaders! However, at the end of the day, Alpine still came away from Monza scoring 8 points, with a P7 for Pierre, and a P9 for Franco! Whilst they obviously would’ve hoped for something better after Qualifying, Alpine would’ve taken a double-points finish heading into the weekend, and they’ll hope for more of the same in Spain!

Carlos Sainz’s Homecoming

It’s become more common for Home Grand Prix’s to be more than just a home country over recent years; take Charles Leclerc, for example, or even Aston Martin (whose base is literally located at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix)! Well, now we can add Carlos Sainz to that list, as the Spaniard just so happened to be born in Madrid! Carlos has had a pretty strong career in Formula 1, winning 4 Races as well as 29 Podiums! In a similar way to fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso, it’s going to be almost impossible for Sainz to reach those same heights this weekend, given how poor Williams have been in 2026! However, the weekend will still remain a special one for the 32-year-old, as Carlos Sainz will remain hopeful of at least a Q2 appearance (which is actually kind of depressing when you write it out)!