Kimi Antonelli delivers latest F1 title blow as Lewis Hamilton suffers brake failure at Spanish GP

Kimi Antonelli has won the Spanish Grand Prix, taking his eighth victory of the 2026 F1 campaign.

The Mercedes driver has further extended his championship advantage, crossing the line ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

It was a disastrous race for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who was forced to retire his car early on after suffering a brake failure.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc led for much of the race after staying out under a virtual safety car, but was forced to concede the lead to Antonelli late on.

Norris maintains early control

On the opening lap, Norris held onto the lead while Antonelli attacked, running off the track on two occasions while doing so.

As a result, he was forced to give up his position to Norris, having moved ahead off the circuit - but as he did so, Verstappen managed to slip through.

But Verstappen himself was asked to give his place back to Hamilton, forcing the Dutchman to lose two positions as he also had to allow Antonelli through in the process.

Soon after, though, Hamilton’s race would come completely undone, as a brake issue forced him to retire from the grand prix.

Up front, Norris stretched out his lead across the opening 10 laps, pulling himself well clear of Antonelli.

However, the race would soon be turned on its head, as Lance Stroll also noted brake issues of his own, which saw him end the race in the wall.

Virtual safety car results in McLaren pain

A virtual safety car was then called, which saw much of the field come in for a pit stop.

Unfortunately for Norris, it was called right after he passed the pit lane entry, allowing Antonelli and the rest to get a cheap pit stop.

Norris pitted the next time around, but at that stage the virtual safety car had ended, which dropped Norris to fifth place after his stop.

To add insult to injury, he suffered a slow stop - ensuring he rejoined behind Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell.

Leclerc was the only driver in the front-running pack who did not elect to take a pit stop under the virtual safety car as Ferrari targeted a one-stop strategy.

Norris was able to gain a position when Russell pitted on lap 29 and spent the next handul of laps closing in on Verstappen for third.

Run to the flag

With Antonelli held up out front by Leclerc, Verstappen and Norris closed in before he was released into clear air when the Ferrari pitted on lap 49.

From there, he was able to eke out the gap and seal the victory.

Verstappen came under significant pressure from Norris in the final laps, however, the Dutchman held on to take the runner-up spot.

Leclerc had to settle for fourth place, while Russell took sixth on the road in the second Mercedes.

After a disappointing outing last time out in Italy, Liam Lawson returned to the points - albeit in a rather lonely sixth place.

Franco Colapinto consolidated another strong result with a run to seventh place, leading Oscar Piastri across the line, who suffered another turbulent race for McLaren.

Arvid Lindblad's positive rookie campaign continued with another point-scoring result in ninth after he held off Nico Hulkenberg in the final laps.

F1 will return in two weeks' time with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Baku.