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Formula 1 has spent 35 years turning left at Turn 1 in Montmeló. Not this September. The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix moves to the Madring, a brand-new street circuit wrapped around the IFEMA Exhibition Centre on the edge of the Spanish capital, and it arrives with concrete walls, 22 corners and a banked right-hander unlike anything on the current calendar. It’s the 16th round of the season, the last European race of 2026, and the first genuine unknown the field has faced all year.
Spanish GP 2026 Schedule: Every Session Time at the Madring
The weekend runs from Friday 11 September to Sunday 13 September, with the Grand Prix itself starting at 3pm local time on Sunday afternoon.
| Session | Day | Local (Madrid) | UK | US Eastern | US Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday 11 Sept | 13:30 | 12:30 | 07:30 | 04:30 |
| Practice 2 | Friday 11 Sept | 17:00 | 16:00 | 11:00 | 08:00 |
| Practice 3 | Saturday 12 Sept | 12:30 | 11:30 | 06:30 | 03:30 |
| Qualifying | Saturday 12 Sept | 16:00 | 15:00 | 10:00 | 07:00 |
| Spanish Grand Prix | Sunday 13 Sept | 15:00 | 14:00 | 09:00 | 06:00 |
Two hours of Friday running is all anyone gets to decode a circuit no driver has raced on. Expect teams to burn through set-up options early rather than chase headline lap times.
Where to Watch the Spanish Grand Prix: Sky Sports F1 and Apple TV
UK viewers get wall-to-wall coverage on Sky Sports F1, starting a day before the cars turn a wheel. In the United States, the Formula 1 TAG Heuer Gran Premio de España 2026 is available on Apple TV across all three days.
The Sky Sports F1 programme (UK times):
Thursday 10 September
- 2pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
- 5pm: Paddock Uncut
Friday 11 September
- 8.50am: F3 Practice
- 10am: F2 Practice
- 12pm: Spanish Grand Prix Practice One coverage
- 12.55pm: F2 Qualifying
- 2.40pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
- 3.45pm: Spanish Grand Prix Practice Two coverage
- 5.20pm: F3 Qualifying
- 6.20pm: The F1 Show
Saturday 12 September
- 10am: F3 Sprint
- 11am: Spanish Grand Prix Practice Three build-up
- 1.10pm: F2 Sprint
- 2.15pm: Qualifying build-up
- 3pm: Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying
- 4.55pm: F3 Feature Race 1
- 6pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday 13 September
- 8.40am: F3 Feature Race 2
- 10.20am: F2 Feature Race
- 12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday build-up
- 2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
- 4pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction
- 5pm: Ted’s Notebook
Madring Track Layout: 22 Corners and F1’s Longest Banked Turn
The Madring measures 3.365 miles and packs in 22 corners, but one of them is doing most of the talking. La Monumental, a vast right-hander banked at a 24 per cent gradient, is set to become the longest banked corner in Formula 1 — a genuine structural oddity in a sport that flattened out its high-speed bowls decades ago.
The rest of the lap is fast, narrow and unforgiving. Barriers sit close, run-off is minimal, and the margin between a lap that sticks and a lap that ends in the wall is thin. This is a track that will punish a scruffy exit far more than it rewards a brave entry.
Carlos Sainz, who has been directly involved with the circuit and its organisation, framed the challenge in familiar terms: the layout reminds him of Jeddah, of Baku, and even of Macau in places. He called the combination of barrier placement and track design one of “the biggest challenges in Formula 1 recently” — and pointed out that doing it in a car making around 1000bhp raises the stakes again.
Why Qualifying Could Decide the Spanish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton has already flagged the obvious problem with a tight street layout: overtaking will be hard. That makes Saturday afternoon the most valuable hour of the weekend. Track position at the Madring won’t just help — it may effectively lock in the podium order before the lights go out.
That shifts the entire strategic picture. Teams that would normally chase race pace in FP2 will be tempted to prioritise a single-lap set-up, and drivers who typically build into a weekend won’t have the practice mileage to do it. Qualifying errors on a circuit this unforgiving tend to end in the barriers rather than a scruffy lap time, and a red flag in Q3 could reshuffle the grid entirely. For a closer look at how the market is pricing pole and race winner heading into Sunday, Tips.gg has the latest Spanish GP odds and predictions.
Kimi Antonelli’s Title Lead After Monza: The Numbers
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Madrid on the back of the drive of the season. He started 19th at Monza and won, dragging himself through the field to convert a disaster of a Saturday into a statement Sunday — and to stretch his championship lead in the process.
| Driver | Points behind Antonelli |
|---|---|
| Kimi Antonelli | Championship leader |
| George Russell | 66 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 76 |
| Lando Norris | 96 |
Mercedes locked out a one-two at Monza, but they aren’t expected to hold that kind of edge in Madrid. The Madring’s stop-start rhythm and low-speed corner sequences reward a different car than Monza’s flat-out layout did, which gives Russell, Hamilton and Norris their clearest opening in weeks. With 96 points separating Antonelli from Norris, though, the maths is getting brutal for anyone outside the top three.
Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso: Spain’s Home Heroes in Madrid
Spanish fans get two drivers to shout for. Carlos Sainz carries Williams colours and a personal stake in the venue itself, having been involved in the track and the race’s organisation. Fernando Alonso lines up for Aston Martin at a circuit within reach of the capital that has cheered him since the mid-2000s.
Alonso’s presence carries an extra weight this year: it is not yet confirmed whether this will be his final Spanish Grand Prix. No decision has been made, but the possibility hangs over the weekend and will make every lap of his — in practice, in qualifying, on Sunday — feel heavier than it otherwise would. A Spanish crowd that knows this might be the last time doesn’t do quiet.
Spanish GP Weather Forecast: Hot and Dry in Madrid
No rain, no hedging. The forecast points to sunny skies across all three days with air temperatures around 32C.
That heat matters more than it sounds. High track temperatures on an abrasive new surface put tyre degradation and cooling right at the centre of Sunday’s strategy, and drivers who lean on their fronts through the Madring’s slower corners will pay for it in the closing stint. Add a banked corner loading the tyres in ways the simulations can only estimate, and Sunday becomes an exercise in managing a car that’s constantly on the edge of overheating.
F2 and F3 in Madrid: A Championship Decider on the Support Bill
Madrid isn’t just an F1 weekend. The 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship reaches its final round here across three races, meaning a junior title will be settled on the same walls that are troubling the Grand Prix grid. Formula 2 is in action too, with a Sprint on Saturday and a Feature Race on Sunday morning.
F3’s season finale on a debut street circuit is a combustible combination: large grids, tight racing, young drivers with a championship on the line and almost no margin for error. Expect safety cars, and expect the F1 paddock to be watching closely.
Spanish Grand Prix History: From Pedralbes to the Madring
The Spanish Grand Prix is one of the oldest events in motorsport, and Madrid becomes its latest home. It joined the World Championship in 1951 at the Pedralbes street circuit in Barcelona, where Juan Manuel Fangio clinched his first title. Since then the race has moved through Jarama, Montjuïc, Jerez and — from 1991 onwards — the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, totalling 55 editions.
Last year’s race went to Oscar Piastri, with Lando Norris second and Charles Leclerc completing the podium.
| Record | Holder(s) | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Most driver wins | Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton | 6 |
| Most consecutive wins | Lewis Hamilton (2017–2021) | 5 |
| Most constructor wins | Ferrari | 12 |
| Second-most constructor wins | Mercedes | 9 |
| Joint third | McLaren, Williams | 8 |
Spanish Grand Prix 2026 FAQ
What time does the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix start?
The race begins at 15:00 local time on Sunday 13 September — 14:00 in the UK, 09:00 US Eastern and 06:00 US Pacific.
Where is the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix being held?
At the Madring, a new street circuit built around the IFEMA Exhibition Centre just outside Madrid. It replaces the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the host venue.
How long is the Madring circuit?
3.365 miles, with 22 corners, including La Monumental — a banked right-hander at a 24 per cent gradient, set to be the longest banked corner in F1.
Who leads the F1 2026 championship going into Spain?
Kimi Antonelli, by 66 points from George Russell, 76 from Lewis Hamilton and 96 from Lando Norris, after winning from 19th on the grid at Monza.
Who won the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix?
Oscar Piastri, ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Is this Fernando Alonso’s last Spanish Grand Prix?
Unconfirmed. Alonso has not made a decision on his future, which is exactly why this weekend carries an extra edge for the home crowd.
What’s at Stake Beyond Madrid
The Madring is the last European stop of 2026, which makes it the hinge point of the season. Antonelli leaves Spain either with a lead that has become a formality or with a first real crack in it — and on a circuit where a single clumsy braking moment can end an afternoon in the wall, both outcomes are live. For Russell, Hamilton and Norris, this is the weekend to prove Monza was a Mercedes track rather than an Antonelli era.
Then the calendar leaves the continent and the run-in begins in earnest. Whatever happens under the Madrid sun on Sunday, the championship that arrives at the flyaway rounds will look different from the one that turned up here.