F1 Daily: The Madrid Snoozefest, a New F3 Champion, and Beganovic's First Win

The first Formula One race at Circuito de Madring is now done and dusted. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won from starting P3 on the grid, extending his championship lead to 81 points over teammate George Russell.

It was an uneventful F1 race at Madrid, but the weekend also gave us action across F2 and F3 events, including a first-time race winner and a first-time champion. 

McLaren's Lando Norris, who started from pole on Sunday, got off to a great start and controlled the race from the front. However, a Lance Stroll crash on Lap 15 triggered the Virtual Safety Car, but it just so happened that Norris was already past the pit lane entry. When he circled back into the entry, the green light was already on, and his rivals had already pitted.

To add to his misery, McLaren's pit crew couldn't get off the front right tyre quickly, resulting in a delay in his pit time.

It was a gut-wrenching race for Norris, who eventually settled into a P3 finish. After the race, Norris called for changes in the VSC rules, particularly on allowing every driver the opportunity to box under the said conditions. 

Brake issues forced Lewis Hamilton to retire his Ferrari on Lap 7 of the 2026 F1 Spanish Grand Prix. The seven-time World Champion experienced the issues early on and tried to run a couple more laps to see if the brakes would normalize. But it didn't, and so his day at the Madring circuit ended early.

Unfortunately for Hamilton, his no-points finish at Madrid puts him further back from the championship. He's now 101 points behind the championship leader.

After Lap 1, we only saw four on-track overtakes during the Spanish GP. It's the lowest total this season so far, even lower than the 10 overtakes we had at Monaco.

So, it's not surprising that drivers like Norris, Antonelli, George Russell, and Oliver Bearman (and actually many more) are calling for changes in the circuit for 2027. They want more overtaking opportunities, and frankly, the fans would want that, too.

DAMS Lucas Oil's Dino Beganovic finally broke through this season, winning the F2 Feature Race at Madrid. He was able to navigate two Safety Car restarts cleanly, finishing ahead of Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne by more than seven seconds.

Dunne's podium finish keeps him in contention for the season title, especially with frontrunners Nikola Tsolov and Rafael Camara struggling at Madrid.

American driver Ugo Ugochukwu crossed the line second in the F3 Spanish GP, securing the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Drivers' Championship. He also became the first American driver to win an F3 title.

The 19-year-old Ugochukwu currently races for Campos Racing, after competing for Prema Racing in 2025. Ugochukwu's championship should put him firmly on the radar as a young driver to watch.