Report: P16 and P17 after qualifying at the Madring
Alex Albon pipped Carlos Sainz to a Q2 spot by 0.005s at qualifying for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix
Published
12 SEP 2026
Est. reading time
2 min
The inaugural qualifying session at the Madring is complete, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz ending the session in P16 and P17.
Qualifying got underway with Carlos and Alex both out early on new softs for Madrid's first taste of a competitive lap. Carlos was first on the board with a 1:36.806, with Alex following shortly after on a 1:37.014 – though his effort was later deleted for a track limits infringement at Turn 6.
Both drivers switched to a fresh set of softs for their next attempts, with Alex venting his frustration over a loss of power on the way to setting his next lap.
With the pace tightening across the field, Carlos moved up to a provisional P16 on a 1:35.672, with Alex just behind in P18 on a 1:35.951.
A third set of softs was called for as both drivers looked to find the final tenths needed to progress, and Carlos improved to a 1:35.312.
It came down to the smallest of margins. Alex's final lap of 1:35.307 was enough to see him through in P16, pipping his teammate to the spot by just 0.005 seconds. Carlos' session ended there, but a trip to the stewards will take place after qualifying for an alleged impeding of a Cadillac.
Alex carried his momentum into Q2, setting an early time of 1:35.532 on his three-lap-old softs before returning to the garage to review the data ahead of one final push on another set of used Pirellis.
The last effort didn't come together, though, with Alex reporting the tyres simply weren't in the window.
That brought his qualifying to a close, with Alex set to start Sunday's race from P16. But it was quite the turnaround for Alex, who had hit the wall on his first lap of FP3 earlier in the day, ruling him out of the rest of that session.
It was a disrupted final hour of practice running, with Lewis Hamilton and Ollie Bearman both having incidents that brought out a red flag. Carlos notched 15 laps in FP3, with his best – a 1:35.464 – placing him P18.
Full Saturday reaction to follow.
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