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
4 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 followed and he was given a three-place grid penalty for the 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.
James Vowles, Team Principal:
“It's been fantastic to be in Madrid - really impressed with the track, the facilities, the environment. It is really world class. It was always predicted to be a tough weekend for us and unfortunately that's transpiring to be the case. Well done to Alex, he had almost no laps underneath his belt after a small incident in FP3 but put in a really strong lap to put that car into Q2.
“With Carlos, as you saw there was just milliseconds between the two drivers as there always is. The impeding penalty is the team's responsibility - we didn't warn Carlos of Valtteri behind him and we need to change and improve our systems to make sure we do so in future. We are not here to be fighting for 17th but we will give our all tomorrow. It is a race that I feel could present some twists and turns and we need to be ready for them when they come.”
Alex Albon:
“I’m happy to be through to Q2 today after what’s been a tough weekend so far. I was on the back foot going into this session, having only done a handful of laps, especially at a track like Madrid where you need a lot of laps to get up to speed. We changed some parts on the car, which thankfully paid off and got us out of Q1, which is an achievement given all the issues we’ve faced. Tomorrow will be a challenge as it’s not an overtaking track, but we’ll do what we can to get a good result.”
Carlos Sainz:
“It was a good lap but a scrappy qualifying overall, with several issues that cost us precious tenths in the end. We knew we would struggle at this track but we also went out very early for the last push, losing out on track evolution, and had some deployment losses that prevented us from getting into Q2. Apologies to Valtteri for impeding his lap, I wasn’t aware he was pushing and had no time to get out of his way.
On a positive note, this track has been a lot of fun to drive at qualifying pace, and I’m enjoying being so close to the walls and always driving at the limit. It’s been incredible to feel the support of the fans throughout the weekend so far, and it’s a dream come true to be here racing in front of my home crowd. Tomorrow, overtaking will be difficult, but we will try our best to come back and give everyone something to cheer for!”
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