REPORT: A Tough Spanish Grand Prix

We knew the Spanish Grand Prix was going to be a tricky weekend, but when both cars had their races compromised at the first corner, the task became even more difficult.

Starting from P11, Alex Albon was squeezed at Turn 1 and suffered front wing damage, as did Carlos Sainz from P17. Both were forced to pit early for new front wings, leaving them at the back of the pack by Lap 10.

From there, the focus shifted to recovery. Alex and Carlos aimed to climb back into contention during the opening pit cycle, but progress was tough in a tightly packed midfield. On Lap 24, Alex was forced wide at Turn 1 while battling Liam Lawson. He rejoined via the escape road and retained position – a move that earned him a 10-second penalty from the stewards.

Before the penalty was awarded, Alex and Lawson clashed again at Turn 1, resulting in further front wing damage. The call was made to retire the car after the penalty was served.

With Alex sidelined, attention turned to Carlos. He managed his second stint on Soft tyres effectively before switching to Mediums on Lap 36 for the final run to the flag.

Carlos began to gain positions as others stopped, and with 12 laps to go, a Safety Car reset the field after Kimi Antonelli retired with a mechanical issue. We pitted Carlos for fresh Softs, setting up a final push from P16 in what became a seven-lap sprint to the finish.

He immediately challenged Yuki Tsunoda and eventually passed Esteban Ocon for P15. A post-race penalty for Ollie Bearman promoted Carlos to P14.

"Our race was over from the first lap following incidents breaking both front wings," James Vowles commented.

"We executed the stops as quickly as possible. From that point onwards, we weren’t quick enough. We need to review what damage there was elsewhere on the car as they were fairly large knocks at the beginning of the race.

"Carlos did fantastically, keeping his nose in the race as much as possible. He could see the points in front of him, but ultimately, we lost out too much at the beginning.

"We knew this would be a difficult race for us coming into it, and unfortunately as much as we’ve improved elsewhere, we haven’t improved sufficiently here. We need to go back and make sure we completely understand everything before we go into 2026.

"In regard to Alex, he was in a very similar position to Carlos. He did his best, but ultimately from both the first lap incident and the following front wing damage, the race was over."

"It was a tough race for me and the team," Carlos added. "We picked up front wing damage on the first lap, which made us lose a lot of race time, and struggled with engine overheating when following cars.

"In clean air the pace looked better but overall, the weekend hasn’t been very positive, as expected. I want to thank all the fans for their incredible support the entire week and hopefully we’ll be back to better form in Canada."

"We lost out quite heavily at the beginning and were on the back foot into Turn 1," Alex concluded.

"The cars ahead were avoiding each other, and I was the one to get hit, so we were forced onto a three-stop strategy to replace my front wing. I tried my best to stay out of the way in each incident, but we ended up with damage both times.

"We need to look at this track and understand why it’s such a challenge for us. I want us to be a top team, and it’s important to put the car to the test at tracks like this so we can learn valuable lessons and optimise our car for the future.

"Overall, I feel like I’m in a good rhythm with the car and I’m looking forward to Canada."