> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Everything we learned on day one at F1's Spanish GP - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/everything-we-learned-on-day-one-at-f1s-spanish-gp/ - Published: 2026-09-10T20:15:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-10T20:15:53.000Z - Description: Fallout from Ferrari's Monza disaster and intrigue - or perhaps trepidation - over the Madring track headline our everything we learned feature from day one in Spain - Author: The Race Team - Tags: Formula 1, #spanish-grand-prix, #primary_homepage_feature Perhaps in part down to the abundance of intrigue about the Madring track, the drivers have arrived in the Spanish capital in great form and had plenty to discuss on the first day of 'action' in Madrid. Whether it's the fallout from Ferrari's Monza nightmare, the track itself, one team's resource issue manifesting, driving style analysis or how F1 2026's newest classmate is learning, there's plenty to get into. Let's get started, class. ### Ferrari drivers claim the air has been cleared As has become the norm in F1, Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc [did their best to diffuse any noise](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-ferrari-drivers-have-revealed-about-post-monza-talks/) around the fallout from a bruising Monza weekend on Thursday in Madrid. Hamilton said they had a productive face-to-face talk after the race, in which they “squashed” any differences of opinion over their opening lap run-in. Leclerc said it’s now “very clear what we should do or avoid going forward”. Rules of engagement didn’t come up in Hamilton’s post-race talks with team boss Fred Vasseur either. So all is fine at Ferrari, right? Well, we’ll only know that when they meet again on track. And importantly, all the changes Hamilton called for after Monza can’t be implemented as quickly as Madrid. He described it as “a longer-term process. “There's a huge amount of moving parts. There's a lot of people. There's a culture that's been there for a long, long time. Moving big pieces is not so easy.” He thinks Ferrari will “eventually get to the point we need” in terms of execution and operations, but it certainly won’t be this weekend in Madrid. **\- Josh Suttill** ### Leclerc 'fine' after medical checks Having been released from the medical centre on Sunday afternoon after the crash, Leclerc said he would have “quite a few additional checks” to know if he’d be “fully fine” to race in Madrid. He’d revealed his “right eye was not showing me great vision” immediately after the crash, though that cleared up soon afterwards. On Thursday in Madrid, when asked what was checked after Monza, Leclerc said: “Quite a lot of things. But it was quite a big one. Probably from outside, it looked like a big one as well. But it felt also like a big one. “Sometimes you can look quite big from outside, but from the car, it's fine. But going out, I wasn't feeling so well. "But actually, it was just the shock. I did quite a lot of checks and quite a lot of treatments in the first few days, mostly for the neck, because I felt a little bit tight, which I guess is normal. “But now I'm fine, all the checks I did were fine.” **\- JS** ### Mad Madring has drivers spooked ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dd/af/ddafbd99-2ccd-468c-b622-4b3cccf80b49/content/images/2026/09/XPB_1434950_HiRes.jpg) To the F1 grid, on the sim and now in the flesh, the Madring circuit has lived up to that initial shock of hearing about the 19 red flags in F3 testing. George Russell said he was surprised by how high that number was when he first heard it - then surprised it hadn't been higher once he did his sim sessions. Described as "crazy" and "scary" and the calendar's most "complicated", the Madring is being tipped for a Monaco-esque weekend of gradual pace and track ramp-up (and being peppered with red flags) - but it is less intuitive set-up-wise than the 'no straights, no high-speed corners' Monaco, so that will be a headache, too. But it is all about qualifying. Ollie Bearman and Alex Albon pointed out that the best overtaking opportunities are hindered by angled corner entry meaning that overtakes will need to happen before the braking zone rather than on the brakes, if they happen at all. But the 22 drivers need to get their cars to the grid in one piece before they can worry about any of that. **\- Valentin Khorounzhiy** ### Antonelli is defending by attacking There are few things more exhausting in motor racing than runaway championship leaders talking about how 'you guys, I don't look at the standings at all, I take it one race at a time'. That talk is almost always a waste of the molecular vibration required for it to be heard. Antonelli right now is one of the rare exceptions - because, as he argued, "I think Monza was the proof that I wasn't thinking about or worrying about the championship". That 'proof' is in both his charge early on and in nearly throwing it all away in the Variante del Rettifilo gravel while battling Mercedes team-mate George Russell. The aggression risked egg on Antonelli's face but instead pushed his points lead above 60 - and he vows not to abandon it just yet. "Of course, there might be occasions in the future where, before taking a certain decision, I might think about the championship - but the thing I want to avoid is going to the track for a free practice or a qualifying, or even a race, thinking about or worrying about the championship. "That's the thing I want to avoid, at all costs." ### Tsunoda highlights overlooked 2026 challenge This generation of Formula 1 cars has garnered plenty of criticism from mainstay drivers, but what about the driver who’s jumped in partway through the season? Yuki Tsunoda’s fresh perspective on the 2026 cars has outlined an overlooked challenge unique to this energy-starved generation. In Madrid, before his third substitute appearance of the season, Tsunoda said energy management on outlaps was a challenge. He said he has to remind himself not to use too much energy during outlaps, the caveat being that “if you don't use the energy, the tyre is going to be cold, so you want to be sometimes aggressive…” “You want to start the lap with 100% battery. Sacrifice places, where to do it, where to not. It was very complicated and something that I f\*\*\*\*\*\* up quite a lot in qualifying. The consequences were huge,” he said with emphasis. “I was underestimating the amount of damage or penalty you'll get if you don't do everything right and I definitely experienced it in qualifying.” Tsunoda wasn’t scathing about the F1 2026 cars, however. He added: “It's a bit more difficult and there's a lot more things going on, \[even\] how to do the switch changes out lap. So, it can be more stressful. “But at the same time, in the race you can have more overtakes. So far, it's a car that I'm able to adapt pretty quickly for me and able to be on the pace pretty quickly. So, I don’t hate it.” He's still seeking a seat for 2027 and, on Thursday in Spain, he said he “doesn’t want to” remain on the sidelines. **\- Samarth Kanal** ### Even less sim time than Lewis! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dd/af/ddafbd99-2ccd-468c-b622-4b3cccf80b49/content/images/2026/09/XPB_1435118_HiRes.jpg) Much was made earlier this season about Lewis Hamilton's decision to [ditch the simulator](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton-ditched-ferrari-simulator-for-canadian-gp/) as a tool to establish set-up on his Ferrari. Ollie Bearman reckons he and Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon are the only drivers even close to Hamilton in terms of how little sim work they do. Addressing Haas's new simulator in Banbury - which will be physically complete by the end of the year but will require longer to be ready due to the need to develop things like the software involved - Bearman made a hilarious quip about Hamilton, but which exposes where Haas might be at in comparison to the better-funded teams. "Their \[Ferrari's\] simulator runs eight days a week. Our simulator runs one day a month, so you can imagine the differences there," Bearman said. He added: "I would say on the grid, I would say Esteban and myself are the least, maybe except for Lewis, I would say we drive the least on the simulator." Until their new sim is ready, Haas is using Ferrari's Maranello sim but having to share that with the bigger team means it is restricted in how many hours it gets, as Ferrari gets the priority. Bearman also addressed another resource element Haas doesn't have. Whereas Ferrari has a junior - like Bearman once was - doing the prep work in the simulator each time it's used to make sure it's working correctly and relevant for the main drivers to then jump in and takeover, Bearman says he and Ocon have to do that prep work themselves and that eats into their time for using the sim. It feels like Haas's lack of resources are addressed relatively often, especially when it comes to things like upgrades and parts on the car. But the sim is an example of some of the lesser-talked about plight F1's poorest-resourced team has to suffer. **\- Jack Benyon** ### Norris on F1 2026 driving styles Lando Norris has said that this generation of F1 cars really doesn’t suit his driving style. Given the current of Formula 1 car’s energy management intricacies, new bodywork, and narrower tyres, there’s been plenty of talk about driving styles with Russell one frontrunner outspoken in how his driving style doesn’t suit F1 2026’s demands. And now the reigning champion has admitted he's in the same boat. Asked about Russell's comments, Norris said: “I wouldn't really say my driving style suits this car. “I think my driving style is good because I'm able to adapt better. I don't think it's one style that works. I don't think I drive the same way as Kimi. “I've obviously never had him as a team-mate. Or Lewis. So I have no idea.” Norris said his strength lies in “adaptability”. “I think last year at the beginning it suited Oscar \[Piastri\] a little bit more and my strength was being able to adapt better to then finally understand how to drive it in a better way," he added. "Hence then I started to have a better second half of the season." Norris said that this year’s generation of car is “not even 1%” in similarity to last year’s. After Mercedes dominated at Monza, Norris said he hopes Madrid’s range of corner types “shift \[McLaren\] back in the direction of being more competitive”. **\- SK** ### Perez loves Cadillac's new factory Sergio Perez has driven for almost half of the teams on the grid in one form or another, but reserved high praise for Cadillac's new factory building at Silverstone. He described it as "very impressive", saying that "I've never seen a factory like this in my career". That's high praise from someone who was driving for Red Bull only two years ago. The Silverstone site is still a work in progress, but the new building that was moved into at the end of the August break features what new team principal Marcin Budkowski described as an "amazing engineering office layout", which is circular with a car in the centre that "reminds us what we're here to do". And from Perez's perspective, it's not just about the design office or the new shiny kit. "Everything is new," said Perez. "The new equipment they have, all the platforms, how nicely it is connected, all the different departments. It's very well organised, very well thought out." Cadillac is still a long way off being the finished article as a team in terms of its facilities, but Perez's reaction points to this latest step being an important one. - **Edd Straw**