Four overtakes made Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid the least pass-friendly Formula 1 race through the first 14 rounds, and probably the rest of 2026
We don't even have to wait for the season to end. Four overtakes were recorded at the Madring during the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving Madrid last among all completed Formula 1 races in 2026 for on-track passing after Lap 1.
Kimi Antonelli still found a way through that nobody could stop. The Mercedes driver won after 57 laps, to claim his eighth victory of the season.
Madrid claims the wooden spoon
The inaugural Madring race produced fewer passes than any other completed Grand Prix through Round 14. Even Monaco, Formula 1’s traditional parade route, delivered 10 overtakes in June. Madrid had four.
Spectators had plenty of time to study rear wings.
The gap to the rest of the season was considerable. China produced 101 overtakes, Miami delivered 88 and Japan had 85. The Italian Grand Prix, held one week before Madrid, featured 78, while Canada reached 72.
Madrid’s four also fell well short of Belgium’s 59 and Australia’s 58. Austria supplied 51, while the earlier Spanish race at Barcelona-Catalunya produced 50. Overtake totals can vary under different counting methods, but Madrid was the confirmed low point in the available 2026 comparison. Just look at the difference compared in the top 10.
Madrid recorded just four overtakes, far behind every other race in the available 2026 comparison.
Official sources: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5
Antonelli leads the procession home
Antonelli finished 4.3 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with Lando Norris third, 5 seconds behind the Mercedes. Those final gaps suggested pressure at the front, yet the circuit gave drivers few opportunities to turn proximity into position.
McLaren said Norris lost the race because overtaking was impossible. Drivers also called for changes to improve passing at the Madring following its debut weekend.
The reaction reflected the four-overtake total. The race was described as a “tepid Spanish GP,” as attention shifted to the circuit’s lack of passing opportunities. One post-race headline summed up the response: “I almost fell asleep.”
A rare quiet afternoon in 2026
The Madring result was an outlier in a season featuring much higher passing totals. Monaco was the only other completed race in the supplied comparison with fewer than 50, and its 10 passes still topped Madrid’s count by six.
The Spanish Grand Prix averaged one recorded post-Lap 1 overtake every 14.25 laps. China’s total was more than 25 times Madrid’s, while the previous round at Monza produced 74 more passes.
Two Spanish events appeared on the 2026 calendar. Lewis Hamilton won at Barcelona-Catalunya on June 14 after 66 laps, then Antonelli won the separate Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid three months later. The capital’s debut took the unwanted season distinction.
Another win stretches Antonelli’s lead
The lack of movement behind Antonelli did not slow his championship campaign. His Madrid victory followed wins in China, Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Belgium and Italy.
After 14 rounds, the Italian led the drivers’ standings with 292 points. Mercedes teammate George Russell was second on 211, putting Antonelli 81 points clear. Hamilton held third with 191, followed by Norris on 186 and Charles Leclerc on 167.
Formula 1 next heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend from September 24 to 26, where Madrid’s benchmark of four overtakes will be the number nobody wants to beat.
