Ferrari and ZYN Look to Halt McLaren's Charge as Formula 1 Heads to Madrid

There is little time for Ferrari to dwell on a difficult home weekend at Monza, because Formula 1 is straight back into action for the second half of its European double-header and, this time, everyone is heading into completely new territory.

The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix takes place from 11–13 September at the new Madring circuit in Madrid, bringing Formula 1 back to the Spanish capital for the first time since Jarama hosted the race in 1981. Unlike the familiar surroundings of Barcelona, Madring is an entirely new challenge, combining public roads around the IFEMA exhibition district with purpose-built sections to create a 5.414km circuit on which Sunday's race will run for 57 laps.

For the Snus Vikings Nicotine Pouch Formula 1 Championship, it arrives at a fascinating point in the season, with Ferrari and ZYN still leading both championships but McLaren and VELO steadily reducing their advantage.

Where We Stand After Monza

Kimi Antonelli's remarkable victory from 19th on the grid dominated the headlines in Italy, while the sponsored drivers experienced contrasting fortunes. Lewis Hamilton recovered to sixth, Charles Leclerc crashed out early and McLaren brought both cars home strongly, with Lando Norris fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth.

That leaves our Drivers' Championship as follows:

Ferrari/ZYN lead the Teams' Championship with 346 points, ahead of McLaren/VELO on 287, while Cadillac/77 remain on zero.

The important figure is now the 20-point gap between Hamilton and Norris, because before Hungary that advantage stood at 56 points. Norris has therefore taken 36 points out of Hamilton's lead across the last three Grands Prix, while McLaren have reduced Ferrari's Teams' Championship advantage from 90 points after Belgium to 59 today.

Madrid gives Ferrari an important opportunity to stop that trend.

Into the Unknown at Madring

The great uncertainty this weekend is that nobody has any previous Grand Prix experience at Madring, so while teams have spent considerable time running simulations, they don't possess the years of real-world tyre, set-up and strategy data that usually underpin a Formula 1 weekend.

One of the circuit's defining features is La Monumental, an enormous banked section stretching for roughly 550 metres, while the rest of the layout mixes fast sections with blind corners, elevation changes and barriers that can leave relatively little margin for error. The unusual characteristics have already prompted speculation about Safety Cars and red flags, particularly while drivers discover just how hard they can push.

Friday practice therefore becomes especially important, as teams simultaneously need to learn how the surface evolves, understand tyre degradation in Madrid's expected warm conditions and determine the best aerodynamic and energy-management settings for the new-generation 2026 cars.

It creates the possibility of a more unpredictable weekend than we would normally expect this late in the season, because whichever team understands Madring fastest could find an advantage that simply doesn't exist at established circuits.

Could Madrid Favour McLaren?

There are reasons for Norris and Piastri to arrive feeling optimistic, particularly because some of Madring's characteristics have been compared with circuits such as Budapest and Zandvoort rather than the extreme low-downforce demands of Monza.

That is significant because Norris won in Hungary and then again at Zandvoort, while even at Monza, where McLaren weren't able to continue that winning sequence, Norris and Piastri still finished fourth and fifth to take another substantial chunk out of Ferrari's advantage.

Norris is now only 20 points behind Hamilton, which means a victory combined with a difficult afternoon for the Ferrari driver could suddenly make the championship lead itself vulnerable, while Piastri's role is becoming increasingly important in the Teams' Championship. His 116 points may leave him some distance from the leading three drivers, but every strong double finish gives VELO another opportunity to reduce Ferrari and ZYN's 59-point advantage.

Ferrari, meanwhile, need to get both cars back towards the front after Leclerc's Monza retirement. Their strength throughout much of this championship has come from having Hamilton and Leclerc accumulating points together, and when both finish strongly they can limit the damage even if Norris wins; when one Ferrari fails to score, as happened in Italy, the mathematics become considerably more favourable for McLaren.

Leclerc also has his own incentive to respond because, despite the Monza setback, he remains only 16 points behind Norris and 36 behind Hamilton, meaning one strong weekend could put him firmly back into the Drivers' Championship battle.

Antonelli Could Complicate the Fight Again

Although Kimi Antonelli isn't part of our sponsored-driver championship, it would be difficult to discuss Madrid without mentioning the man who produced the performance of the weekend at Monza.

His drive from 19th to victory demonstrated the threat Mercedes pose to Ferrari and McLaren, and that matters to our championship because every Mercedes that finishes between two sponsored drivers changes the points available to them. Antonelli and George Russell don't need to be competing for the Nicotine Pouch Championship themselves to have a significant influence over who eventually wins it.

With every team starting from a relatively blank sheet at Madring, Mercedes could once again become an important part of the story.

Can Bottas Finally Get 77 on the Board?

For Cadillac and 77, meanwhile, the question remains unchanged: can Valtteri Bottas finally score?

The completely new circuit could provide one of Cadillac's better opportunities, particularly if unfamiliarity produces incidents, Safety Cars or an unusual strategy race. Bottas brings plenty of experience to a weekend when adaptability could matter more than usual, but Cadillac still need to convert any opportunity into their first points of our championship.

Ferrari's Chance to Stop the Momentum

Madrid therefore arrives at exactly the right moment for the Nicotine Pouch Formula 1 Championship.

Hamilton still leads Norris by 20 points, Leclerc remains within striking distance in third and Ferrari/ZYN retain a useful 59-point advantage over McLaren/VELO, but the direction of travel over the last three races has been unmistakable.

McLaren gained ground in Hungary, gained again at Zandvoort and then reduced Ferrari's advantage further at Monza, so another strong weekend in Madrid would turn what was once a substantial Ferrari lead into a genuine late-season championship battle.

Ferrari don't necessarily need to dominate the Spanish Grand Prix, but after three consecutive weekends of watching McLaren and VELO move closer, they could certainly do with stopping the slide.

On a completely new circuit where nobody knows quite what to expect, that may be easier said than done.