IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

Fresh from a dramatic weekend in Monaco, it’s on to another familiar venue for the teams and drivers, but one that provides a very different challenge. There’s a resurgent Lewis Hamilton and a dominant Kimi Antonelli, but also a number of fresh faces set to be on track this weekend in Barcelona...

How long can Antonelli’s form last?

When Kimi Antonelli won his first Grand Prix in China earlier this year, it came after he set the record for the youngest pole-sitter. One race later in Japan, another victory meant he became the youngest championship leader in F1 history. He hasn’t looked back since.

Antonelli hasn’t been beaten in a Grand Prix since achieving that milestone first result in Shanghai, putting together a run of five consecutive victories that matches the longest winning streak of a certain Lewis Hamilton.

The Italian is only halfway to the record of 10-in-a-row set by Max Verstappen in 2023, however, while there are just five drivers in F1 history who have won more races consecutively than Antonelli, showing just how hard it is to sustain such a level of performance and results.

George Russell is testament to that point, as the Briton – who has six wins to his name in F1 so far – believes at least two further victories have escaped him this year through bad luck. Leading in Canada when he was forced to retire, Russell also had reliability issues in Q3 in China when he looked the quicker of the two Mercedes drivers.

Yet Antonelli’s form has only appeared to be getting stronger, and his win in Monaco was perhaps his most impressive given Mercedes’ recent history at that circuit. If he keeps the run going this weekend, Verstappen’s record might start looming into view.

Hamilton closing in on a first Ferrari win

While Antonelli has matched Hamilton’s longest run of consecutive victories, he is just the small matter of 100 wins adrift of the seven-time World Champion’s record total.

Yet Hamilton has not added to that tally since leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season, with his first year at Ferrari such a challenge that he didn’t even finish on the podium in a Grand Prix. There was a Sprint victory in China, but it proved to be a false dawn, as the new partnership took time to gel.

This season has already provided a clear step forward for Hamilton, who is becoming ever-more comfortable with Ferrari as he and the team get acquainted with each other, while the 2026 regulations also appear to allow him to exploit his strengths more.

A first podium courtesy of third place in China was followed by Hamilton going one step better in Canada, and then he made it back-to-back second places in Monaco after a strong weekend. The latter result moved Hamilton up to second in the Drivers’ Championship, too, as he continues to pick up consistent points.

According to Hamilton himself, that first win “couldn’t be closer”.

A good track for benchmarking upgrades

The first time the 2026 cars hit the track together feels a long time ago now, but it was at this weekend’s venue – the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – at the end of January. A pre-season shakedown was organised to allow teams to get the first understanding of their new machinery, ahead of official testing in Bahrain.

The cars seen in pre-season, though, were immature in the sense of them being the launch versions of the new cars, and teams have worked to improve them through upgrades since. The big developments were first introduced in Miami, with some following in Canada, too, but both of those races were Sprint weekends.

Add in the challenge of Monaco requiring a fairly unique set-up and set of car strengths, and the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix is the first permanent race track that teams will get three practice sessions to understand their cars at.

Featuring a number of high-speed corners, the characteristics of the circuit will also allow them to get a good handle on aerodynamic performance, and we should be able to see how much the pecking order may have evolved since the opening round in Melbourne.

Rookies getting FP1 outings

Another impact of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya being a familiar venue is it becomes a race weekend where a number of teams will give rookie drivers a chance to take part in FP1.

Each race driver has to sit out at least two FP1 sessions per season by regulation, providing at least four opportunities for a rookie (defined as a driver who hasn’t started at least two races in F1) to get behind the wheel of a current car.

Perhaps the most high-profile announcement so far has surrounded Colton Herta, with the IndyCar race-winner getting his first outing in the Cadillac on Friday, alongside his Formula 2 commitments.

Luke Browning will also return to the Williams, and Fred Vesti is also back in the car for championship leaders Mercedes, but with the likes of Leonardo Fornaroli at McLaren, Dino Beganovic at Ferrari, Ayumu Iwasa at Red Bull and Paul Aron at Audi also getting a chance, expect the confirmed list to keep growing through the week.

ADUO making headlines

It was ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix that we first flagged the likelihood of Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities - or ADUO - becoming a talking point, and this double-header has seen it come to fruition.

The FIA has been monitoring the internal combustion engine (ICE) performance of each power unit manufacturer, to understand if there are any notable deficits between the five currently on the grid. Where a manufacturer is deemed to be between 2-4% adrift of the best-rated ICE, they will receive the ability to introduce an additional upgrade to their power unit this year.

If they are more than 4% off the FIA-ranked benchmark, then a manufacturer can bring two additional upgrades during this season.

The results of the first period of monitoring - that ran from Australia until Canada - were communicated to the manufacturers over the past week, and the outcomes are sure to provide plenty of fodder for debate in the paddock whenever they come…