F1 heads to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli arriving in Spain on the back of an extraordinary five wins in a row. The Italian has built a commanding lead at the top of both championships and looks essentially unstoppable. However, the Catalan circuit has historically been a true benchmark for car balance and aerodynamic efficiency, which could give the rest of the field a real opportunity to push the dominant Mercedes hard this weekend. We preview the race and lay down a couple of suggested bets.
DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers’ Championship on 156 points after five consecutive race wins, with Lewis Hamilton second on 90 points, George Russell is third with 88 points followed by Charles Leclerc in fourth place on 75 and Oscar Piastri sitting on 60 points in fifth and in sixth Lando Norris on 58 points. Max Verstappen seventh on 43, well short of his usual title-race position.
Antonelli is the heavy favourite for the title at 1.20, with Russell next at 6.00 and Verstappen backed into 21.00 despite his points position thanks to a recent uptick in form. Norris (34.00), Leclerc and Hamilton (both 41.00) and Piastri (51.00) round out the leading group in a market that is essentially telling us this is Antonelli’s to lose.
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CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Mercedes are running away with the Constructors Championship, 244 points with their advantage growing race by race thanks to Antonelli’s winning streak and Russell’s consistent points scoring. Ferrari sit second on, 165 McLaren a clear third on 118, and Red Bull Racing languishing in fourth on just 72 points after a tough start to life under the new regulations.
The bookies have Mercedes as overwhelming favourites at 1.07 to seal the title, with McLaren next at 13.00, Ferrari at 17.00 and Red Bull as rank outsiders at 51.00.
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Last Race – Monaco GP 2026
Last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix was another commanding Antonelli victory, with the Italian taking his fifth win on the bounce. Lewis Hamilton was second for Ferrari with another impressive drive, while Isack Hadjar produced one of the standout results of the season so far to finish third for Red Bull. Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren and Liam Lawson rounded out the top five. Max Verstappen, who had qualified second on the grid, was the big story for the wrong reasons as he failed to get off the line at the start and ultimately had to retire the car. Lando Norris also failed to finish, while George Russell was classified 12th after picking up penalties.
Barcelona-Catalunya GP 2025
Last year’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix was a McLaren one-two, with Oscar Piastri converting his pace into a famous victory and Lando Norris home second. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, with George Russell fourth for Mercedes, Nico Hülkenberg producing an impressive fifth for Sauber, and Lewis Hamilton sixth. The McLaren was clearly the car to beat around this circuit in 2025, which remains a useful data point heading into this weekend.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a 4.657-kilometre permanent layout just north of Barcelona, featuring 14 turns over a wide variety of corner types — high-speed, medium-speed and slow, with a mix of elevation change and camber. It is widely regarded as the most data-rich circuit on the F1 calendar precisely because it tests every aspect of a car’s setup, which is exactly why teams traditionally use it for pre-season testing. Aerodynamic efficiency and tyre management are the two deciding factors here.
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BETTING (2026 Barcelona-Catalunya GP) – Click here to bet
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1.95
George Russell (Mercedes) 3.20
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 8.00
Lando Norris (McLaren) 9.00
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 15.00
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 17.00
Betting and Verdict:
Antonelli has won the last five races on the bounce, but at 1.95 the outright price doesn’t feel worth the risk. This week we are turning back the clock and going with two drivers who, only a few years ago, were dominating the sport.
Our first pick is Lewis Hamilton. The bookies have him at 17.00 to win outright, but it is the top-three market we are leaning on. Hamilton has finished second in both of the last two races, suggesting he has finally found some real pace in the Ferrari. Last year he came home 6th at this venue while teammate Charles Leclerc managed 3rd, so there is decent recent course form for the Ferrari to lean on. Combine that with the pace Hamilton has clearly found over the last couple of races, and I think we could easily see another top-three result.
Suggested Bet: Lewis Hamilton top 3 finish at 3.70
Our second pick this week is Max Verstappen for the outright win. Verstappen had a tough start to the season but is slowly starting to find form and pace, and we all know how dangerous that combination can be. The Dutchman has the ability to win any race even without the best car. He finished 5th at the Miami GP, backed that up with a third at the Canadian GP, and was on track to improve again last weekend at Monaco when he lined up second before a start-line malfunction forced him out. We saw the same script last year, with a slow start giving way to a string of wins as he hunted down Norris, and at 8.00 I think he is great value.
Suggested Bet: Verstappen to win at 8.00.
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Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
