2026 SPANISH GRAND PRIX — RACE REPORT

The Finnish driver sustained damage in a Lap 1, Turn 1 incident that compromised his race, but brought the MAC-26 to the finish after 57 scorching laps.

Checo Pérez made steady progress during the opening phase, climbing as high as P15, before retiring on Lap 33 with a suspected water-system issue.

The team will regroup ahead of another street race in two weeks, when the Baku City Circuit hosts the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday September 26.

Checo Perez: Started: P18 Finished: DNF Fastest Lap: 1:41.116 “Our race was going really strong up until the moment we suffered with a suspected water system issue. I think it's been one of the strongest weekends we've had as a team so far, pushing everything to the limit. We raced all the cars around us, keeping Yuki [Tsunoda] behind before we stopped and fought with the Williams all the way through, staying within a second of [Alexander] Albon, so we can be happy with how our race was going.”

Valtteri Bottas: Started: P19 Finished: P18 Fastest Lap: 1:39.130 “Sadly not much action for me today. I was hoping for a few more things to happen but we knew that the pace here would be difficult and it was a tough race. The brake temperatures were an issue we had to manage quite a lot throughout, and the nature of this track highlights a lot of the issues that we have, but we know where we need to improve and we will keep working on it.”

Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal:

“Thanks to Valtteri who brought the car to the finish while managing a few issues during the race. We opted for a strategy aimed at maximizing race disruptions but it didn’t quite pay off. Checo had a great first lap, gaining several positions and was racing against the Williams and the Racing Bulls before we had to retire the car with a Power Unit issue. We’re looking forward to a busy week of preparation back at the factory before our next street race in Baku.”