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Here’s your motorsport news today: a briefing rounding up confirmed results, schedules, and storylines across Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, and IndyCar. The headline is Kimi Antonelli’s runaway Formula 1 championship lead, but title fights are shifting fast elsewhere too: Marc Marquez retook the MotoGP points lead at Misano, and NASCAR’s Chase field took a beating at Gateway.
Formula 1: Antonelli’s Lead Keeps Growing
Kimi Antonelli won Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new Madring circuit, his eighth victory in fourteen races this season. The result stretches his championship lead to 81 points over Mercedes teammate George Russell, with Lewis Hamilton third in the standings for Ferrari despite retiring from Sunday’s race with a brake failure.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies confirmed after the race that the team ordered Max Verstappen to hand back two places after he ran off track at Turn 1 while defending from Hamilton at the start. Mekies said Red Bull preferred to “take the pain at that moment” rather than risk a five- or ten-second time penalty later; Verstappen recovered to finish second, with stand-in Red Bull driver Liam Lawson sixth.
In an official announcement Monday, Honda confirmed a leadership change to its Formula 1 power unit programme: Yoichiro Fukao will succeed Tetsushi Kakuda as Large Project Leader from October 1, as the manufacturer looks to fix the power and reliability shortfall that has left Honda-powered Aston Martin toward the back of the 2026 grid.
F1 is off this week. The series resumes September 24-26 with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, round 15 of 24.
MotoGP: Marc Marquez Retakes the Title Lead at Misano
Marc Marquez capitalised on a late mistake from Marco Bezzecchi to win Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, taking back the championship lead after Bezzecchi had swept pole position and both Friday practice sessions. Ducati’s Marquez and Aprilia’s Bezzecchi have traded the top spot repeatedly through September, and MotoGP.com’s Monday talking-points coverage frames it as a title fight neither rider can afford to ease up on.
Marquez, who signed a new two-year Ducati deal earlier this year, and Bezzecchi have now traded the championship lead in successive rounds. The series has a short turnaround before the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, September 18-20.
NASCAR Cup Series: Larson Ends His Drought as Chase Contenders Crash Out
Kyle Larson snapped a 51-race winless streak with an overtime victory in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, holding off Alex Bowman and Joey Logano after a caution-filled final stage. The race took a heavy toll on the Chase field: apparent brake failures collected Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, while a separate multicar wreck swept up Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Josh Berry.
The Chase now moves to Bristol Motor Speedway on September 19 for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the cutoff event before the Round of 16 field is trimmed to twelve drivers.
IndyCar: Offseason Testing Follows Palou’s Fifth Title
Alex Palou wrapped up his fifth NTT IndyCar Series championship at the Laguna Seca finale earlier this month, and the series has since shifted into preseason development. Alexander Rossi and Palou have both taken the new IR-28 chassis through its first oval running at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an early step toward the car’s planned debut.
The Storyline That Matters Most in Motorsport News Today: Antonelli’s Title Fight Is Turning Into a Rout
In motorsport news today, across every series racing this month, nothing is reshaping a championship like Kimi Antonelli’s 2026 season. Eight wins in fourteen rounds have put the Mercedes driver 81 points clear of Russell and well clear of Ferrari’s Hamilton, a gap wide enough that it is now shaping strategy calls for the teams chasing him, including Red Bull’s decision to sacrifice track position with Verstappen rather than risk a stewards’ penalty in Madrid. With ten rounds left, the fight for second place is arguably more competitive than the fight for first.
Related Reading on Backfire Racing: More Motorsport News Today
For more motorsport news today, catch up on these related stories from Backfire Racing:
- Weekend Recap, September 11-13: Antonelli Runs Away, Larson Wakes Up, and Marc Marquez Takes the Lead Back
- Madring’s Blank Slate Is Bad News for Everyone Chasing Kimi Antonelli
- Hamilton Crashed at Madring. Driving Away From It Is the Bigger Problem.
- Aston Martin’s Honda Problem Won’t Be Fixed by More Upgrades
- Brad Pitt Is Bristol’s Grand Marshal. The Real Pressure Is on the Points Sheet.
- Alex Palou Won IndyCar’s Title by 86 Points. Second Through Fifth Were Decided by 31.
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