Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer have signed a significant victory in the first race of the 2026 Sprint Cup season, held at Brands Hatch. The Ferrari #50 of the AF Corse team crossed the finish line in second place but was promoted to first after the Mercedes-AMG #3 of Verstappen Racing received two penalties.
During the 60 minutes of competition, the Ferrari maintained a steady second position, with Leclerc starting the race from second place. Neubauer, after making a mid-race pit stop, emerged in second position as well, continuing the team’s solidity.
The Porsche #80 of Lionspeed, driven by Ricardo Feller, dominated the start but suffered a steering problem that forced its retirement minutes after the pit stop.
This situation allowed the Mercedes-AMG #3 to take the lead, with Dani Juncadella occupying third place during the first phase of the race. Although the pit stop was not the fastest, their lap times were enough to close in on victory.
Chris Lulham drove the Verstappen car and seemed on track for his first series win, but a five-second penalty for a pit lane infringement complicated matters. Additionally, a second penalty for a yellow flag infringement caused him to drop far from the points, thus allowing AF Corse to claim victory.
The Porsche #2 of Boutsen VDS finished in second place, while the BMW #32 of Team WRT made a spectacular comeback from 12th to third place. Their teammate, the BMW #31 of Team WRT, positioned fourth, followed by the Ferrari #14 of Emil Frey Racing and the Mercedes-AMG #48 of Winward Racing, which also had a great showing after starting from 15th place.
The seventh position went to the Porsche #9 of Pure Rxcing, which achieved victory in the Silver Cup with Aliaksandr Malykhin and Aleksei Nesov at the wheel. The BMW #30 of Team WRT, despite leading much of the race, lost the class win due to a penalty.
The Ferrari #51 of AF Corse finished eighth, taking victory in the Gold Cup, with Tommaso Mosca and Matias Zagazeta ahead of their closest competitors, Tom Fleming and Louis Prette, with the McLaren #58 of Garage 59. The Aston Martin #7 of Comtoyou Racing completed the top 10 after starting from 31st place.
The race was briefly interrupted by an accident involving the Porsche #10 of Boutsen VDS on the first lap, which hit the barriers. The driver, Robin Knutsson, was unharmed, but the race had to be suspended for about 15 minutes to repair the damage.
The second race will take place at 15:45, with the Porsche #80 of Lionspeed starting again from pole. The solid German team will have work to do after the issues that caused their previous retirement. Live coverage can be followed through the GT World YouTube channel.