Raul Fernandez channelled “anger” into British GP victory after sprint “idiot” moment

Raúl Fernández says channelling his “anger” in the right direction helped turn a disastrous sprint into a dominant British Grand Prix victory.

The Trackhouse rider endured a costly Saturday after a poor start from the front row was followed by a lap-four crash. With the other three Aprilia riders locking out the podium positions, the DNF represented a major missed opportunity for Fernandez.

However, the Spaniard bounced back strongly in the grand prix on Sunday, taking the lead at the start before disappearing in the distance, beating the factory Aprilia of Jorge Martin by over 2.5s.

This marked the second-ever premier class win of Fernandez’s career and his first in 2026, reviving his hopes of a potential title assault.

Speaking afterwards, Fernandez admitted he was beating himself up after a tough Saturday, but was eventually able to regain his composure.

“What did I say to myself [after the crash]? That you are an idiot,” he recalled.

“Because we spoke with [Trackhouse team principal] David [Brivio] to not make a mistake, and I made a stupid mistake. 

“Of course, it came from a bad start, but after I didn't really manage the situation well, and for that I was quite frustrated with myself.”

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Fernandez used Sunday morning warm-up to reset mentally and better understand the limits of the Michelin tyres and cool his frustration.

“Today, I was really focused because what I can control is the thing that depends on myself, so I was focused on me.

“As I’ve said many times, when something makes me angry, I manage to channel that anger into positive energy. 

“This morning, I went out [in warm-up] to let off some steam, so as not to make mistakes in the race. 

“I was quite angry with myself and I pushed maybe too much. And there, I understood that maybe the limit of the tyre was trying to make 1m58.4s, 1m58.5s laps, and straight away [in the race] I tried to be in low 1m59s.

“So I learned what was the limit of the rear tyre. For that, I was not caring about the performance of the tyre in the last part of the race.”

Fernandez added that choosing the soft rear despite expecting high degradation also contributed to his sprint crash.

Fernandez credited Brivio with helping him turn that frustration into a more productive mindset.

“Yesterday, I was thinking [about using] the medium rear until the last moment. So, there was a compromise; I did not really believe in the decision.

“So, when I was in the sprint, I was maybe, let's say, frustrated, and maybe for that reason, I crashed also yesterday. 

“But I am happy because the team, or in this moment, Davide, gave me something.

“When I have this kind of frustration, the team gives me something that to change into good energy. I use this frustration to be faster, so maybe it helped.”