A new rulebook has blown up the F1 pecking order. Track the 2026 drivers’ championship round by round, and see how the points and the pay packets stack up.
The 2026 Formula 1 season arrived with the biggest rulebook change in a generation, and the championship order shows it. New power units carrying far more electric punch, active aerodynamics and a reworked chassis have scrambled the pecking order that teams spent years locking in.
The table below tracks the drivers’ championship through the season, updated after every round. It carries all 23 drivers, the wins and the gap to the leader. Tap any name to see which races their points came from.
F1 Driver Standings 2026
The season so far
Kimi Antonelli leads the 2026 championship on 292 points after 14 of 23 rounds. The Mercedes driver won five of the first six races and took the lead in Japan, round three. He has since won at Spa, Monza and Madrid, the Monza win coming from 19th on the grid. He is the youngest driver to lead the standings.
Mercedes lead the constructors’ championship on 503 points, 145 clear of Ferrari. Antonelli’s teammate George Russell is second in the drivers’ standings on 211, 20 points clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, with two wins to Hamilton’s one.
Hamilton’s win in Barcelona, round seven, was his first for Ferrari and his first in Formula 1 in 686 days, since the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix. It was the 106th win of his career. He retired from the race in Madrid. Leclerc won at Silverstone and is fifth on 167 points.
McLaren, the reigning constructors’ champions, did not win until round 11. Norris took Hungary and the Dutch Grand Prix, finished third in Madrid, and is fourth on 186.
It has been a tough season for homegrown hero Oscar Piastri.
The Melbourne driver finished runner-up in last year’s championship but sits seventh on 118 points, 68 behind teammate Norris in the same car.
He failed to start the opening two rounds, crashing on a reconnaissance lap at his home race in Melbourne, then sidelined by a Mercedes power-unit failure in China. He has two podiums, second at Suzuka and third in Miami, and no wins. In Hungary he led before a gearbox failure ended his race. He came home eighth in Madrid. McLaren say the 2026 car, which rewards a more aggressive style, has suited Norris more than Piastri.
Max Verstappen is sixth on 145 and has not won this season. He crashed out of his home race at Zandvoort but has rebounded with third at Monza and second in Madrid, his best result of the year. Nine rounds remain.
Race winners
Round | Grand Prix | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Australia, Melbourne | George Russell | Kimi Antonelli | Charles Leclerc |
2 | China, Shanghai | Kimi Antonelli | George Russell | Lewis Hamilton |
3 | Japan, Suzuka | Kimi Antonelli | Oscar Piastri | Charles Leclerc |
4 | Miami | Kimi Antonelli | Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri |
5 | Canada, Montreal | Kimi Antonelli | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen |
6 | Monaco | Kimi Antonelli | Lewis Hamilton | Pierre Gasly |
7 | Spain, Barcelona | Lewis Hamilton | George Russell | Lando Norris |
8 | Austria, Spielberg | George Russell | Max Verstappen | Kimi Antonelli |
9 | Britain, Silverstone | Charles Leclerc | George Russell | Lewis Hamilton |
10 | Belgium, Spa | Kimi Antonelli | Charles Leclerc | Max Verstappen |
11 | Hungary, Budapest | Lando Norris | Max Verstappen | Kimi Antonelli |
12 | Netherlands, Zandvoort | Lando Norris | Kimi Antonelli | George Russell |
13 | Italy, Monza | Kimi Antonelli | George Russell | Max Verstappen |
14 | Spain, Madrid | Kimi Antonelli | Max Verstappen | Lando Norris |
When is the next F1 race?
The next Formula 1 race is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held from 24 to 26 September 2026 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is round 15 of 23. Unusually, race day falls on the Saturday, 26 September, moved off the traditional Sunday to avoid a national day of mourning. Baku is a fast, walled street circuit with a long run to Turn 1 and a reputation for safety cars and surprise results. The season runs on to the finale in December.
How the 2026 points system works
Points go to the top ten finishers in a Grand Prix on a sliding scale.
- 1st: 25 points
- 2nd: 18
- 3rd: 15
- 4th: 12
- 5th: 10
- 6th: 8
- 7th: 6
- 8th: 4
- 9th: 2
- 10th: 1
Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the F1 drivers’ championship in 2026?
Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes leads the 2026 drivers’ championship. The table above shows his exact points total and the current margin to second place, updated after each round.
How do F1 championship points work?
The top ten finishers in a Grand Prix score points, from 25 for the winner down to a single point for tenth. Sprint races award points to the top eight, from eight down to one.
How many points is an F1 win worth?
A Grand Prix win is worth 25 points. Winning a sprint race is worth a further eight.
What happens if two drivers finish the season on equal points?
The championship is decided by countback. The driver with more race wins takes the title. If they are still level, the tiebreak moves through second-place finishes, then thirds, until it separates them.
How often do these standings update?
The table is updated after every race weekend, once the results are official. Tap any driver or team to see the points they scored race by race.
When did the 2026 season start?
The season opened at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne in March and runs through to the finale in December.
F1’s Highest-Paid Drivers 2025
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