Here are the fresh F1 driver rankings after the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
The rankings are based on currently expected performance levels. They are not an accumulation of grades, not solely based on previous performances, nor based on a driver’s potential deep into the future.
We simply try to determine: Who is the most skilled driver right now?
World class
1. Max Verstappen
Still the best racing driver in the world. He has reached the podium many times in an inferior car and usually competes at the very front. Strangely, he performs at a high level in regular weekends and at a lower level in sprint weekends. His crash at home in Zandvoort was disappointing, but it happens even to the best. It was followed up by two very solid performances in Monza and Madrid.
He should have moved to Mercedes, though, instead of extending with Red Bull. It’s difficult to understand why he decided to stay at Milton Keynes.
2. Lando Norris
Norris has insane one-lap pace and is always working on his flaws. Previously a bad starter, he’s now one of the best off the line. Lando is super underrated at this point, and his title last year was fully deserved. He still looks faster than Piastri, and he just picked up two impressive wins in a row. A third win was likely in Madrid, but he lost it due to random VSC timing. Norris is incredible at managing the tyres, so he’s always quick at the end of races.
Ultra fast but flawed
3. Charles Leclerc
What’s going on with Leclerc? Despite dominating his teammate last year, Hamilton clearly had the upper hand over him in the initial stage of 2026. But ahead of Silverstone, Leclerc changed his brakes and made an adjustment to his setups, and then he beat Lewis three times in a row. This will most likely continue, even though Hamilton had the better performance in the Dutch GP. Leclerc is arguably F1’s fastest man over a single lap, and he’s an excellent racer too, so it’s only a matter of time before he gets on top of things. It’s a shame he crashed at Monza, since he would have been able to compete for the win otherwise.
4. Oscar Piastri
Piastri took a huge step forward in 2025. This year, we’ve seen him perform very well (in Japan and Hungary) and horribly (in Canada and Britain). He was extremely unlucky in Hungary, first losing the lead when Sainz ignored blue flags, and later suffering a gearbox failure. His race at Zandvoort was ruined by strategy, but he does need to improve his tyre management, so that one was partly on him. Overall, Piastri is super underrated at the moment. He’s somewhat close to Norris, and Norris is an elite driver.
5. Kimi Antonelli
This is a very high ranking for Antonelli, considering his age. He looks like the new Sebastian Vettel: Lots of mistakes, struggles in wheel-to-wheel racing, but he has incredible pace and knows how to manage a lead.
Early in the season, he was lucky as Russell had issues almost every single weekend. But over time, Antonelli has legitimately established himself as the quicker Mercedes driver. With more upgrades on the horizon, Antonelli is expected to win several more races, and with the huge points lead, he’s most certainly going to be the champion this year.
Why isn’t he ranked higher than fifth? Because he’s making multiple mistakes almost every weekend! He gets away with them because the car is dominant. Anybody who says Antonelli is the best driver this year is an idiot.
Excellent drivers
6. Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton has looked good so far, but we’ve already been through his best tracks that all came early in the season – so I expect some regression. All of his podiums came in rounds where other top drivers had technical issues, and his Catalunya win came thanks to a perfectly timed safety car and an Antonelli retirement.
After Leclerc’s Silverstone adjustments, it looks like the dynamic between the Ferrari drivers will shift back to normal. Hamilton had avoided mechanical failures all year until Madrid, where bad luck finally came his way.
7. Pierre Gasly
An excellent qualifier who lacks some racepace. He’s a less exciting – but slightly better – version of Jarno Trulli.
The best performance of any driver this year was his defence against Verstappen in Suzuka to take sixth. He was unfairly stripped of a Monaco podium, and surprised everyone with his Monza pole.
The car is obviously more competitive this year, but Gasly’s great performances shouldn’t be discounted. He has insane upside when he gets the setup right, but then he also has some off-weekends.
8. Carlos Sainz
Sainz had a complete meltdown in Hungary. Fighting for lower-end positions, he completely ignored blue flags and collided with Piastri. Disappointing to see that from such an experienced driver, who has otherwise been driving very well this season. It’s a shame he decided to stay with Williams when he could’ve moved to a team with more potential.
9. George Russell
For some reason or another, Mr. Saturday has been underwhelming thus far. He’s had his share of bad luck, and it seems like it’s getting to his mind. Some solid results at Barcelona, Red Bull Ring and Silverstone were followed up by two terrible outings at Spa and Hungaroring.
Russell needs to work on his confidence issues and return to the driver he once was. This year, it’s already too late to win the title, but he could possibly have a strong finish like Rosberg in 2015 and come back motivated for next season. He showed good qualifying pace at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix but struggled in the races. Classic Russell!
Slightly above average
10. Alex Albon
Albon has proven to be nearly as good as Sainz. Not in terms of one-lap pace, which is still his main weakness – but he performs very well over a full race distance. Monza was a massive disappointment. Albon usually does well at this track, and he had a fresh Mercedes engine, yet he was incapable of advancing past his teammate. He beat Sainz in Madrid, though the car is too slow to achieve anything else.
11. Fernando Alonso
Still one of the most exciting racers to watch. He is great at both overtaking and defending. Alonso somehow fought his way to ninth at Zandvoort and it looks like the recently upgraded Aston Martin suits him much better.
Then why is he not ranked in the top 10? It may not be clear due to having a weak teammate, but Alonso’s pace is slowly deteriorating which is natural because of his age (just turned 45). Stroll has beaten him on a few occasions recently. With the context we have of Alonso’s partners since his comeback, the data is not looking good for him.
12. Oliver Bearman
Bearman performed well early in the season. It seemed like he had taken another step up as he dominated Ocon for the first few months of the year. Since then, Bearman has slowed down a bit. This coincides with Haas being out-developed by the other midfield and backmarker teams.
He needs to move away from Haas if he wants to develop properly, but unfortunately the second Ferrari seat will be occupied by Hamilton for at least another year. I’m bringing Bearman down a few spots after a disappointing Dutch and Spanish weekends, but he could easily move up a few places if he returns to his early 2026 form.
Slightly below average
13. Gabriel Bortoleto
Bortoleto showed great racecraft and aggressiveness in the junior series. In F1, his drives have been fairly anonymous. Despite performing well against Hülkenberg in head-to-head stats, Bortoleto did not show any major upside in his rookie year. Bearman, Antonelli and Hadjar all had their big moments – the Brazilian did not. That’s still the issue: He’s beating Hülkenberg more often than not, but at the same time, he hasn’t shown any specific elite performance. Two eighth places were promising, and Bortoleto has generally been quick in qualifying, but he needs to convert his speed into points more frequently.
14. Isack Hadjar
Hadjar had a solid but overrated rookie campaign. He was promoted to Red Bull a bit prematurely, but the good news is that Red Bull have a brand new car philosophy this year, plus a better environment, so Hadjar isn’t struggling like the previous Red Bull second-drivers.
With that said, he isn’t showing that much upside either. Hadjar was given back his Monaco podium, perhaps a bit undeserved. He does deserve some credit for consistency, finishing top 6 in seven rounds in a row in the middle of the seasons. Eventually, he could become a top 10 driver. Losing three races due to injury isn’t ideal, so let’s see how Hadjar performs upon returning in Baku.
15. Nico Hülkenberg
The Hulk has not only revived his career over the last three seasons; he has also made some major adjustments to his driving style. Previously known as an excellent qualifier, he now values race setups more. A small decline is expected due to his age. For now, he still looks decent in race trim, though it’s hard to judge in the inconsistent Audi.
Despite being the one who scored points for Audi in the Netherlands, he looked slower than Bortoleto for large parts of the weekend. In Monza, Bortoleto was slightly better, while Hulk had the edge again in Madrid.
16. Sergio Pérez
He didn’t get a fair chance at Red Bull by the end of his stint there. A return for Cadillac could work out for him. Pérez actually thrives in backmarker/midfield cars and can occasionally deliver some unexpected results due to his tyre management skills. Based on his performances this year, he seems much more motivated than Bottas, and is quite a bit ahead of his teammate in most sessions.
Talented, with several limitations
17. Liam Lawson
I may have been harsh on Lawson who has actually been solid this year. The biggest surprise is that he is more consistent than before. Previously, Lawson would make costly mistakes in almost every single race. He still does that occasionally, but this year, he’s had many clean races as well. Most of his big scores are due to a really fast car and retirements in front of him, so let’s not overreact. But he’s beating a highly rated young teammate, so credit where credit is due.
18. Arvid Lindblad
He performed a bit worse than expected in F2, but F2 results don’t mean much anymore: There’s simply too much variance.
Lindblad was projected to be slightly slower than Hadjar was in his rookie year, mainly due to his young age (18) and having less experience going into F1. This looks accurate so far, as Lindblad is only slightly slower than an improved Lawson. The car is allowing both drivers to fight for points every single weekend. Lindblad is still very raw, struggling with setups and consistency. But over time, if all goes well, he could develop into a top 10 driver and become better than Hadjar and Lawson.
19. Franco Colapinto
Colapinto finally had some strong performances this year, as he finished 7th in Miami and 6th in Canada. Since then, he’s accumulated some more points, but nothing out of the ordinary. His biggest weakness is qualifying, because the race pace is fairly decent. Colapinto is an attractive driver for many teams as he brings a lot of sponsorships with him. This might be enough for a one-year extension with Alpine, but unfortunately for the Argentinian, there are better drivers waiting in the junior categories – and eventually he will be replaced.
A costly mistake while running high in the Italian GP is exactly why he’s ranked this low.
20. Yuki Tsunoda
I wasn’t planning on ranking him, but Tsunoda got to drive two races for Racing Bulls and he performed well enough to perhaps earn another shot in the future. The Japanese had an excellent overtake in Zandvoort and understood the car fairly quickly. He ended up finishing ahead of Lindblad, which was a surprise.
It’s over
21. Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon has very little upside and hasn’t developed at all throughout his career in F1. He is awful at setups and cannot lead a team, hence why he always performs at a level slightly below his teammates. When the car is good, he can score some points due to a decent natural instinct. This should be his final year in F1. Ocon doesn’t have it in him anymore, though he has gained some ground on a demotivated Bearman following the summer break.
22. Valtteri Bottas
It feels weird to have Bottas back. He accomplished absolutely nothing in his final three seasons at Sauber, aside from the first handful of races. The Finn doesn’t seem super motivated either – and based on his weird social media posts, he has become mentally insane. Cadillac should realise that you can’t learn an old dog new tricks. It’s time for Bottas to go.
23. Lance Stroll
How is Lance Stroll still in F1? If his father had any ambitions for Aston Martin, he should have replaced his son a long time ago. His biggest weakness is still wheel-to-wheel racing, and after so many years in F1, he is just not showing any signs of improvement. His qualifying performance reached a new low in 2025 as he lost every single session to an old Alonso. This year his car sucks, so Stroll won’t achieve anything. An absolute waste of a seat.
Check my current team rankings here!
Overrated drivers
A quick list of drivers that are currently overrated by the media and fans. For betting purposes, it’s useful to identify the drivers that are excessively hyped.
Kimi Antonelli: Some fans consider him the best driver this year. That’s absolutely ridiculous when you look at the actual driving. Kimi is very fast, but still raw, and only drives cleanly when he’s leading. I will accept that he can be part of a top 5 discussion, but he isn’t the best driver overall. The 19th-to-1st drive at Monza means he’s more overrated than ever. He had a fresh engine that was way faster than everybody else on the straights. Almost none of the overtakes were due to driver skill, and he almost threw everything away in the first chicane with three laps left.
Pierre Gasly: He’s driving very well, but car improvement is the main factor behind his good results. He didn’t suddenly turn into a top driver at 30 years old, although he is operating at his own peak. Other fans call him “underrated” which is usually the best sign that a driver is overrated. Gasly should be out-performing Colapinto by an even bigger margin. Consistency is his biggest issue.
Isack Hadjar: Some good qualifying performances to open the season, and since then a nice string of top 6 finishes. But he’s incredibly far off Verstappen’s race pace and Hadjar will obviously never be an elite driver. I’m not even sure he would beat Lawson this year, if he had stayed at Racing Bulls. Someone on F1 Discussions called him a “superstar”.
Lewis Hamilton: People think he’s “back”. The truth is that the season began with three of his strongest tracks coming early – Melbourne, Shanghai and Montreal. There were also multiple front runners retiring in all the races where Lewis finished on the podium. Lewis himself hasn’t had any technical issues all year up until Madrid, while most other drivers had multiple. Hamilton undoubtedly looks better than last year, especially after his Catalunya win, but he’s no longer a top 5 driver in terms of skill.
Liam Lawson: Don’t get me wrong, he has improved quite a lot. But he’s also driving a super quick car, and Lindblad is gradually catching up with him. The good news for Lawson is that he has probably secured himself a drive for next year, even if it isn’t with Racing Bulls.
Underrated drivers
And here are some underrated drivers at the moment.
Lando Norris: He started the year quietly but has since found a rhythm and is now driving like a true world champion. Miami, Silverstone, Hungaroring, and Zandvoort were elite performances. Madrid could have been another one. There are still people who think that Norris is worse than Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli and Russell (!). In reality, he would crush all of them, except maybe Leclerc, which would be a close matchup.
Oscar Piastri: Almost as underrated as Norris is. People assume Norris is a good-but-not-great driver, which in turn makes Piastri seem like a very flawed driver. He’s currently getting a lot of bad press. In reality, Norris is world-class and Piastri is great. If either of the two moves to another team, we would more easily see that. Watch Piastri onboard and tell me if you can find five better drivers. It would be very difficult!
Carlos Sainz: He doesn’t get much attention in the slow, overweight Williams, and he screwed up in Hungary, but overall his pace has been great this year and Sainz deserves some credit for that. He should have moved to a new team, preferably Audi, but the Smooth Operator decided to extend with Williams for a big money deal. That means he won’t ever compete at the front again, but at least he will be the second-richest backmarker driver ever.
George Russell: Disastrous year for Russell as he was the big favourite going into the season. He had more bad luck than Antonelli, especially in the early rounds, but it’s evident that Antonelli’s racepace is in fact superior. Russell is still an excellent qualifier though. Some “mathematical models” place him as one of the worst performing drivers this year, which simply isn’t true. He’s struggling with the new car, but there’s hope that Russell can get on top of it again. Don’t forget that he dominated Antonelli just a year ago.
