Four races into the new-regulations 2026 season and the championship table reads in a way nobody had on their bingo card. Andrea Kimi Antonelli — in his second full F1 season, still 19 years old — leads the standings on 93 points after winning three of the four rounds. Mercedes sit first and second in both championships. Max Verstappen is seventh on 22 points.
What the table says
After Miami, the top of the drivers’ championship is:
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli — 93 pts, 3 wins, 4 podiums
- George Russell — 67 pts, 1 win, 2 podiums
- Charles Leclerc — 46 pts, 2 podiums
- Lewis Hamilton — 43 pts, 1 podium
- Lando Norris — 38 pts, 1 podium
- Oscar Piastri — 33 pts, 2 podiums
- Max Verstappen — 22 pts, 0 podiums
Constructors’ order: Mercedes 160, Ferrari 89, McLaren 71, Red Bull 26. Ferrari are a distant second but a solid one — Leclerc and Hamilton are scoring at every weekend. McLaren’s 71 points hide a chaotic start: Piastri retired or finished outside the points at the first two rounds, and the team only properly arrived at Miami with Norris and Piastri 2-3.
How the four rounds played out
Australia (R1) was Russell’s: pole, lights-to-flag win, fastest lap to Verstappen — who started P20 after a power-unit issue in qualifying and dragged the Red Bull to sixth, the most Verstappen-coded recovery in a season where almost nothing else has gone right for him. Antonelli finished P2 from second on the grid.
China (R2) flipped the Mercedes pecking order. Antonelli took pole, led every lap and added the fastest lap. Russell finished second. The other story was Lando Norris failing to start from sixth on the grid — a hydraulic issue on the formation lap, and McLaren’s first hint of trouble.
Japan (R3) was a Mercedes 1-2 lockout from pole, and the first hint that Antonelli’s pace at the front of a race is sustained rather than a one-off. He’s been the fastest car on long-run race pace at three of the four weekends.
Miami (R4) was the same script at the front — pole, win — but with McLaren finally in the mix. Norris took the fastest lap and P2, Piastri followed in third. Verstappen finished fifth, his best result since Australia.
Mercedes 1-2: the first time in six years
A Mercedes team on 160 points after four races is something the sport hasn’t seen since 2020. The W17 is — by the eye test and the sector data — the most consistent car in any condition: cool qualifying in Melbourne, hot race in Miami, the medium-temp middle ground in Shanghai and Suzuka.
The technical story behind it is its own post; the short version is that the new 50/50 ICE-electric split favours teams who can package the bigger battery and the new active-aero rear wing without compromising rear-end stability. Mercedes appear to have nailed both.
What to watch from here
- Antonelli vs Russell. Teammate fights at the front of a championship are the only thing that can derail a season this dominant. Russell is the experienced one but Antonelli currently has the pace and the momentum.
- Can Red Bull recover? Verstappen’s 22 points are fewer than he’s scored by round four of any season since 2021. The RB22 looks like a midfield car in race trim; the Honda-era PU advantage is gone and the new active-aero package needs work.
- Was Miami a McLaren turning point? Norris-Piastri 2-3 from a grid that had been a disaster three rounds running. If the pace is real, the gap to Mercedes is currently 89 points — still recoverable, just.
The 2025 title fight went to the final round. The way 2026 has started, it might be over by the summer break.