F1 Driver Ratings: Our verdict on 2026's stars so far

Who has shone from the 2026 Formula 1 field and who has struggled at the halfway point of the season? watch all the remaining 2026 Formula 1 races live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Dutch GP from August 21-23

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>Formula 1 in 2026 is shaping up to give us a fascinating second half of the season as Kimi Antonelli looks to become the youngest world champion in the sport's history.

>Antonelli is 50 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and 59 points in front of George Russell in the Drivers' Championship in a season that has provided plenty of drama, so it is a good time to look at which drivers have starred and who is struggling before we resume racing with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 21-23, live on Sky Sports F1.

>So running through the field in current Drivers' Championship order, we have...

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 7-4 / Points vs team-mate: 219-160

>Without doubt Antonelli has been the best driver so far this season and deserves to have a solid lead in the championship after five wins on the spin, followed by a sixth in Belgium.

>We should not forget he's only in his second F1 campaign at 19 years old and he has shown incredible speed, with very few mistakes.

>His performance at the Monaco Grand Prix in particular was outstanding.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-6 / Points vs team-mate: 169-138

>Hamilton will be frustrated with his below-par execution in the races prior to the summer break as he should be much closer to Antonelli in the title race.

>Nevertheless, the seven-time world champion has impressively overturned his big pace deficit to team-mate Charles Leclerc from last year into a small, consistent advantage.

>Cut out the errors and don't rule out a serious challenge for a record-breaking eighth world title.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 4-7 / Points vs team-mate: 160-219

>Russell has endured plenty of bad luck this season but so has Antonelli and the reality is the British driver has lacked overall pace to his team-mate.

>Whether that's down to driving style that affects the power unit, the tyres, or something else, Russell has generally been on the backfoot in terms of pace since the third round of the season in Japan.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-5 / Points vs team-mate: 138-169

>Leclerc has not hit the heights of previous years this season after a brake issue caused a dip in performance from Miami to Monaco but even after that, it has been very close between the Ferrari duo in the run-up to the summer break.

>Although he was fortunate to win at Silverstone, Leclerc drove tremendously to take advantage of Antonelli's misfortune and was there again in Belgium to make the Mercedes driver work for victory.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-6 / Points vs team-mate: 128-92

>Norris is driving just as well as he did in the backend of last year on his way to becoming world champion. The difference is the car, prior to Hungary, has not been capable of winning.

>Aside from Austria, Norris has been the stronger of the McLaren drivers since the fourth round in Miami and his performances have perhaps gone under the radar.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-3 / Points vs team-mate: 109-68

>Verstappen may not have won a race but is still driving the wheels off his Red Bull and is still seen by many as the best driver in Formula 1.

>He has not been faultless but to only have one less podium than both Ferrari drivers is some feat, particularly as the RB22 barely wanted to get off the start line earlier this year.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-5 / Points vs team-mate: 92-128

>Piastri is in a similar boat to Russell where the new 2026 car and power unit may not suit him and he's finding it difficult to match his team-mate.

>The pace advantage Norris had in Hungary over Piastri was significant and that was not the first race where the Australian has been a few tenths slower per lap.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-8 / Points vs team-mate: 68-109

>Red Bull finally have a driver who is close enough to Verstappen, so big credit to Isack Hadjar, who will surely keep the seat for 2027.

>Hadjar's qualifying pace has been particularly strong, outqualifying Verstappen at Suzuka and Silverstone, but his race pace deficit is bigger and the area to work on the most.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-5 / Points vs team-mate: 43-23

>Lawson has enjoyed a breakthrough this year and is proving Racing Bulls were right to retain him for this season.

>Eight points finishes, including a great spell through Canada, Monaco and Barcelona when he maximised the performance of his car, is a very good showing from Lawson, who has often been best of the rest.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 9-2 / Points vs team-mate: 42-19

>Gasly has continued his great form from recent years into 2026 and continues to lead the Alpine team.

>Gasly is the only driver outside of the top four teams to stand on the podium this season after he claimed third at the Monaco Grand Prix.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-6 / Points vs team-mate: 23-43

>Lindblad is enjoying a great rookie campaign and has been pretty even on outright pace compared to Lawson, despite having less experience.

>Lindblad has been keen to get his elbows out which caused some feisty moments in Austria, Belgium and Hungary between the Racing Bulls duo and they will probably continue to find themselves fighting for the same piece of track after the summer break.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 2-9 / Points vs team-mate: 42-19

>Colapinto had a couple of great weekends in Miami and Canada, where he scored his best career result of sixth, but has still been trailing Gasly on outright pace over the season.

>He's definitely close enough though for Alpine to not need to think about changing their line-up, unless a bigger name comes calling.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 8-3 / Points vs team-mate: 18-3

>Bearman is quietly having an impressive season at Haas - he just does not have the points to show for it.

>His advantage over team-mate Esteban Ocon has been substantial and the 21-year-old has also cut out the errors from his first full season last year.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-6 / Points vs team-mate: 10-0

>Bortoleto has remarkably finished in the top 11 in the last six races but only has two points finishes.

>Bortoleto, in his second season, perhaps has not kicked on as much as we hoped but is still doing a solid job at Audi.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 9-2 / Points vs team-mate: 6-5

>Sainz will hope he does not have the same long pain Fernando Alonso faced for much of his career - driving well but not getting many rewards for it.

>Sainz has been consistently faster than team-mate Alex Albon and six points do not justify the campaign he's having.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 2-9 / Points vs team-mate: 5-6

>Albon started to raise his game just before the summer break against Sainz, so perhaps something has clicked, but it was tough going before the Belgian Grand Prix.

>The British-Thai driver has been vocal on the radio about the car's performance but, similarly to Russell at Mercedes and Piastri at McLaren, he could be getting more out of it himself.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-8 / Points vs team-mate: 3-18

>It is the same tune at Haas where Ocon has been around three tenths slower than Bearman in Qualifying this year but appeared to improve in the last few race weekends before the break.

>Ocon is perhaps the driver most under pressure to keep his seat at the moment with Haas understood to be looking at signing Formula 2 star Rafael Camara or reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli for 2027.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-5 / Points vs team-mate: 0-10

>Hulkenberg's singular points finish is not a fair reflection of his decent year as he's been very close to Bortoleto on pace and he's perhaps been the most unfortunate of the midfield drivers too.

>In Spain, for example, he was on course for points until a piece of gravel kicked up by Lawson struck the emergency safety switch on Hulkenberg's car, shutting the system down.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 9-2 / Points vs team-mate: 1-0

>It's very difficult to judge the two teams at the back of the field but Fernando Alonso continues to have the upper hand on team-mate Lance Stroll at Aston Martin.

>In the upgraded Aston Martin in Hungary, you could see Alonso visibly hustling his car around to extract everything from it, so he's still got plenty of speed in him.

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>Qualifying vs team-mate: 2-9 / Points vs team-mate: 0-1

>It is a continuation of their previous three years together where Stroll trails Alonso on pace and hasn't had too much to shout about.

>Things have not helped Stroll when he's retired from more races than he's seen the chequered flag.

>Qualifying vs team-mate: 5-6 / Points vs team-mate: 0-0

>Bottas might be ahead of Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez in the Drivers' Championship but it has not been a great returning season for the Finn.

>Bottas has shown less pace compared to Perez in qualifying and the race.