F1 Standings 2026: Lewis Hamilton under pressure as McLaren set sights on Ferrari pursuit

After a five-week break, the F1 2026 championship resumed with a sprint weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, presenting McLaren with a chance to make up for lost time.

Last month's Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were cancelled due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East, giving Mercedes' rivals the opportunity to catch up to the championship leaders.

When racing resumed in Miami last weekend, the Silver Arrows were in for a shock, with McLaren looking like the stronger outfit on Friday.

But Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli pulled it back to recover from a disappointing practice, qualifying on the front row for both the sprint and the main race.

The Italian teenager went on to win the Miami Grand Prix, making history as the only driver to ever convert his first three career poles into wins.

So whilst the 19-year-old has held onto his spot at the top of the drivers' standings and extended his lead over team-mate George Russell to 20 points, McLaren have well and truly brought the fight to Ferrari.

The Scuderia suffered a devastating end to the weekend with Charles Leclerc, who was well placed to take a podium spot on Sunday until he was overtaken by Lando Norris before spinning out on the final lap, dropping down to P6 by the time he crossed the line.

But the drama didn't stop there. Leclerc was slapped with a 20-second time penalty after the race, demoting him even further down to eighth, securing even less points for Ferrari.

The sprint weekend offered a maximum of 58 points, and McLaren maximised on that by scoring 48 points between Norris and Oscar Piastri across the weekend.

Leclerc's team-mate and F1 legend Lewis Hamilton could only finish P7 in Miami's main event, meaning he has now dropped from P4 in the drivers' standings to P5, although he is equal on 51 points with Norris.

This not only puts the seven-time champion under pressure in the drivers' championship, but also in the constructors' standings, where Ferrari have gone from having a 44 point lead over McLaren after the Japanese GP to a mere 16 point lead after a disappointing end to events in Miami.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen hit by Miami penalty as Ferrari punished by FIA

F1 Drivers' Standings after 2026 Miami Grand Prix

F1 Constructors' Standings after 2026 Miami Grand Prix

READ MORE: Hamilton admits being in Ferrari 'no-man's land'

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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