F1 Standings 2026: Current points table and title scenarios as Lewis Hamilton closes gap

Lewis Hamilton celebrates at the Barcelona GP — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Standings

F1 Standings: Current points table and title scenarios as Lewis Hamilton closes the gap

Lewis is closing in

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Saturday 11 July 2026 11:57

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The 2026 F1 title race is well and truly on and we now have a true three-horse race in the championship standings with Lewis Hamilton closing in on Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion was only able to finish third in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but it was still more than enough to cut the deficit to championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

The young Italian finished out of the points after late mechanical issues ruined his bid for victory, while team-mate George Russell also closed the gap on Antonelli by claiming second.

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Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc claimed the win at Silverstone but that might not be as good as it sounds for the Scuderia - more on that to come.

It was also a significant day for Max Verstappen as he crashed out late in the race - the four-time world champion can now test the silly season market this summer as his Red Bull exit clause is mathematically certain to activate.

Latest F1 2026 Drivers' Standings

Antonelli now leads Russell by only 25 points and Hamilton by 32 points after an afternoon of high drama at Silverstone:

Pos	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	179
2	George Russell	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	154
3	Lewis Hamilton	Scuderia Ferrari HP	147
4	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari HP	108
5	Lando Norris	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	97
6	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	82
7	Max Verstappen	Oracle Red Bull Racing	76
8	Isack Hadjar	Oracle Red Bull Racing	52
9	Pierre Gasly	BWT Alpine F1 Team	42
10	Liam Lawson	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	39
11	Arvid Lindblad	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	20
12	Oliver Bearman	TGR Haas F1 Team	18
13	Franco Colapinto	BWT Alpine F1 Team	18
14	Carlos Sainz	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	6
15	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi Revolut F1 Team	6
16	Alex Albon	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	5
17	Esteban Ocon	TGR Haas F1 Team	3
18	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1
19	Sergio Perez	Cadillac F1 Team	0
20	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi Revolut F1 Team	0
21	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac F1 Team	0
22	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	0

Antonelli's lead has been cut to 25 points.

Latest Constructors' Standings

Mercedes are still dominating and they lead Ferrari by 78 points:

Pos	Team	Points
1	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	333
2	Scuderia Ferrari HP	255
3	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	179
4	Oracle Red Bull Racing	128
5	BWT Alpine F1 Team	60
6	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	59
7	TGR Haas F1 Team	21
8	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	11
9	Audi Revolut F1 Team	6
10	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1
11	Cadillac F1 Team	0

Mercedes vs Ferrari, who has the edge?

If you look at the standings, the Silver Arrows still hold all the cards with seven race wins already in 2027. But that is only part of the story.

Recent races have seen reliability issues come squarely into play for Mercedes, allowing Ferrari to win two of the last three grands prix. Couple that with more upgrades to come from Maranello, and the tide appears to be turning.

Ferrari don't have the best engine (that is allegedly Red Bull) and they may not even have the best chassis (arguably that is Mercedes) but they do have a car which has been bomb-proof in terms of reliability so far in 2026.

Hamilton vs Leclerc, or not

One other area where Ferrari may end up having a crucial edge in the Drivers' championship is in their own garage.

Before Silverstone speculation was growing that it was about time for the Scuderia to start putting the focus on Hamilton as Leclerc continued to spiral into irrelevance from a title perspective. It's just easier to win a title when you put all your eggs into one basket.

So while Ferrari were delighted by Leclerc's success in the immediate aftermath of Silverstone, his win just pushes back an uncomfortable conversation. One on which Hamilton's title hopes may one day hinge.

Leclerc won, and it postpones an awkward conversation.

Mercedes, for now, are very much locked in with Antonelli and Russell the top two in the standings. Nothing is changing there in a hurry.

The final nail for Verstappen at Red Bull?

There are no title scenarios for Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2026, but that Silverstone crash may be the final nail in his glorious run in Milton Keynes.

The Dutchman's frustration afterwards suggested things are getting very difficult at Red Bull, and now that exit clause is very much in play. Watch this space.

Next race and F1 calendar for the rest of 2026

Next up is the iconic test that is Spa-Francorchamps and the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday July 19 (3pm local time, 2pm UK, 9am Eastern).

On the fact of it this high-power circuit is unlikely to suit Ferrari, but remember how even they thought they would be way behind at Silverstone?

We are still in the very early stages of a new regulation set in 2026 and things are evolving fluidly at pace. While Mercedes will start favourites, there are no guarantees.

As for the rest of the calendar, we are not even halfway through the season with 13 of the 22 races remaining. And that is without the possibility remaining that the Bahrain Grand Prix could yet be rescheduled later in the year.

With Russell and Hamilton trailing Antonelli by just 25 and 32 points respectively, this title race is wide open. Something which was unthinkable after Monaco when a rampant Kimi claimed his fifth consecutive victory.

The remaining schedule looks like this:

Round	Date	Race
10	July 19	Belgian Grand Prix
11	July 26	Hungarian Grand Prix
12	August 23	Dutch Grand Prix
13	September 6	Italian Grand Prix
14	September 13	Spanish Grand Prix
15	September 26	Azerbaijan Grand Prix
16	October 11	Singapore Grand Prix
17	October 25	United States Grand Prix
18	November 1	Mexico City Grand Prix
19	November 8	Sao Paulo Grand Prix
20	November 21	Las Vegas Grand Prix
21	November 29	Qatar Grand Prix
22	December 6	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

A Kardashian Kurse?

Okay, while this is a very serious take on the state of play in the championship, we can still have a little fun.

Remember when Kim Kardashian - high-profile (reported) girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton - picked up Antonelli's towel by mistake after Monaco? And then sent him one to make amends a few days later as he prepared for the race in Barcelona?

Kim Kardashian was on hand at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Well since that day, things have not gone so well for Kimi - DNF/P3/P15 are his results and he has only 15 points to show for his efforts. Ouch.

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton George Russell Kimi Antonelli