The early stages of the 2026 F1 season have been defined by chaos under new regulations, as teams and drivers continue to adapt to the changes.
For now, success has increasingly depended on adaptability, racecraft, and the ability to maximize every opportunity. While many have struggled to deliver, five drivers have consistently stood out with strong performances.
Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
All eyes were on Mercedes heading into the season, with George Russell the 2026 title favorite. Yet after just three races, it is his teammate Kimi Antonelli who has become the youngest driver to lead an F1 championship.
The Italian driver has shown great improvement in speed and confidence compared to his 2025 debut campaign. With April’s Middle Eastern GPs canceled, Antonelli heads into the one-month break with a podium, two wins, and two pole positions.
Despite starting the season with an FP3 crash, Antonelli recovered with P2 in the Australian GP’s qualifying and race. However, this weekend also marked the start of his recurring pattern of poor starts.
In China, the 19-year-old became the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history, converting it into his maiden win, finishing 5.515s ahead of Russell despite losing the lead on Lap 1. He carried this momentum into Suzuka, taking a second consecutive pole position. In the race, Antonelli dropped to P6 after a slow start before recovering to P1, with a safety car helping him retain track position after his pit stop. While the timing benefited him, his pace remained key as he built a 13.722s gap over Oscar Piastri to secure his second win.
Although Antonelli leads his teammate in qualifying and points, he holds one clear weakness: his race starts. He has lost positions off the line multiple times, forcing him into recovery drives despite starting from strong grid positions. The Italian’s pace and racecraft have consistently helped him out, but it remains an area that could cost him in tighter battles later in the season.
Through it all, Antonelli has established himself not only as Mercedes’s current lead driver but as a genuine surprise championship contender.
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
Charles Leclerc sits P3 in the Drivers’ Standings with 49 points, just 23 points behind Antonelli and 13 behind Russell. So far, he has built his points tally through consistent performances.
2026 has seen Leclerc extract performance without drama, securing two P3 podium finishes. Across the 2026 F1 opening rounds, the Ferrari driver has also regularly qualified P4 before making strong starts and climbing further up the grid.
The Monegasque driver finished P3 in Melbourne before getting involved in arguably the most exciting battle of the season against his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai. The race saw the Ferrari duo engage in multiple close wheel-to-wheel fights, repeatedly swapping places until the seven-time World Champion claimed the final podium, while Leclerc settled for P4. Leclerc returned to the P3 podium in Japan after making a stunning late overtake on Russell around the outside of Turn 1.
His consistent P3-P4 results are both limiting and positive. For now, he has lacked the long-term pace to challenge for wins, but his stability could prove decisive later in the season. That could become particularly important if the title fight remains an intra-team battle at Mercedes, a dynamic that has often proved messy in F1, opening the door for a third contender.
Pierre Gasly – Alpine
While much of the attention this season has been on Mercedes and Ferrari, Pierre Gasly has quietly established himself as one of the strongest midfield drivers on the 2026 F1 grid.
Alpine finished a difficult 2025 season at the bottom of the Teams’ Standings with just 22 points, all of which were scored by Gasly. Now, three races into 2026, Alpine sits P5 in the standings with 16 points, 15 of which were gained by the Frenchman, and 1 by his teammate Franco Colapinto.
Gasly began his point-scoring streak in Melbourne, bouncing back from a tough P14 qualifying to gain five positions on the opening lap before taking P10. In Shanghai, he continued to maximize performance in his midfield car, claiming P7 in qualifying and finishing in his season-best result of P6. The Alpine driver continued this form at the Japanese GP, securing P7 in qualifying. For Gasly, Sunday’s race marked the end of a “perfect weekend,” after resisting pressure from four-time World Champion Max Verstappen in the closing 25 laps. Staying in control, Gasly managed to retain his starting P7 position, keeping the Dutchman behind by just 0.337s.
Beyond battling on track, Gasly also sits ahead of all the Red Bull drivers in the 2026 F1 Drivers’ Standings. Additionally, he is the only driver outside Mercedes and Ferrari to have scored points in all three races so far (sprints excluded).
With Alpine still adapting to the new regulations and its new Mercedes power unit, there remains clear potential for further performance gains. Therefore, Gasly’s already impressive season may not yet represent his full potential.
Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
After a tough first season with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton has reset alongside F1’s 2026 regulations, currently sitting P4 in the standings with 41 points.
Hamilton is one of the few drivers who isn’t strongly opposed to the changes, noting that he “enjoys the racing” in 2026, though his SF-26 still faces pace and performance issues.
Hamilton started his 20th F1 campaign by finishing just outside the podium after recovering from P7 in Melbourne due to qualifying power issues. The following weekend in Shanghai brought good fortune for the Brit, as it did in 2025, when he won the Sprint race with Ferrari. After claiming P3 in the 2026 Sprint, Hamilton outqualified his teammate Leclerc for Sunday. His race in China featured a long, intense wheel-to-wheel battle with Leclerc, which he ultimately won with a decisive move, securing his first Ferrari podium. Suzuka, however, saw a drop in performance in his SF-26, forcing him to defend rather than attack, though he still managed to retain P6.
His early form shows a clear contrast to his difficult 2025 campaign, in which he failed to secure a single podium and was heavily outqualified by Leclerc. Now, the 2026 Lewis Hamilton looks closer to the driver who won seven F1 World Championships. Despite not fighting consistently at the front, his racecraft and renewed confidence have helped him stand out from the rest.
While there are still limitations in his Ferrari machinery, Hamilton’s ability to deliver strong results and compete closely with his teammate suggests that a return to victory may not be far away if Ferrari can unlock more of its potential.
Ollie Bearman – Haas
Ollie Bearman is another strong midfield driver who has impressed this season by claiming 17 of Haas’s 18 2026 F1 championship points. Despite struggling to adapt to the regulations with poor qualifying results, Bearman has so far found pace when it matters.
The season opener in Australia saw the start of this pattern as he claimed P12 in qualifying, before recovering to finish P7 in the race. Though the result didn’t come easily, as Bearman struggled with the new boost system while Arvid Lindblad held him back for several laps before he finally made the overtake. The Brit went on to finish P10 in Chinese GP qualifying before securing a P5 race result. He reaffirmed his race performance in Shanghai by defending his position, avoiding a crash, and making well-timed overtakes.
Unfortunately, Suzuka marked a weekend to forget for the 20-year-old due to his 50G crash. The incident occurred on Lap 22 when Colapinto’s Alpine suddenly lost power, creating a significant speed differential as Bearman approached from behind. This forced the Brit to take avoiding action, which sent him into the barriers.
Bearman has already been openly critical of the new regulations, beyond just his Japanese GP accident. Yet, on track, he seems to be adapting well, currently leading his more-experienced teammate, Esteban Ocon, in both qualifying and points, with Ocon having just one point. Additionally, comparing his current season to his rookie campaign, there is clear improvement, given that he spent most of 2025 outside the points, with 3 DNFs due to rookie mistakes.
If he can improve his qualifying as the 2026 F1 season progresses, Bearman could develop into one of the strongest midfield drivers on the grid.
