F1 power rankings: Every driver graded after Chinese GP | F1 | Sport
Kimi Antonelli is F1’s newest Grand Prix winner. (Image: Getty)
Mercedes have pressed home their advantage in the first double-header of the season with consecutive one-two finishes. In Shanghai, it was Kimi Antonelli‘s turn to enjoy some time on the top step of the podium as Formula 1‘s second youngest Grand Prix winner ever, though George Russell remains narrowly ahead in the drivers’ standings.
But, as we know, car performance is a huge factor in F1 and so the leaderboard never truly reflects the individual displays of each driver relative to the machinery they have under them. That’s why we’ve created our driver power rankings, in which we grade the performance of all 22 drivers relative to their cars across qualifying and races, including Sprints.
And, because things move fast in F1, each driver’s power rating will be based on the five most recent Grand Prix weekends – to ensure a racer who performs well in the latter stages of the season is not penalised for a poor start, and vice versa.
After the second round of the year, our first average scores are in and there are a couple of clear stand-out performers from Australia and China.
Oliver Bearman – Haas – 8.5 (Power Score: 8.25)
An outstanding start to his sophomore season in F1. Followed up a point in the Sprint with a superb drive to fifth in the Chinese GP, despite dropping back at the start when he had to avoid the spinning Red Bull of Isack Hadjar. He’s fifth in the championship and it’s fully deserved.
George Russell – Mercedes – 8 (Power Score: 8.25)
Continues to look very confident and kept cool despite Ferrari‘s fast start to win the Sprint. We’ll never know if he could have beaten Antonelli to pole for the Grand Prix had he not suffered the electrical problem that limited him to one Q3 lap, though he was beaten fair and square on Sunday.
Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – 8.5 (Power Score: 7.75)
A real coming-of-age weekend for Antonelli who showed exactly why Mercedes felt comfortable throwing him in at the deep end as an 18-year-old. Now 19, he’s F1’s youngest ever Grand Prix pole-sitter and only the second teenager to win a race. Handled the pressure superbly on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – 8 (Power Score: 7.75)
Finally, that first Ferrari podium has been secured! It’s been a long wait but Hamilton got the job done by coming out on top at the end of a long and very entertaining battle with Charles Leclerc. Out-qualified his team-mate for both races, too.
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – 7.5 (Power Score: 7.75)
Leclerc says Shanghai is probably his weakest circuit in F1 and perhaps that’s why he looked a step behind Hamilton in qualifying. Did his part to make the race entertaining with his Hamilton battle and it was great to see him say he had a lot of fun, rather than complain that he didn’t end up on the winning end of that duel.
Isack Hadjar – Red Bull – 7 (Power Score: 7.5)
Red Bull have needed someone to qualify within a few tenths of Verstappen for years and Hadjar did it again on Saturday. Was unlucky to pick up damage when Antonelli punted him at the start of the Sprint, though he span all by himself on lap one of the GP. Recovered well to eighth, Red Bull’s only points from a miserable weekend for the team.
Lewis Hamilton finally got his first Ferrari podium. (Image: Getty)
Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls – 6.5 (Power Score: 7.5)
Brought back down to earth slightly after his dream debut in Melbourne, though this was by no means a poor performance. Qualified really close to more experienced team-mate Liam Lawson but ended up outside the points while the Kiwi delivered on Sunday.
Pierre Gasly – Alpine – 8 (Power Score: 7.25)
Always a strong qualifier when the car is good and he put his Alpine ahead of Max Verstappen on the grid for both races. Converted into a strong sixth place on Sunday to kick-start his season and to prevent Alpine from falling too far behind midfield rivals Haas.
Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi – 6 (Power Score: 7)
Was off team-mate Nico Hulkenberg‘s pace in qualifying but never got the chance to make up for it because of a problem which meant he was one of several who didn’t start the GP. A shame one week on from an excellent Melbourne display.
Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls – 7.5 (Power Score: 6.75)
Didn’t threaten Q3 in either qualifying session but more than made up for it in the races. Seventh in both the Sprint and the GP saw him bag eight points to put Racing Bulls level with senior squad Red Bull in the standings. His challenge now is consistently repeating this level of performance.
Nico Hulkenberg – Audi – 6.5 (Power Score: 6.75)
The nearly-man of the weekend – didn’t finish the Sprint but missed out on Q3 in main qualifying by 0.002 seconds and then finished 11th and one place off the points on Sunday. A solid display but not quite enough to score for the first time in 2026.
Max Verstappen – Red Bull – 6 (Power Score: 6.75)
One of his worst weekends in F1 for many years. Nowhere near the fight for pole, qualifying eighth for both races and finishing both of them pointless. He would have finished the GP sixth if it weren’t for a coolant failure on his Red Bull, but rarely has he ever looked so uncomfortable with a car than he does with this RB22.
Carlos Sainz – Williams – 7 (Power Score: 6.5)
Points for Williams was probably a result beyond what they expected, given how overweight their car is. But despite a Q1 exit in qualifying he took advantage of struggles for others on Sunday to impressively steer the chunky FW48 to ninth.
Franco Colapinto – Alpine – 7 (Power Score: 6.5)
Finally, a first point for Alpine! He also only very narrowly missed out on Q3 in qualifying but managed to leapfrog Hulkenberg to secure 10th place despite being bashed into by Esteban Ocon. A result that perhaps relieves some of the pressure on him from ruthless boss Flavio Briatore.
Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac – 7 (Power Score: 6.5)
Cadillac are nowhere near capable of scoring points yet, but Bottas was well ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez all weekend and also did well to out-qualify Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. Finishing ahead of Ocon in the race too will also please the Finn, though the Frenchman did serve a penalty.
Lando Norris – McLaren – 6.5 (Power Score: 6.25)
Had a good Sprint, starting third and converting that into fourth place. Out-qualified by team-mate Oscar Piastri for the main GP, though, and of course neither McLaren got to start the race. Needs a much quicker car if he’s to have any chance of a title defence.
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – 6.5 (Power Score: 6.25)
Still hard to judge the Aston Martin drivers given the state of their Honda engines. Alonso was consistently quicker than Stroll all weekend but there’s little else for him to cling onto right now. Had to retire from the races as the intense vibrations from their heinous engine proved too much to bear.
Sergio Perez – Cadillac – 6 (Power Score: 6.25)
The fact he was classified last of the finishers in both races won’t worry him as much as the fact he was slower than team-mate Bottas all weekend. The fact both cars finished the Grand Prix, and only one lap down rather than the three Perez was behind in Melbourne a week earlier, will have pleased Cadillac no end.
Aston Martin’s engines are still too fragile for them to finish a full Grand Prix distance. (Image: Getty)
Oscar Piastri – McLaren – 6.5 (Power Score: 6)
Didn’t race on Sunday like Norris. Had outqualified his team-mate the day before but beaten by him in the Sprint. Hasn’t yet completed a racing lap in a Grand Prix this year, but at least this time it wasn’t his fault.
Alex Albon – Williams – 6 (Power Score: 6)
Was some way off team-mate Sainz’s qualifying pace for both races. Was four places below the Spaniard by the end of the Sprint and never got to race on Sunday as one of the four DNSs. We’ve yet to see anything close to his best so far this year.
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – 6 (Power Score: 6)
Like Alonso, biding his time until he has a car capable of even finishing a race, never mind scoring points in one. Off Alonso’s pace for the whole weekend, though, before a mechanical problem ended his GP after nine laps.
Esteban Ocon – Haas – 5.5 (Power Score: 6)
The fact he’s still pointless in 2026 while his much less experienced team-mate Bearman has 17 will be very concerning. The Haas car is clearly quick in the Brit’s hands but Ocon has had a harder time getting performance out of it. Admitted he deserved the 10-second penalty for slamming into Colapinto.
