F1 midseason report card: Kimi Antonelli dominates while Red Bull and Aston Martin struggle
Clear winners after Round 11
The Hungarian GP was Round 11 of a 23-round 2026 calendar. A good point to assess the season: one clear winner is Kimi Antonelli.
The Italian Mercedes driver leads the standings by 50 points, has six GP wins, six poles and looks to have a commanding measure of the new cars. Mercedes is also a big winner with eight GP wins out of 11, using the major engine rule change to vault to the top.
At McLaren, Lando Norris’ Budapest win finally got the team back in the winners’ circle. Lewis Hamilton finally got his Ferrari GP tally going with a win at Barcelona, and teammate Charles Leclerc took Silverstone to snap a 37-race losing streak. Ferrari’s winless streak was only one race shorter than Leclerc’s before Hamilton’s breakthrough.
Losers and struggles
No one has lost as much as George Russell, even though he has matched his victory tally from the last two seasons with wins in Australia and Austria. His luck has been awful and he has failed to adapt to the new cars as well as Antonelli. The gap between teammates is now 59 points after Hungary.
Oscar Piastri has not been the threat he was while challenging for the 2025 title. His smooth driving style does not gel with the new cars and their additional slides with less downforce.
Red Bull remains the fourth-best team. Verstappen has been thrown off the road three times in Australia, Austria and Silverstone. His championship hopes already seem dashed for a third year in a row. Isack Hadjar has ended the number two curse but the RB22 has shown fleeting threat.
Aston Martin is the backmarker of 2026. The AMR26 arrived late to preseason testing, suffered reliability issues and a severe vibration problem in Australia. After six races the team was at the foot of the constructors’ championship. A major chassis upgrade arrived in Hungary, with 16 areas changed and a focus on weight loss.
Williams also disappointed after a strong 2025. Production delays, a missed first test and an overweight car have hampered Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon. Cadillac remains point-less in its first season but shows gradual improvement in qualifying pace.