Antonelli, Norris and Alonso lead the 2026 F1 team-mate battle

The 2026 Formula 1 season has produced several clear intra-team leaders, but the closest contests remain at Ferrari and Audi. With the campaign continuing, the latest qualifying, Grand Prix, sprint and championship figures show which drivers have established the upper hand against their team-mates.

Mercedes: Antonelli sets the pace

Kimi Antonelli has the strongest overall position at Mercedes. He leads George Russell 8-7 in Grand Prix qualifying and 10-5 in race finishes, while also holding a 302-236 championship advantage. Antonelli is first in the standings, with Russell second.

Russell has nevertheless narrowed the gap with a pole position and victory in Baku. Formula 1’s figures note that Antonelli has taken six poles and won eight of the races in which he finished ahead of Russell. Russell has suffered two retirements compared with one for his team-mate.

McLaren: Norris ahead of Piastri

Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri 9-6 in qualifying and 8-7 in Grand Prix race results, with the Chinese Grand Prix excluded because neither driver started. Norris also has a clean sweep in sprint comparisons, leading 5-0 in both sprint qualifying and sprint races.

Norris’s advantage is reflected in the championship: he has 186 points and sits fourth, while Piastri has 120 points and is seventh. Norris has also delivered McLaren’s two Grand Prix victories so far, at the Hungarian and Dutch Grands Prix.

Red Bull: Verstappen remains clear of his team-mates

Max Verstappen leads Isack Hadjar 8-4 in qualifying and 9-3 in Grand Prix finishes. Verstappen also leads the championship comparison 163-86, although he is sixth in the standings behind Hadjar’s eighth-place position in the current table.

Liam Lawson replaced Hadjar for the Dutch, Italian and Spanish Grands Prix. Verstappen beat Lawson 3-0 in qualifying and leads 2-1 in race results across their meetings. Hadjar returned to finish ahead of Verstappen in qualifying in Baku, but Verstappen finished higher in the race.

Ferrari and Audi remain tightly contested

Charles Leclerc has a narrow qualifying advantage over Lewis Hamilton, 8-7, but Hamilton leads their Grand Prix race comparison 8-7. Hamilton also holds the stronger championship position, with 199 points to Leclerc’s 179, placing him third compared with Leclerc in fifth.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are similarly matched. Bortoleto leads both qualifying and race results 8-7, and has 10 championship points to Hulkenberg’s seven. Bortoleto’s best starting position is eighth at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso dominates Aston Martin comparison

Fernando Alonso has been decisively quicker than Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, leading qualifying 13-2 and Grand Prix race results 8-2. Alonso also leads the sprint comparisons 4-1 in qualifying and 3-2 in races. He has three championship points, while Stroll has yet to score.

The race comparison excludes several rounds in which both Aston Martin drivers retired, including Australia, China, Barcelona, the Netherlands and Azerbaijan.

Other team-mate battles

At Alpine, Pierre Gasly leads Franco Colapinto 12-3 in qualifying and 8-6 in Grand Prix finishes. Gasly has 41 championship points to Colapinto’s 27. The Frenchman also claimed pole position at Monza, while both drivers retired after a clash in Azerbaijan.

Oliver Bearman leads Esteban Ocon 10-4 in qualifying and 8-6 in races at Haas, with a 20-7 points advantage. At Williams, Carlos Sainz leads Alex Albon 11-4 in qualifying and 9-6 in races, although both have struggled for points, with Sainz on seven and Albon on five.

Racing Bulls has been closer: Liam Lawson leads Arvid Lindblad 7-5 in qualifying and 8-4 in races, while Lawson also holds a 59-37 championship advantage. Yuki Tsunoda substituted for Lawson at three events, with Lindblad leading Tsunoda 3-0 in qualifying and 2-1 in race results.

At Cadillac, Sergio Perez leads Valtteri Bottas 8-7 in qualifying and 9-4 in Grand Prix finishes. Neither driver has scored a championship point, while their race comparison excludes the Austrian and Hungarian Grands Prix after both retired.

The overall picture

Antonelli, Alonso and Norris have produced the most emphatic combinations of qualifying and race advantages among the established pairings. By contrast, Ferrari, Audi and Williams show how qualifying speed and race-day execution can tell different stories: Leclerc is ahead on Saturdays but Hamilton leads on Sundays, while Bortoleto and Sainz have the stronger race records in their respective team comparisons.

With sprint weekends and reliability continuing to influence the numbers, the team-mate battles remain one of the clearest measures of performance as the 2026 season progresses.