F1 2026 Season So Far: Antonelli Leads and Mercedes Rolls Into Belgium
This is a between-races edition of the Happy Hour Racing Formula 1 file. There is no Grand Prix this weekend, so we are stepping back to look at where the 2026 season stands with nine rounds done and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa up next on July 19.
The Short Version
Nine races into 2026 and the story is a teenager in a silver car. Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' standings with 179 points and five wins, including a five-race run from China to Monaco that flipped the season on its head. His Mercedes teammate George Russell sits second, so the team holds a one-two on merit. Ferrari is the closest challenger, McLaren has the pace but no wins yet, and Max Verstappen is stuck in seventh. The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa is next.
Antonelli Turned a Rookie Follow-Up Into a Title Run
The headline of 2026 is Andrea Kimi Antonelli. George Russell won the opener in Australia, and then the young Italian took over. Antonelli won in China, Japan, Miami, Canada, and Monaco back to back, five wins in a row, and by the time the run ended he had built a points cushion that has held ever since. He now sits on 179 points to Russell's 154.
Five straight wins is the kind of streak that usually belongs to a driver deep into a career, not one still this early in his time at the front. Winning at Monaco in the middle of it only added to the noise, because there is no track where track position and nerve matter more. Antonelli did not just win races in that stretch, he won the hard ones.
Mercedes Has the Best Car and the Best Pair
Mercedes leads the constructors' championship with 333 points and seven of the nine wins so far. Only Ferrari has kept the team honest. The reason the gap is what it is comes down to depth. Antonelli and Russell are first and second in the drivers' table, and when both cars finish near the front every weekend the points pile up fast.
Russell has two wins of his own, in Australia and Austria, and he has been the steady hand while Antonelli grabbed the headlines. Second in the standings with a teammate ahead is a tough spot, but it is also the position of a driver who has not put a foot wrong. If Antonelli ever slips, Russell is right there.
Ferrari Is the Real Challenger, Both Cars Have Won
Ferrari sits second in the constructors' fight with 255 points, and the encouraging part for the team is that both drivers have delivered a win. Lewis Hamilton took the Barcelona Grand Prix and holds third in the standings on 147 points. Charles Leclerc won the most recent race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and sits fourth on 108.
Hamilton ahead of Leclerc in the points is a storyline on its own. The move to Ferrari was supposed to take time, and yet he is the higher of the two red cars in the standings and has a win in the bag. For Ferrari to turn second place into a real title fight, both cars need to keep scoring big and the team needs a stretch where Mercedes stumbles. So far that stretch has not come.
McLaren Has Speed and No Wins, and Verstappen Is Stuck
The puzzle of the season is McLaren. The team is third in the constructors' championship with 179 points, which means the car is quick and the results are steady. What is missing is a win. Lando Norris is fifth in the drivers' standings on 97 points and Oscar Piastri is sixth on 82, and neither has stood on the top step through nine rounds. Plenty of podiums, plenty of points, no victory. That is a hard thing to carry, and Spa has a way of rewarding a strong car if the strategy lines up.
Then there is Max Verstappen. Seventh in the standings on 76 points, no wins, and a Red Bull that has not looked like the car that ruled the recent past. Isack Hadjar sits eighth as his teammate. When the driver who set the standard is running outside the top six at the break, it tells you how much the order has shifted in 2026.
What to Watch at Spa and Beyond
The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps is one of the great tests on the calendar, long, fast, and often wet. It is the kind of weekend that can either confirm the pecking order or shake it. Antonelli will try to keep his lead intact. Russell will look for a third win. Ferrari will hunt for the day Mercedes slips. McLaren will chase the win that has escaped it. And Verstappen will look for any sign the Red Bull has found something. The second half of the season starts here.
The Bottom Line
Through nine rounds, 2026 belongs to Mercedes and to Kimi Antonelli in particular. Five wins, a five-race streak, and a championship lead that has held since spring. Ferrari is the closest thing to a threat, McLaren has to convert pace into wins, and Red Bull has ground to make up. Spa is next, and the way this season keeps turning, the second half might not look anything like the first.
Shop the story. Mercedes leads both championships, so start there. Grab the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team polo or the collectible George Russell 1:2 scale helmet. Backing the red cars? Check the Scuderia Ferrari garage crew tee. Riding with McLaren or Red Bull instead? There is the McLaren New Era shadow beanie and the Red Bull Racing hoodie. See the full lineup in the F1 hats collection.
Who is your pick to win at Spa, and does anyone catch Antonelli before the year is out? Tell us in the comments.
