Mercedes seize 70-point lead after Antonelli surge

Mercedes have taken early control of the 2026 Formula 1 season, leaving Miami on 180 points after Kimi Antonelli’s third straight grand prix win extended the team’s unbeaten start to four rounds and opened a 70-point lead over Ferrari in the teams’ championship.

That run has also transformed the drivers’ picture. George Russell won in Australia, Antonelli has won the next three races, and the Italian left Miami as the sport’s youngest-ever leader of the drivers’ championship.

The shift is stark against last season’s order. McLaren, which wrapped up the 2025 teams’ title with six rounds to spare, has fallen to third on 94 points. Ferrari has climbed to second, while Red Bull, after dropping as low as sixth following Japan, sits fourth despite Miami upgrades that helped Max Verstappen move closer to the front.

Antonelli’s rise was reflected in the updated F1 Power Rankings published on May 11, where he moved to the top spot for the first time with a Power Score of 8 after Miami. The ranking noted that he still won despite what it called a “messy Sprint” that left him sixth after a post-race penalty, and praised him for holding off Lando Norris late in the grand prix.

Mercedes’ advantage has not come from one driver alone, but Miami also highlighted where the team remains vulnerable. Russell endured what the same rankings described as a poor weekend, earning a 6 rating and a 7.63 Power Score after missing the top three in both the Sprint and the grand prix. The assessment said he was outshone by Antonelli “without a mitigating factor, like the reliability issues which hit him in China and Japan.”

Even so, Mercedes’ early-season strength is showing up on Saturdays as well as Sundays. Motorsport’s qualifying head-to-head table has Antonelli ahead of Russell 4-2 across all qualifying sessions, or 3-1 excluding sprints. McLaren’s internal battle is much tighter, with Oscar Piastri and Norris level at 3-3 overall.

That combination of race-winning form, a championship-leading driver and a clearer edge inside the garage has made Mercedes the team everyone else is now chasing as the early title fight takes shape.