Max Verstappen was the highest-rated driver in the Power Rankings after the Mexico City Grand Prix, following a weekend in which he finished second behind Lewis Hamilton. The judges assess drivers out of 10 for their performances across each Grand Prix weekend, setting aside the relative performance of their cars. Scores from a five-person panel are averaged for each race and added to the season leaderboard.
Verstappen recovered from fifth to second on the opening lap, then took the lead after Charles Leclerc received a penalty. He held off repeated challenges from Hamilton, including through two restarts, to finish just behind the Ferrari driver.
Hamilton earned a high score after taking his 105th pole position, his first with Ferrari, by beating George Russell by 0.009 seconds. An early battle with Leclerc cost him ground to Verstappen, and although he pressed the Red Bull driver after the final restart, Hamilton finished second, 0.799 seconds behind.
Kimi Antonelli finished third and clinched the 2026 Drivers’ Championship. His move past Leclerc helped secure the points he needed, and the judges also noted his progress from his rookie season and his composed drive to the podium.
Liam Lawson’s weekend included a disqualification from qualifying for a technical breach and contact with Verstappen in practice. He nevertheless climbed from the pit lane to seventh, aided by penalties for other drivers after the race.
Lando Norris qualified sixth after failing to repeat his pace from Q2. He spent two stints behind Russell and Leclerc and finished fifth. Rookie Arvid Lindblad reached Q3 and started ninth, then ran in the points before a collision with Oscar Piastri sent him into the barriers and ended his race.
Ryo Hirakawa finished 10th after stepping into an F1 car midway through the weekend. He was eliminated in Q1 but stayed out of trouble in the race and secured Haas’s only point after Ollie Bearman retired with damage.
Sergio Perez, competing in his 300th Grand Prix, climbed as high as 13th after starting near the back. A slow pit stop and a penalty for speeding in the pit lane contributed to his eventual 16th place. Bearman had worked his way into contention for points before contact from Nico Hulkenberg at the Turn 4 restart caused damage and forced him to retire.
Gabriel Bortoleto lost practice running to reliability problems and started 13th. He finished 11th on the road before post-race penalties promoted him to eighth, giving Audi a points finish.
Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc narrowly missed the Power Rankings list. Albon finished 12th, while Leclerc’s podium hopes were affected by a five-second penalty. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto also missed out after a solid weekend.
Sources: Formula 1.