Mercedes and Antonelli lead F1 2026 after three rounds
After three rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 season, Mercedes have turned the opening stretch of the championship into a masterclass. The Silver Arrows lead the constructors' standings on 135 points — 45 ahead of Ferrari and 89 ahead of the reigning champions McLaren — and teenage rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli sits on top of the drivers' table with 72 points and two wins. Team-mate George Russell, who opened the year with a pole-to-flag victory in Melbourne, is second on 63.
Three races, three Mercedes front rows
Australia (R1): Russell led from pole to flag, with Antonelli shadowing him home for a Mercedes one-two. Charles Leclerc brought Ferrari's first podium of 2026 from fourth on the grid, while Max Verstappen produced the drive of the day, recovering from the back of the grid (P20) to sixth.
China (R2): Antonelli flipped the intra-team order, taking his first grand prix win from pole and leading another Mercedes one-two ahead of Russell. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium for Ferrari in only his second weekend with the Scuderia. Verstappen retired from P8 — a first points blank for Red Bull.
Japan (R3): Antonelli made it back-to-back wins with a controlled drive from pole at Suzuka. Oscar Piastri broke McLaren's podium duck in second place, their first top-three of the year, and Leclerc again beat Hamilton in the intra-Ferrari fight, P3 to P6.
Ferrari and McLaren play catch-up
Ferrari are the best of the rest on 90 points. Leclerc (49) has finished ahead of Hamilton (41) at every round so far; the pattern suggests the Monegasque has adapted to the 2026 car more quickly than his seven-time world champion team-mate. McLaren, who ran away with the 2025 constructors' title on 833 points, are only third on 46. Lando Norris has been metronomic (P5-P5-P5) without finding a podium, and Piastri's Suzuka result was the team's first top-three of the season.
Red Bull's reset
Red Bull sit sixth on 16 points, level with Alpine and one ahead of Audi. The team's new driver pairing of Verstappen and rookie Isack Hadjar has yet to yield a podium. Verstappen's China retirement — coming after his grid-penalty recovery drive in Melbourne — underlines how far last year's dominant force has slipped from form.
Miami looms
The championship heads to Miami on the first weekend of May for round four and the first of 2026's six sprint weekends. It is also the season's first street circuit, a track that rewards braking confidence and tyre management — two traits Antonelli has already shown at Shanghai and Suzuka. Mercedes will arrive as championship leaders for the first time since 2021; everyone behind them has a different sub-plot to write.
