POWER RANKINGS: Who impressed our judges at the Singapore Grand Prix?

Max Verstappen was in a class of his own in Singapore last weekend, as he finally claimed victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. But who else impressed our Power Rankings judges? Check out the latest scores and overall leaderboard below...

How it works

• Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
• Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)

Verstappen had one thing on his mind last weekend: winning around the streets of Singapore at the 10th attempt. Making the most of Red Bull’s recent updates, which yielded a first 2026 win at Sepang the weekend before, the Dutchman was unstoppable through Sprint Qualifying, the Sprint, main Qualifying and the Grand Prix itself. Our judges deemed it to be a perfect display.

Liam Lawson is fighting for his F1 future once more as F2 championship contender Nikola Tsolov knocks on the door of a promotion at Racing Bulls. The New Zealander has been doing all he can to keep hold of a seat, though, with his SQ3/Q3 and double points performance at Marina Bay the latest in a long list of impressive displays.

Charles Leclerc emerged as Verstappen’s closest challenger as the Singapore Grand Prix weekend developed, qualifying second to the four-time World Champion and pushing him hard over the early laps of the race. While he did not quite have enough pace to challenge for the win, second marked a strong result for the Monegasque and Ferrari.

Nico Hulkenberg has just missed out on points several times this season, but the German was twice rewarded for his efforts at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. While Audi could not reach SQ3/Q3, Hulkenberg made the most of the drama ahead to bag a couple of points in the Sprint, and then maturely raced his way to eighth in the Grand Prix – keeping Mercedes’ George Russell at bay in the closing stages.

Kimi Antonelli had a battle on his hands throughout the Singapore weekend, as the Italian pressed on with Mercedes’ recent updates while team mate Russell reverted to an older package. After a tricky Sprint Qualifying, Antonelli appeared to make progress in understanding the W17’s new ways during the Sprint, before taking a much-improved P4 in main Qualifying and then turning that into a podium on race day – one that puts him on the brink of securing the 2026 title.

Ollie Bearman led the Haas charge again under the Marina Bay lights, getting the better of outgoing team mate Esteban Ocon in every session. The highlight was a run to P6 – and some important points – during the Sprint, where he pounced on McLaren’s intra-team clash. While he did not have enough speed to score more in the Grand Prix, he impressed with some fine midfield moves at unconventional overtaking spots.

Lewis Hamilton had looked set to join team mate Leclerc on the podium in Singapore, even after starting on what proved to be the less favourable medium tyres. However, while Leclerc pitted for fresh rubber under a mid-race Virtual Safety Car, Hamilton stayed out on the softs he had switched to early in the race – a provisional P3 turning into P6. In the hours after the chequered flag, Hamilton apologised for taking the strategy into his own hands, admitting that much more was possible given the raw pace he had displayed.

Oscar Piastri’s weekend started well with a solid run to P4 in Sprint Qualifying, ahead of team mate and reigning World Champion Lando Norris. Drama followed in the Sprint, though, when Norris tagged the Australian into a spin – and into the wall – on the final lap of the race. Norris held the upper hand again across Qualifying and the Grand Prix, with Piastri’s efforts in the main event hampered by a slow puncture.

While Williams’ difficult 2026 season continued in Singapore, Carlos Sainz comfortably led the intra-team battle over Alex Albon across the weekend. He turned a pit lane start into P12 in the Sprint, made it into Q2 in main Qualifying, and then battled his way to 14th in the Grand Prix, appearing to get everything he possibly could out of the troubled FW48 machine.

Pierre Gasly once again caught the eye over one lap last weekend as he dragged his Alpine into SQ3 and Q3, giving himself and the team a chance of scoring some crucial points in their championship battle against Racing Bulls. He came agonisingly close to doing so in both the Sprint (crossing the line ninth) and Grand Prix (placing 11th).

Missing out

Just missing out on the Singapore Power Rankings list are Norris, following the collision with Piastri that he has since apologised for, and Isack Hadjar, who climbed from the pit lane to points on race day after a weekend hampered by technical problems.