Andrea Kimi Antonelli can clinch the drivers’ championship at the next round – but three of his rivals out-scored him over the course of Formula 1’s six sprint races this year.
Singapore played host to F1’s sixth and final sprint race of 2026 last weekend. The sprint races were won by four different drivers: George Russell won three (Shanghai, Montreal and Zandvoort), while his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli triumphed at Silverstone, Lando Norris won in Miami and it was Max Verstappen’s turn in Singapore.Russell could have beaten Verstappen last weekend, of course, having taken the lead off him at the start. But his crash at the end of lap one ended his chances of winning a fourth sprint race.
It also meant he ended the year with as many sprint race points as a driver who didn’t win any of these races. Charles Leclerc collected 34 points from sprint races, the same as Russell. This was made possible by the single-point gaps between finishing positions in sprint races, which are much closer than those used in grands prix.
After Russell’s retirement, Norris was on course to end the year as the top sprint race points-scorer. But his last-lap tangle with his team mate cost him three points and left him third.
As points are only awarded to the top eight finishers in sprint races, the drivers from the top four teams tended to monopolise them, with one exception: Isack Hadjar did not score a single point in a sprint race.
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Liam Lawson scored points for both Red Bull (while substituting for Hadjar at Zandvoort) and Racing Bulls in sprint races. His regular team mate Arvid Lindblad also took sprint race points, as did Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.
But for almost half the grid, the sprint races offered nothing. The addition of four more sprint races next year could further increase the gap between the leading teams and the midfield.
Points scored in sprint races in 2026
| Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| =1 | George Russell | 34 |
| =1 | Charles Leclerc | 34 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | 33 |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 31 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | 27 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | 21 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | 20 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | 7 |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | 4 |
| =10 | Nico Hulkenberg | 2 |
| =10 | Pierre Gasly | 2 |
| 12 | Arvid Lindblad | 1 |
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