Six races into 2026, Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s classified-finishes average remains the benchmark — while Monaco reshuffled the chase group, with Russell’s big drop and Hamilton’s climb into the top three.
By Elena Marsh
Andrea Kimi Antonelli still sets the standard for this consistency metric after Monaco: a mean classified finishing position of 1.17 for Mercedes, and no change at the top after round 6 at the Circuit de Monaco. That number is not just “leading”; it’s a different category of week-to-week execution so far, and Monaco only reinforced it with Antonelli converting pole (grid 1) into a win over 78 laps and 25 points.
The more significant headline movement, though, happened just behind him. Monaco triggered a notable reshuffle among his closest statistical rivals, and it came from a reminder of what this ranking rewards: only classified results count, and every off-week that still reaches the flag can swing averages sharply. With the minimum threshold set at 3 classified races, the table is now solid enough to treat changes as real momentum rather than noise.
Oscar Piastri holds second for McLaren on 3.33, but the biggest top-end change is Lewis Hamilton moving up to third. Hamilton’s Monaco result — second from grid 3, 18 points, classified as Finished — nudged his season average down to 3.83 and was enough to edge him ahead of Lando Norris, who slipped from third to fourth despite sitting on a still-strong 4.00.
That matters because it’s not a case of one driver running away with the “best of the rest”. The gap from Piastri’s 3.33 to Hamilton’s 3.83 and Norris’s 4.00 is tight, and it makes every clean, classified finish disproportionately valuable. Monaco didn’t change the leader, but it did change the complexion of the podium places in this ranking.
The sharpest drop belongs to George Russell, and it’s the kind of hit this metric is designed to expose. Russell fell four places, from second to sixth, and his mean classified finishing position moved to 4.60 for Mercedes — the largest movement magnitude among the key movers after Monaco.
Monaco provides the obvious inflection point: Russell qualified sixth and finished 12th, still classified as Finished, over 78 laps and scoring 0 points. Because DNFs are excluded entirely here, a difficult but classified finish can be more damaging than a non-classification in other average-based measures — and Russell’s slide shows how quickly a season-long “reliability/consistency” profile can change when a single weekend breaks the pattern.
Beyond the headline movers, Monaco also brought fresh texture to the top 10. Isack Hadjar now sits 10th for Red Bull with an 8.00 average, while Liam Lawson is ninth for RB on 7.33 — a reminder that this ranking isn’t only about fighting for wins, but about turning Sundays into repeatable, classified outcomes. Pierre Gasly is seventh for Alpine F1 Team at 5.33, keeping himself in the mix of the upper midfield on consistency even as the very top is dominated by Antonelli’s unusually low figure.
There’s also a cautionary note for the established front. Max Verstappen slipped two spots, from sixth to eighth, and now carries a 5.50 average for Red Bull. With the top three separated by tenths in average finishing position, these mid-table swings matter: the next clean run of classified results can quickly compress or stretch the gaps that Monaco has just created.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Russell | Mercedes | 2 | 6 | -4 | 4.60 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 6 | 8 | -2 | 5.50 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3.83 |
Antonelli’s 1.17 keeps the ‘most consistent’ benchmark firmly in Mercedes’ hands after six races, but Monaco tightened the battle behind: Hamilton’s rise and Russell’s drop have re-ordered the main challengers, while small average gaps around Piastri, Hamilton and Norris make every classified finish disproportionately influential.