Nico Hülkenberg remains the season’s reference point for genuine passes with 94, but Singapore reshuffled the chase group as Isack Hadjar rocketed from ninth to second on 89. Behind them, the battle around the podium places tightened as Antonelli rose and Bortoleto slid.
By Diego Torres
Nico Hülkenberg still leads the 2026 Most overtakes ranking after round 17 at Marina Bay, sitting on 94 for Audi. The headline at the top isn’t a change of leader – there wasn’t one – but the pressure behind him has been completely redefined by Isack Hadjar’s surge into the thick of the fight.
Hadjar was only ninth before Singapore; he leaves it second with 89, a seven-place jump that reshapes the frame of the ranking. That puts him just five behind Hülkenberg, turning what looked like a comfortable advantage into a margin that can be attacked over the remaining races. The new top three is Hülkenberg, Hadjar, then Andrea Kimi Antonelli in third on 87.
Hadjar’s rise is striking because it’s movement in the ranking, not just a single Sunday headline. Starting the Singapore Grand Prix 22nd and finishing 10th, he was also the race’s biggest mover with a 12-place gain – a piece of colour that fits perfectly with a ranking built around position changes that stick. The upshot is that his season-long total has now pulled him past multiple established names in one go.
The numbers underline just how quickly the chasing pack can reorder in this metric. Hadjar’s 89 has lifted him above Antonelli (87) and pushed others down a rung: Gabriel Bortoleto and Max Verstappen are no longer second and third respectively. For Red Bull, it’s also a neat internal contrast in the table: Hadjar rising hard while Verstappen drops two places to fifth on 86.
Antonelli’s move from fifth to third is only a two-position gain, but it is an important one because of how tight the numbers are. He’s on 87, which puts him level on value with Bortoleto – yet it’s Antonelli who holds the podium spot while Bortoleto falls from second to fourth.
That Bortoleto drop is the other key Singapore aftershock. He recorded 87 for the season but slipped two positions in the standings after retiring from the race having completed seven laps. In a ranking where retired cars cannot generate phantom passes, any weekend with limited running naturally becomes a missed opportunity to add to a season total, and Singapore has left Bortoleto needing to respond to keep touch with the top three.
Singapore also reset the edges of the top 10. Liam Lawson is the new entry at 10th with 76, climbing one place from 11th to get himself into the headline positions of the table. At the other end of that squeeze, Arvid Lindblad is the driver who drops out of the top 10.
Those kinds of swaps matter because this ranking is built from lap-by-lap position charts and filters out pit-only shuffles unless the gain ultimately sticks. It rewards drivers who repeatedly convert track position changes into lasting ones across a season – and as the ‘streak’ signal suggests, the shape of this table is continuing to evolve rather than settling down.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 9 | 2 | +7 | 89 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 5 | 3 | +2 | 87 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 2 | 4 | -2 | 87 |
Hülkenberg’s 94 keeps him in control, but Hadjar’s leap to 89 has turned the lead into a five-overtake margin. With Antonelli on 87 and Bortoleto also on 87 but now fourth, the podium places are close enough that one strong weekend can reshuffle them again, while Lawson’s move into 10th shows the top-10 cut line is still live.