After the Austrian Grand Prix, the 2026 ‘Most overtakes’ table has stability at the top but real churn underneath: the top three changes, Hamilton re-enters the top 10, and Lawson drops out.
By Diego Torres
Max Verstappen remains the benchmark in the 2026 Most overtakes ranking after round 8 at the Red Bull Ring, holding first place with 50. There’s no headline change at the very top — the leader didn’t change — but the weekend still mattered because the pack behind Verstappen is shifting in ways that could shape the next phase of this table.
That tension is captured by the new-looking top end: Gabriel Bortoleto is now second on 42 and Nico Hülkenberg third on 40, giving Audi two drivers inside the top three. Verstappen’s margin to P2 is eight overtakes, but with Bortoleto and Hülkenberg separated by just two, the fight for ‘best of the rest’ is tighter than the gap to the leader suggests.
The key signal from Spielberg is that the top three changed even though the leader didn’t. That’s an important nuance for this ranking because it’s built from lap-by-lap position charts and credits only genuine, sustained position gains — not pit-stop shuffles unless they become a lasting strategic gain. In other words, movement here tends to reflect repeatable racecraft and/or consistently effective race positioning across the season rather than one-off noise.
Audi’s double presence in the top three also creates a secondary storyline within the ranking itself: with Bortoleto on 42 and Hülkenberg on 40, the internal gap is small enough that a single strong round can flip their order without them needing Verstappen to come back to them. For Verstappen, P1 on 50 is still comfortable, but the closest pressure is now concentrated within one team’s pairing rather than scattered across multiple challengers.
The biggest rise belongs to Franco Colapinto, who jumps five places from 16th to 11th on 33 for Alpine. Notably, his Austrian Grand Prix result in the provided sample is 15th from 16th, lapped after 70 laps and scoring 0 points — a reminder that this ranking can tell a different story to the finishing order, because it rewards how often a driver is actually gaining track positions across the season’s lap charts rather than where they ultimately end up.
Lewis Hamilton is the other major mover, climbing four places from 13th to ninth on 34 for Ferrari — and that’s pivotal because it’s a top-10 entry. Around him, Pierre Gasly quietly strengthens his season-long profile by moving up three spots from eighth to fifth on 38 for Alpine, putting Alpine representation both just outside and just inside the top 10 boundary.
The sharpest fall of the week is Carlos Sainz: down four places from fourth to eighth on 36 for Williams. His Austrian Grand Prix entry shows a retirement after 23 laps from 17th on the grid, and while retirements don’t create ‘phantom’ passes in this methodology, they can still stall accumulation and leave a driver vulnerable to being overtaken in the table by those continuing to bank moves elsewhere.
Hamilton’s move into ninth on 34 comes with a corresponding casualty: Liam Lawson drops out of the top 10, sliding from 10th to 12th on 32 for RB. The cut line is now clearly compressed — ninth is 34, 10th is 34 (Oliver Bearman), 11th is 33 (Colapinto), and 12th is 32 (Lawson) — which means the ranking is set up for frequent swapping as small increments add up across races with complete lap-chart data.
Bearman’s own drop is steep: down four places from sixth to 10th on 34 for Haas, making him the other major example of how quickly a seemingly strong early-season position can be eroded. Sainz’s fall to eighth on 36 puts him only two ahead of Hamilton’s 34 despite being four places higher, underlining that a couple of solid ‘overtake-heavy’ weekends can reshape the narrative quickly without needing a change at the very top.
The broader theme after eight races is continuity plus volatility: Verstappen’s lead is intact, but the order behind him is fluid, and the ranking is on a streak of meaningful changes week-to-week even without a new name at P1.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franco Colapinto | Alpine F1 Team | 16 | 11 | +5 | 33 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 13 | 9 | +4 | 34 |
| Carlos Sainz | Williams | 4 | 8 | -4 | 36 |
Verstappen’s 50 keeps him clear, but the story is the compression behind: Bortoleto (42) and Hülkenberg (40) are close enough to swap places, while the top-10 cut line from 9th to 12th spans just 34 to 32 — setting up more churn without requiring a change of leader.