Four rounds into 2026, Max Verstappen remains the benchmark in the Most positions gained ranking on +14 — but Miami created a very different story underneath him. Charles Leclerc’s -3 weekend and Oscar Piastri’s steady +5 lift changed the shape of the top 10.
By Diego Torres
Max Verstappen still leads the 2026 Most positions gained ranking after the Miami Grand Prix, holding a season total of +14. The significance isn’t just that the lead didn’t change; it’s that Miami produced one of the sharpest swings in the ranking so far, without dislodging the driver who has been banking forward progress across the opening four races.
Miami itself underlined how quickly this metric can pivot on a single classified result. Verstappen’s own race was a net loss of places — he started 2nd and finished 5th after 57 laps — yet his accumulated +14 keeps him ahead of Liam Lawson’s +12. With only four races completed, that two-place cushion in the ranking’s value terms matters: it means Verstappen can absorb a setback like Miami and still remain the reference point for season-long recovery from grid position.
The headline mover was Charles Leclerc, and not in a way Ferrari will enjoy. He dropped 11 places in the ranking order, falling from 5th to 16th, and Miami explains the mechanics: Leclerc qualified and started 3rd but finished 8th, a -5 swing from grid to flag that prints as -3 for his season total in this table.
That one result was enough to knock Leclerc out of the top 10 entirely — one of the two top-10 exits alongside Sergio Pérez — and it shows the brutal arithmetic of a ranking that rewards recoveries and punishes lost ground. In a metric built on the difference between grid slot and final classification, finishing behind your starting position doesn’t just stall progress; it actively erodes whatever earlier gains you’ve stockpiled.
Oscar Piastri produced the cleanest Miami narrative for this ranking: start 7th, finish 3rd, and a +4 in the race that helps him climb from 10th to 3rd in the season standings for positions gained. His season total sits at +5, and while that’s still nine behind Verstappen, the jump matters because it moves him into the immediate fight behind the top two rather than the crowded midfield of the table.
Carlos Sainz delivered an equally eye-catching ranking climb in pure positional terms: up seven places from 12th to 5th, also on +5 for the season. Miami didn’t just reward individual recoveries; it created momentum for Williams as a pair, because Alexander Albon is also on +5 and sits 6th. That puts two Williams drivers side-by-side in the top six of a metric explicitly tied to converting imperfect grid positions into stronger final classifications.
Behind the headline movers, Miami nudged several familiar names into new context. Lando Norris edged forward from 9th to 8th with a season total of +3, while Lewis Hamilton slipped from 4th to 7th despite also being on +3 — a reminder that this table is about comparative accumulation and that other drivers’ spikes can push you back even if your number looks healthy. Esteban Ocon also lost three ranking positions, moving from 6th to 9th on +2.
The top end, though, remains defined by Verstappen versus Lawson. With Verstappen on +14 and Lawson on +12, the lead is stable but not comfortable, especially in a ranking where a single weekend can swing a driver 11 places in rank. If the early-season trend continues — the streak of meaningful reshuffles beneath a static leader — then the next phase of this table will be decided less by who has one standout recovery, and more by who can avoid the kind of backward result that sent Leclerc tumbling.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 5 | 16 | -11 | -3 |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 10 | 3 | +7 | +5 |
| Carlos Sainz | Williams | 12 | 5 | +7 | +5 |
Verstappen’s +14 cushion over Lawson’s +12 survived a weekend where he lost ground in-race, which tells you how much work he’s banked already. The bigger story is the compression behind them: Piastri’s rise to 3rd on +5, Williams placing Sainz (5th) and Albon (6th) both on +5, and Leclerc’s drop to 16th on -3 all shift the chase pack and raise the stakes of every grid-to-flag swing.