After the Spanish Grand Prix at Madring, Sergio Pérez edges Liam Lawson for the top spot in F1 2026’s Best average positions gained ranking, +3.67 plays gained per counted race to +3.63. The metric’s grid-to-finish focus also reshuffles the chase pack, with Max Verstappen and Lando Norris slipping after Spain.
By Elena Marsh
The headline change after Madrid is at the very top: Sergio Pérez is now the leader of the Best average positions gained ranking, moving from second to first with a season average of +3.67 positions gained. That’s enough to dislodge Liam Lawson, who drops from first to second on +3.63 — a margin so small it underlines how sensitive this metric is to a single race’s swing in grid-versus-finish movement.
What makes Pérez’s takeover particularly striking is that it comes off a Spanish Grand Prix that, on paper, looks like the wrong kind of weekend for a “positions gained” specialist. Pérez started 18th and was classified 20th with a retirement after 31 laps, a -2 net loss on the day. But because this ranking is an average across counted races (and doesn’t pretend to estimate drivers below its minimum threshold), the season story can still tilt: Pérez’s broader body of recoveries has been strong enough that even a Madrid setback doesn’t stop him from edging the lead.
Lawson’s slide to second is the most visible change, but it wasn’t the only meaningful movement around him. Esteban Ocon holds third at +3.25, keeping the top three unchanged in membership even as the leader flips — a sign that the main battle is becoming a two-driver knife-edge rather than a full scramble among the top slots.
Just behind that, Alexander Albon and Isack Hadjar both gain one place in the ranking: Albon climbs from fifth to fourth with a +2.67 average, and Hadjar from sixth to fifth at +2.57. Those increments matter because the gaps are compressing: Verstappen’s drop to sixth still leaves him on +2.50, close enough to Hadjar that a single strong recovery race could reverse that order again.
There were no new names entering or exiting the top 10 list this round, which is useful context: the shake-up is about re-ordering within a stable group rather than fresh arrivals. That stability raises the stakes of each intra-top-10 swing — when the cast is steady, position changes carry clearer meaning about who is consistently turning poor grid spots into solid finishes.
Max Verstappen is the biggest faller among the key movers, down two places from fourth to sixth despite finishing second in Spain. The reason is baked into the ranking’s design: it measures positions gained from the official starting grid to the final classification in classified races. Verstappen started third and finished second — only a +1 gain — and that modest improvement nudged his season average to +2.50 and allowed others to shuffle ahead.
Lando Norris also drops two places, from eighth to 10th, on a +1.18 average. Madrid captures why this metric can feel counterintuitive: Norris was the pole sitter, so the ceiling for “positions gained” is inherently low when you start at the front. That doesn’t make pole a negative performance in racing terms, but in this specific ranking it limits how much you can add to your average compared with drivers who routinely begin deeper in the pack.
As a bit of race-wide context, Oliver Bearman was the Spanish Grand Prix’s biggest grid-to-finish mover with a gain of six places. That single stat doesn’t directly determine this season-long average leaderboard, but it reinforces the weekend’s theme: Madring still offered meaningful recovery potential — and in a metric this tight, those recovery races are the ones that can decide who sits first and who is merely close.
The immediate takeaway is that the lead is now separated by just 0.04 positions per counted race: Pérez at +3.67 versus Lawson at +3.63. With margins that fine, the ranking is likely to stay volatile — not through dramatic, one-off leaps, but via ordinary-looking Sundays where a driver gains (or loses) only a couple of spots from their grid slot.
Behind them, the storyline is whether the mid-top-10 reshuffle continues. Verstappen’s slide to sixth and Norris’s to 10th show how quickly the metric can punish front-starters (limited upside) or solid-but-unspectacular gains. Meanwhile, Albon and Hadjar’s one-place climbs suggest a steady accumulation approach can be just as powerful as the occasional headline recovery when the averages are packed closely together.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 4 | 6 | -2 | +2.50 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | 8 | 10 | -2 | +1.18 |
| Sergio Pérez | Cadillac F1 Team | 2 | 1 | +1 | +3.67 |
Pérez’s move to P1 in Best average positions gained is narrow rather than definitive: +3.67 versus Lawson’s +3.63 means the top spot can swing again with a single modest grid-to-finish change. Verstappen (now sixth on +2.50) and Norris (10th on +1.18) are reminders that starting position can heavily shape this metric’s week-to-week momentum.