The Belgian Grand Prix reshuffled a ranking built on grid-to-finish movement: Sergio Pérez replaces Liam Lawson at the top on +3.67 places per counted race. Behind him, big swings for Isack Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad show how quickly this metric can turn over after a single weekend.
By Diego Torres
Sergio Pérez is the new leader of 2026’s Best average positions gained ranking after Spa, moving from third to first with a +3.67 average, as previous leader Liam Lawson drops to second on +3.40. It is a reminder that this table measures season-long recovery from the official starting grid — not the last result in isolation — because Pérez’s headline Spa statistic is actually negative: he started 18th and was classified 21st (Retired), after 13 laps.
That contrast is the point of the metric. With 10 races completed and only classified races with a proper grid slot counted, one bad Sunday doesn’t automatically erase the body of work that built Pérez’s average. It does, however, tighten the fight at the top: the gap between first and second is now just 0.27 places per counted race (+3.67 vs +3.40), leaving very little margin for either driver if the next few rounds bring more weekends like Spa for Pérez.
Isack Hadjar produced the weekend’s standout climb in pure grid-to-flag terms, and it translated directly into a rankings surge. From 21st on the official grid to sixth at the finish, Hadjar banked a 15-place gain in Belgium and jumped five places in the average-gain standings, from 12th to seventh, landing on +2.50. The detail that matters here is that this ranking uses the starting grid, not qualifying: Hadjar’s qualifying position was 10th, but his movement score is built off 21st, making Spa disproportionately valuable for his season average.
At the other end of the swing scale sits Arvid Lindblad. He leaves Spa with points — ninth from seventh on the grid, 44 laps completed and 2 points — yet still takes the biggest slide of any key mover: down six places in the ranking, from seventh to 13th, on a +1.00 average. That’s the harshness of an average-based table: a modest two-place loss on Sunday can still be damaging when others are stacking double-digit gains.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s drop is similar in feel, if sharper in the table. He falls five ranking positions, ninth to 14th, also landing on +1.00. With four drivers exiting the top 10 overall — Lindblad, Oscar Piastri, Bortoleto, and Lando Norris — Spa functioned less like a gradual evolution and more like a clear turnover point.
The top three itself is unchanged in names, even as the order shifts at the top: Pérez first (+3.67), Lawson second (+3.40), Esteban Ocon third (+3.25). But the more interesting story is the compression behind them. A couple of strong recovery races can pull a driver rapidly toward that trio, which is why Hadjar’s move into seventh matters: it’s not just a single jump, it’s an entry into the group now visible from the podium places on the table.
Further down, Williams has a neat symmetry: Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon are fifth and sixth respectively, both on +2.67. That kind of exact match underlines how this ranking is shaped by repeatable Sundays — consistently finishing ahead of your grid slot — rather than a lone outlier. Oliver Bearman rounds out 10th on +2.00, while top-10 turnover is significant enough that the ranking’s signals flag a top-10 entry and multiple exits after Spa.
The stakes, then, are about sustainability. With no streak indicated and the maximum movement magnitude hitting 6 places this week, the mid-table looks volatile. One driver can be a fixture in the top 10 one round and outside it the next — as Lindblad’s fall from seventh to 13th illustrates — making the next races crucial for anyone trying to turn a single big comeback into a durable average.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arvid Lindblad | RB F1 Team | 7 | 13 | -6 | +1.00 |
| Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 12 | 7 | +5 | +2.50 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 9 | 14 | -5 | +1.00 |
Pérez’s move to +3.67 puts him in control of the average-gain table, but Lawson is close enough at +3.40 that a single strong recovery race could flip it again. Hadjar’s rise to seventh (+2.50) shifts him into the conversation for the upper tier, while the Spa-driven exits of Lindblad and Bortoleto show how quickly the top 10 can churn when the metric is built on grid-to-finish movement.