After 11 races, Max Verstappen’s season-long recovery metric lead stays intact at +22. But the fight behind him tightened at the Hungaroring as Isack Hadjar climbed to second on the tie-break over Liam Lawson, both on +17.
By Camille Fontaine
Max Verstappen remains the benchmark in 2026’s ‘Most positions gained’ ranking after the Hungarian Grand Prix, holding P1 on a cumulative +22. This table isn’t about outright pace or Sundays in isolation; it’s the season-long sum of places recovered from grid position to final classification, and Verstappen continues to stack small, clean recoveries often enough to build a clear margin.
At Budapest, Verstappen added another net gain by converting P4 on the grid into P2 at the flag, finishing 70 laps and scoring 18 points. That +2 from Sunday alone didn’t reshuffle the top of the ranking — the lead did not change — but it underlined the theme of his season so far: consistently turning top-five starts into better final classifications, and doing it often enough that the chasing pack still hasn’t reeled in that +22 total.
The meaningful movement after round 11 happened directly behind Verstappen, where Isack Hadjar moved up one place in the ranking, from third to second, while Liam Lawson dropped from second to third. The headline number looks unchanged — both drivers sit on +17 for the season — but this ranking’s tie-break is season points, and Hungary nudged the order.
Hadjar’s own Hungarian recovery was straightforward: he started P8 and finished P6, a net +2, completed all 70 laps, and took 8 points. In a metric built on accumulated marginal gains, those two places matter twice: they add to the season total and they help on the tie-break that decides the order when the totals match.
Lawson also improved his grid-to-flag position at the Hungaroring, but his weekend didn’t protect his ranking position. He started P11 and was classified P8 — a net gain of three places — scoring 4 points after completing 69 laps and being classified as lapped. In isolation, +3 is exactly the kind of Sunday this ranking is designed to reward.
Yet the season picture is more delicate than a single race: despite matching Hadjar on +17 overall, Lawson’s drop from P2 to P3 shows how fine the margins are once totals converge. With no fresh entrants or exits in the top 10 and only one-place ranking movement recorded, the fight for ‘best mover’ status behind Verstappen is increasingly about accumulating points alongside the recoveries — because that is what decides the order when the arithmetic ends level.
Hungary didn’t rewrite the ranking, but it did reinforce its developing shape. The top three stayed the same names, and the biggest movement anywhere near the front was just one position — Hadjar up, Lawson down — which is consistent with a season in which the leaders are separating themselves by repeatedly turning their starting slots into slightly better final classifications.
There’s also a clear stake for the next phase of the season: Verstappen’s +22 remains a tangible target rather than an unassailable number, but it’s still a five-place cushion over the +17 shared by Hadjar and Lawson. With 11 races completed, closing that gap requires not one big swing but repeated Sundays like Budapest — small gains, race after race, with enough points alongside them to win the tie-break if the totals meet again.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 3 | 2 | +1 | +17 |
| Liam Lawson | RB F1 Team | 2 | 3 | -1 | +17 |
Verstappen’s +22 lead in the grid-to-flag recovery ranking is consolidated rather than threatened after Hungary, while Hadjar and Lawson are locked on +17 and separated only by the points tie-break — making every modest recovery, and every point alongside it, decisive.