Round 4 in Miami flipped the lead in the Best average positions gained metric, with Max Verstappen moving ahead on +4.67 per race. Ferrari leaves Miami with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sliding down the order in a ranking that measures grid-to-finish movement.
By Nadia Okafor
Max Verstappen is the new leader of 2026’s Best average positions gained ranking after the Miami Grand Prix, replacing Lewis Hamilton at the top. Verstappen’s season average now sits at +4.67, a number that stands out even more because this metric isn’t about a single blockbuster Sunday; it’s the average grid-to-finish swing across the classified races that count, using the official starting grid.
The scale of that advantage is the story. Second place is Lando Norris on +1.00 and Hamilton is third on +0.75, meaning Verstappen’s average gain is more than four positions per race clear of everyone else after four rounds. That gap gives the early-season table a clear reference point: Verstappen isn’t just edging this list, he’s redefining what ‘leading’ looks like in a category built around recovery drives and damage limitation.
Miami underlined how brutally this ranking can swing when a driver ends up finishing behind their starting position. Charles Leclerc’s Sunday is the clearest example: he started 3rd and finished 8th, a five-place loss that dragged his average to −0.75 and sent him from 2nd to 6th in the standings — the biggest drop of the round at four places.
Hamilton, last week’s leader, also moved the wrong way in the table despite remaining in positive territory. He drops from 1st to 3rd with a +0.75 average, a reminder that the ‘best’ in this ranking is built as much on avoiding backward Sundays as it is on pulling off forward ones. And for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the shift was subtler but still meaningful: he slips from 3rd to 4th on an even 0.00, which in a tightly packed midfield of averages is effectively the difference between being framed as a net gainer or a driver treading water.
Verstappen’s own Miami result shows why the table is now so stretched. He started 2nd and finished 5th — a three-place loss on the day — yet still leaves the weekend leading the season-long average at +4.67. The takeaway isn’t that Miami boosted him; it’s that his earlier counted races created such a cushion that even a backward swing at the Miami International Autodrome doesn’t dislodge him from P1 in this metric.
Behind him, the fight is suddenly about consolidation. Norris holds 2nd on +1.00, while Hamilton’s +0.75 keeps him in touch but no longer in control of the narrative. With only four races completed and a minimum of three counted races required to appear in the ranking at all, the early order is already meaningful — but still sensitive to one more weekend like Leclerc’s Miami, where a single grid-to-finish slide can flip several positions in the table.
Ferrari now has the most intriguing internal split in this specific metric. Hamilton remains a net mover-forward on average at +0.75 even after dropping two ranking positions, while Leclerc’s −0.75 has him trending the other way after Miami’s 3rd-to-8th finish. Because grid penalties count here via the official starting grid, and because only classified races with a proper grid slot are included, the way a weekend begins can be as decisive as how it ends.
There’s also a quiet squeeze happening around the zero line. Antonelli’s 0.00 isn’t dramatic on its own, but it is vulnerable: it takes very little over the next rounds for a driver on neutral average to be pulled either into positive territory or into a deficit. In a ranking designed to capture recoveries — not raw pace — Miami reinforced that the ‘story’ can change as quickly as a driver’s ability to turn their starting position into a better finishing one.
| Driver | Team | Before | After | Δ | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 2 | 6 | -4 | −0.75 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1 | 3 | -2 | +0.75 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0.00 |
Verstappen’s +4.67 average positions gained has created an early-season buffer that rivals must chip away at over multiple races, not just one Sunday. For Ferrari, Hamilton staying positive while Leclerc falls to −0.75 makes every grid-to-finish swing matter: one more backward weekend can quickly separate their trajectories in this recovery-focused ranking.