Edd Straw's 2026 F1 Barcelona Grand Prix driver rankings

A multi-stop inaugural Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix shuffled the usual Formula 1 2026 cards - and a legend of the sport navigated its challenges the best.

But how did the rest of the field stack up? Find out in our driver rankings.

Want to quiz Edd on his driver rankings? Sign up to The Race Members' Club to do exactly that - and ask your questions in replies to this post.

Champions-tier members can also try their hand at putting their own driver rankings together, for Edd to react to in a separate feature!

How do the rankings work? The 22 drivers will be ranked in order of performance from best to worst on each grand prix weekend. This will be based on the full range of criteria, ranging from pace and racecraft to consistency and whether they made key mistakes. How close each driver got to delivering on the maximum performance potential of the car will be an essential consideration.

It’s important to note both that this reflects performance across the entire weekend, cognisant of the fact that qualifying is effectively ‘lap 0’ of the race and key to laying the foundations to the race, and that it is not a ranking of the all-round qualities of each driver. It’s simply about how they performed on a given weekend. Therefore, the ranking will fluctuate significantly from weekend to weekend.

And with each of the 11 cars fundamentally having different performance potential and ‘luck’ (ie factors outside of a driver’s control) contributing to the way the weekend plays out, this ranking will also differ significantly from the overall results.

Started: 2nd Finished: 1st

PROS
- Recovered from missing FP1 and his struggles in the rest of practice superbly.
- Confident from the off in Q1 and put himself in contention for pole position.
- Drove a superb race, executing his attacking three-stop strategy outstandingly.

CONS
- Perhaps could have grabbed pole without time lost to marginal over-commitment into Turn 1 on his final Q3 lap.
- VSC made his task more straightforward, even though the pace was there to win without it.

Verdict: Operating at somewhere near to his best.

Started: 4th Finished: 3rd

PROS
- Given the McLaren didn’t have the pace of Mercedes and Ferrari, picking up third place thanks to Antonelli’s retirement was the best possible result.
- Had the edge on Piastri in qualifying, outpacing him by 0.089s.
- Recovered well from missing FP1 and FP2 braking difficulties.

CONS
- The McLaren wasn’t quite quick enough for him to really make the difference in battle with those ahead - or slow enough to do so relative to the Red Bulls in the race
- Could have picked off Antonelli in qualifying given he was only three thousandths slower.

Verdict: Got close to the maximum out of the McLaren.

Started: 5th Finished: 4th

PROS
- No indication that he left any significant performance on the table.
- Drove an unobtrusive but effective race, which meant he beat Piastri in a McLaren that should have been ahead.
- Made good progress after a poor Friday.

CONS
- Didn’t have his usual margin over Hadjar, but that was primarily down to the ceiling of the car.
- Race circumstances presented little opportunity for him to grab the attention.

Verdict: Slightly overachieved in the fourth-best car.

Started: 3rd Finished: 16th

PROS
- Great race pace meant he had the beating of Russell, passing him for second just before his power unit let him down.
- Raced Russell well, making an aggressive but not risky move to claim the spot.
- Without the VSC, he may very well have been the better Mercedes victory shot against a charging Hamilton.

CONS
- Single-lap pace was well off Russell’s, partly because he was sliding the car a little too much late in the lap.
- Too many track-limits violations earned him a five-second penalty that could have been very costly.

Verdict: Uneven but good overall - underwhelming in qualifying, excellent in the race.

Started: 1st Finished: 2nd

PROS
- Imperious on Friday and Saturday, beating Antonelli by three tenths in qualifying and taking pole despite the threat from Hamilton.
- Strong first stint that could have been slightly quicker had he known Ferrari would force an early first pitstop.
- Lost the lead to the misfortune of VSC timing.

CONS
- Was under serious threat from Antonelli - and, even if there had been no VSC, Hamilton.
- Race pace wasn’t as good relative to the opposition as his single-lap pace.
- Couldn’t hold off Antonelli in the end.

Verdict: Two outstanding days, but the race wasn’t as strong.

Started: 9th Finished: DNF

PROS
- Made it through to Q3 and put the Audi close to its ceiling, although his battle with Lawson in the final part of qualifying was waged with both on used tyres.
- Was on course for points and running 10th when Lawson ahead kicked up gravel at Turn 12 and hit the “E” switch by the rollhoop and cut the power.
- Had a pace advantage over Bortoleto.

CONS
- Perhaps could have qualified one place higher by picking off Lawson.

Verdict: Only bizarre misfortune denied him a deserved points finish.

Started: 17th Finished: 15th

PROS
- Handled the Haas weaknesses well and recovered from FP3 mess to qualify about where he should have done.
- Drove a good race with none of the tyre deg problems of his team-mate.
- Was a few laps from finishing 11th on the road before retiring late on, which was as good as it was going to get.

CONS
- Had one of those weekends where progress wasn’t linear, although much of that was down to the tricky Haas.
- Fair comparison with Ocon is difficult given set-up offset.

Verdict: Extracted what was there to be had in the Haas.

Started: 16th Finished: 12th

PROS
- Overachieved in qualifying by slipping into Q2 ahead of Ocon in a Haas that was slightly faster than the Williams in terms of underlying pace.
- Drove a good race in difficult circumstances, only just losing out to Bortoleto in the quicker Audi.
- Got far more out of the package than his team-mate.

CONS
- Could make little impression given the car limitations.
- An ambitious move around the outside of Colapinto on the opening lap led to a lock-up that let Gasly past into 13th.

Verdict: Extracted what he could from the ninth-best car.

Started: 11th Finished: 9th

PROS
- His underlying pace looked strong at a track where he has excelled on previous visits before F1.
- A particularly strong Q1 performance allowed him to save a set of tyres without any risk of elimination, and he wasn’t to blame for the deployment problem at the start of his final Q2 lap that forced him to abort the lap and cost a likely top-10.
- Drove a good race in a car that had weaker race pace, on a strategy that made life difficult.

CONS
- Lost a little ground to Lawson in the first stint, but that was primarily down to being instructed by the team to let Hulkenberg past on lap two after both cut the track on the first lap.

Verdict: Good underlying performance, but hidden by Q2 problem.

Started: 14th Finished: 7th

PROS
- Turned in a strong race drive and had a slight pace advantage over Colapinto.
- Finishing at the head of the midfield group seemed out of the question after practice struggles.
- Considering the way his car was pulling in all directions under braking, mitigated the losses in qualifying to put himself in the position to turn things round in the race.

CONS
- Colapinto had the edge on him in qualifying, and had track position before he was ordered by the pitwall to let Gasly past.
- The fortunate VSC timing after running long in the second stint allowed him to avoid falling behind Lawson and Colapinto.

Verdict: Needed a slice of luck, but salvaged an unlikely result.

Started: 8th Finished: 8th

PROS
- Despite losing track time during FP2, was in tune with the car from the start and always looked a likely Q3 contender.
- Executed qualifying well to head the midfield, which is as good as it was going to get.
- Considering the Racing Bulls race pace was not as strong, his result (ninth on the road) was likely about as good as it was going to get.

CONS
- There were signs that team-mate Lindblad had slightly stronger underlying pace.
- Would have failed to score but for retirements, but that’s primarily down to the car.
- Needed Colapinto to be penalised to move up to eighth - albeit having dropped behind him thanks to a slow second pitstop in the first place.

Verdict: A good, well-executed weekend performance.

Started: 7th Finished: 5th

PROS
- Had a decent qualifying, within a tenth of Norris despite the three-place difference.
- No significant errors and a clean race.

CONS
- Was the less impressive of the two McLaren drivers.
- Had the machinery to have beaten Verstappen, but couldn’t get decisively ahead on the first lap and never showed much sign of progressing beyond the position he started in without retirements ahead.

Verdict: Solid work, but a step behind Norris.

Started: 6th Finished: 6th

PROS
- Qualified only 0.056s behind Verstappen, and ahead of one car he should have been behind in Piastri.
- Recovered well from dropping to 15th at the start, starting with a gravel-biting round-the-outside pass on Bearman at Turn 12 on the opening lap.
- Cleared the midfield cars efficiently, but by then had lost touch with the rest of the lead group.

CONS
- Although the poor start is a running problem for Red Bull, Hadjar contributed by not hitting the narrow window needed to make it work.
- Was the slower Red Bull driver.

Verdict: Terrible start undermined a good weekend’s work.

Started: 13th Finished: 10th

PROS
- Had the edge on Gasly in qualifying pace while Alpine was struggling.
- Largely executed his race well and played the team game when required.

CONS
- Yellow flag infringement was inattentive and costly.
- Lacked a little race pace compared to Gasly.

Verdict: Continuing to do the job Alpine needs him to.

Started: 21st Finished: DNF

PROS
- Outqualified Fernando Alonso by 0.057s, which counts for something even in a package as woeful as the Aston Martin.
- Held 21st ahead of Alonso and kept the pack in sight for the first five laps.
- Had to deal with a car he described as “brutal” on Friday.

CONS
- Losing third and fourth gear led to him bringing the car in to retire with gearbox problems.
- Little opportunity to impress in such a poor package.

Verdict: Ending his run of qualifying defeats to Alonso was a small victory.

Started: 19th Finished: 14th

PROS
- Recovered by Saturday from missing FP1 for Colton Herta and initially not being comfortable with the balance.
-  Led the Cadillacs in qualifying despite opting to save a set of fresh softs for the race.
- Would have been perhaps a tenth and a half faster in qualifying but for deployment problems.

CONS
- Had a difficult race, primarily down to the Cadillac chewing up its tyres.

Verdict: Another decent weekend as Cadillac’s spearhead.

Started: 20th Finished: DNF

PROS
- Revitalised by parts changes and set-up tweaks in Friday practice, despite losing track time to an ECU problem.
- Wasn’t at fault for the brake problem that led to putting it in the gravel in FP3 and sustaining damage that forced him to switch to some old parts that took the edge off his pace.

CONS
- Two tenths off Perez in qualifying, but at least some of that deficit was down to car spec.
- Little opportunity to make an impression in the race before brake overheating problems hit.

Verdict: Signs of improvement stymied by circumstances.

Started: 17th Finished: 13th

PROS
- The team was apologetic for deployment problems that meant he didn’t show his potential in qualifying, leading to his elimination in Q1.
- Finished the race, even if his pace wasn’t as good as Bearman’s.

CONS
- Struggled badly with rear tyre deg and couldn’t match his team-mate’s two-stopper.
- Felt he had the wrong set-up, but that was something he had a hand in evolving.

Verdict: Still not in tune with the car and well short of his best.

Started: 12th Finished: 11th

PROS
- Recovered from the bad start to the weekend through set-up changes.
- Made it through Q1 using only one set of softs, unlike his team-mate.
- The terrible race start that cost him five places and condemned him to an afternoon among the Haas drivers was not down to him.

CONS
- By his own admission, lacked Hulkenberg’s pace, particularly in the final sector on qualifying laps and through being conservative on the brakes into Turn 10 on his best Q2 lap.
- The weekend started badly with an off in FP1 after a snap at Turn 7.
- Struggled to move with evolving track conditions.

Verdict: Played second fiddle to Hulkenberg all weekend.

Started: 18th Finished: NC

PROS
- Stuck at it in the race at least to gather some extra data for Williams.
- Did take the chequered flag despite not completing enough laps to be classified.
- He played no part in the FOM camera becoming loose and forcing him to pit for it to be fixed.

CONS
- Struggled with grip and sliding all weekend.
- Was eliminated in Q1, 0.543s slower than team-mate Sainz.
- Went nowhere in the race even before trouble hit.

Verdict: Never found the grip even to match what his team-mate could do with the limited Williams.

Started: 22nd (pits) Finished: DNF

PROS
- Battled gamely in an unpredictable and difficult-to-drive package.
- His retirement with a battery problem came as a merciful relief when he still had a pitstop to go.

CONS
- Outqualified by Stroll for the first time since the China sprint in 2025.
- Understandably, was frustrated by the many problems of the Aston Martin-Honda and couldn't produce the first-lap spark that has characterised his season so far.

Verdict: Toiling in a futile cause gives him little chance to impress.

Started: 10th Finished: 15th

PROS
- His underlying single-lap pace was strong from the start of the weekend.
- Gelled well with the Carbon Industrie brake discs he switched to in Spain.
- Made progress early on to get ahead of Piastri.

CONS
- Q3 crash was the consequence of over-reaching in the one corner where he knew he was struggling.
- Struggled at times in the race, with the mitigation of being on a two-stopper.

Verdict: Avoidable qualifying shunt was a major error.