Kimi Antonelli leads the ‘championship’ of F1 drivers who joined new teams over the winter. The Mercedes driver has accumulated 48 points across the first six rounds.
Antonelli, who became F1’s youngest-ever polesitter for the Miami Sprint last weekend, has made a habit of finishing sixth. He’s come home in that position in 75% of his races so far.
Lewis Hamilton is second in the leaderboard, having scored more than a third of his points in Sprint races. He won on Saturday in China and finished third in the corresponding Miami event, but he’s only once scored double-figure points on a Sunday.
| RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | PTS |
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 48 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 41 |
| 3 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 14 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 7 |
| 5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 6 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 6 |
| 7 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 5 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 0 |
Esteban Ocon is the standout midfield driver on the list with 14 points. Carlos Sainz is making progress at Williams but has already fallen 23 behind teammate Alex Albon.
Nico Hulkenberg’s seventh-place finish at the Australian GP may prove to be Sauber’s only score of the season. Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto is the only new signing not to finish in the top 10, with fellow rookies Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar off the mark.
Christian Danner says Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari vision is in tatters
Speaking to sport.de, former F1 driver Christian Danner reviewed how the 20 competitors were faring after the first six races. He called Hamilton an understandable ‘disappointment’.
The seven-time world champion, he says, expected to school Charles Leclerc and deliver ‘success’ to Maranello. Ferrari haven’t won the drivers’ title since 2007 or the constructors’ since 2008.
The Scuderia were only 14 points behind world champions McLaren last year. But Leclerc has coped better with their 2025 regression, beating Hamilton 5-1 in qualifying and 5-0 in the races (when both are classified).
Hamilton is struggling to tame the SF-25. He’s complained over the radio on multiple occasions (Australia practice, the Miami Sprint, the Bahrain GP) that he can’t ‘turn the car’.
“Actually, he’s a disappointment, albeit an understandable one,” Danner said. “He probably thought he would come along, show Leclerc, Ferrari, and the world how to drive a race car, and be the saviour for the breakthrough to success.
“But it’s been very tough, very tedious, and not going smoothly to this day.”
Lewis Hamilton used to be F1’s best in this area, now he looks average
Hamilton’s underwhelming performances have contributed to his reduced rating in the F1 25 video game. He’s been given an 89 out of 100, which only ranks him sixth on the grid.
George Russell says Hamilton deserved a higher rating, but as it stands, it’s only likely to go down when the game is updated. While the 105-time race-winner is unlikely to care – despite being an ambassador for the EA Sports title – it does reflect his declining reputation at this stage of his career.
Worryingly, Hamilton is now struggling in wet conditions too. The rain is often regarded as the great equaliser in F1.
He was decidedly average on the intermediates in Australia, and was thankful that the track dried out in Miami before his slick-tyre gamble paid off. It’s all about confidence, and he’s still some way from finding it.
