F1 2026 mid-season report: Antonelli leads but the competition are closing

Trying to understand a car with a near 50-50 split between combustion and electrical energy has left many drivers aghast, not least four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, who was forthright in his views on his new Red Bull that left him thoroughly underwhelmed and critical of a sport that no longer filled him with excitement.

When he competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in mid-May, such feelings were amplified, even if a likely victory was snatched from the grasp of the 28-year-old Dutchman and his co-drivers by a late mechanical failure.

Verstappen has since gone on to stand on an F1 podium in four of the last seven Grands Prix, and three of the last four. Even then, although his initial antagonism towards F1 may have waned into indifference, a question mark remains over his future.

To address some of the issues created by the current PU, the power split alters next year to 58/42 in favour of combustion, and then 60-40 the following year. Will that be enough to keep Verstappen interested? He has so far declined to offer any insight.

Verstappen readily concedes the past few months have at least included "some bright, shining moments" but overall, they have been "tough".

As to whether Red Bull can deliver for him over the second half of the season remains to be seen. As to what is required, he said: "We need to try and be more solid, to have more straightforward weekends.

"Plus, we need to find more performance. It’s as simple as that at the end of the day, and then we need to fix our problems, where we sometimes lose performance over a weekend, or even from the start of the race to the end. That is a big priority."

Trailing Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli by 110 points, it is hard to imagine Verstappen will enjoy a repeat of last season's astonishing post-summer exploits when he finished on the podium in all ten races, winning six, and finishing just two points shy of clinching a fifth F1 title.

And as to beyond this year, F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali is convinced one of F1's biggest assets will not walk away.

Domenicali feels Verstappen "will be very happy" with the PU changes for next year. Naturally, he can offer no guarantees he will stay, adding that "Formula 1 is big enough for him to be part of us, but of course he will decide his future the way that he prefers to do, and the sport will look ahead".

Ultimately, Domenicali believes that "Max will stay with us, and I really hope so, but as I said, the sport is much bigger than anyone".

As is the way in F1, drivers come and drivers go, no matter how popular or successful they may be. Whilst the over-riding feeling from within the sport is that Verstappen will continue, even if he did cause a seismic shock by opting to quit, there is a driver potentially set to fill his shoes — Antonelli.

Antonelli has already stepped up to the plate in replacing seven-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, and impressively so this campaign, following a difficult debut season that raised questions over whether the team had acted too quickly in promoting its protégé.

The young Italian, who will be 20 at the end of this month, has blossomed following the introduction of new regulations for this year, setting numerous records early on when he won five consecutive Grands Prix to take an early stranglehold on the Championship.

A retirement in Barcelona, combined with further car issues and a penalty in the race at Silverstone, have checked his march, but three additional podiums, including a win in Belgium, ensure he heads into the second half of the season with a healthy 50-point lead over Hamilton.

Naturally, he has exceeded his own expectations. "I did not expect to find myself in this position," he said after finishing third in the last race before the current summer break in Hungary.

"But the car has been extremely good, the team has done an incredible job and, on my side, I've tried to maximise every opportunity I've had. Of course, there’s still lots of work to do, lots to learn, but it was a good first half of the season. Now I’m looking forward to the second half, and we’re just going to keep pushing."

For Domenicali, his fellow Italian is a breath of fresh air, and an antidote to all the negativity that swirled around F1 at the start of the year.

"For the sport, he is really great, fresh," said Domenicali. "He is still very new and very open to any kind of things that are happening to him, and he has brought a lot of new fans connected to him because the nature of his way of engaging is fantastic.

"On the sporting side, he has proven to be very strong, and I have to say very different. Don't forget that without the two DNFs, he would have an even bigger gap in the Championship.

"After a year [last season] when there was a lot of criticism, Toto [Wolff, Team Principal] and the team have protected him in an incredible way, and he is proving to be one of the most interesting talents that F1 has welcomed.

"And, as you can imagine, for the Italian fans, he is even more important because the last Italian driver who won something important was many, many, many years ago.” That was Alberto Ascari, the last Italian to win the F1 World Championship way back in 1953.

"But he has added a new dimension, and I can only be very happy with the way he is engaged with our sport. He is an incredible asset for the future of what we're doing together."

Regardless of the number of races after the break (the likelihood being 11 with it expected Antonelli's home circuit of Imola will be added at the back end to replace Qatar and Abu Dhabi), he is a clear favourite to become Champion.

Hamilton poses a threat, but that requires Ferrari to further improve a car that has at least delivered the Briton a long-overdue victory, in Spain, that ended a 40-race drought. His performances this year have also silenced critics who said he should retire.

The 41-year-old has enjoyed "an amazing first half", and is confident of a stronger second half, but will it be enough to reel in Antonelli?

"We've probably been like three or four tenths down on the straights in base and power for the first half of the season," he said. "I know the guys are pushing hard to bring upgrades for that.

"We've hopefully got more to come in the second half, and we will just keep on pushing. I think the second half will be stronger. Usually, the second half is a strong period."

George Russell is a further nine points adrift in third. However, he faces not only the challenge of his younger, inspired team-mate in Antonelli, but also that of a car in which he has encountered a litany of issues since opening the year with a win in Australia.

The magnitude of the problems are clearly starting to weigh heavily on Russell. "I'm past the point of disappointment now because if I continue to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I'll be disappointed every day of the week," he said. "I've got to stay positive.

"Obviously, the problems are happening, but the whole team feels it as well… We need to look at ourselves and ensure it's nothing we're doing wrong that is contributing to these errors."

Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate, Charles Leclerc, is 81 points behind Antonelli, with reigning Champion Lando Norris 91 down. Though, of all the drivers that departed Hungary before jetting off on holiday, alongside the Italian he will have been the most content.

Norris' victory at the Hungaroring was the first of his title defence, and with confidence high it will not be the last, even though he feels McLaren has still to fully get to grips with the new rules and deliver a car to consistently challenge at the front.

"I’m optimistic for the future, and I think we can win more races, but we have good competition, and there are still plenty of races [to come that] I'm not confident in because the car is not to the standard it needs to be in certain areas," he said.

"But I have confidence in the team. I had confidence that we could win a race, and it came a bit sooner than I thought. I also have confidence that we can improve in those areas that are not good enough."

The experience of the five drivers behind Antonelli, including Verstappen in sixth, is second to none, ensuring the pressure will be high. So far, the youngster has proven himself virtually unflappable. But now it gets serious.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.