The 2026 season summer break is slowly coming to an end, which means the battle for who will be the best driver in the world in December will reignite. After a sensational first half of the season by Mercedes, especially Kimi Antonelli, other drivers are starting to come into play, as the last five race weekends have seen five different winners. Although mathematically the Italian still has the best chances, the chasing quartet has not yet said their last word. Five drivers and five different kinds of pressure – who will handle it best?
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Kimi Antonelli is the favorite
Kimi Antonelli has surprised everyone with his performance since the start of the season. His first victory in China was just the beginning of an incredible streak of five consecutive wins, including four from pole position. The 19-year-old proves that he is no longer Lewis Hamilton’s substitute but a complete driver ready to fight for the most important trophy. However, he faces a huge challenge in coping with the pressure of maintaining the “favorite” position. As he himself emphasizes, last season was a life school for him, where he learned how to recognize his reactions and how to respond to them. He admits that it changed him a lot as a driver but also as a person, and the pressure that almost destroyed him last year now seems not to affect him. However, Kimi will face a task he has not yet encountered. He returns to the competition as the undisputed leader of the general classification, with a 50-point lead over second-placed Lewis Hamilton. Formula 1 has shown many times that no lead is safe, and if you add the fairly high unreliability of cars that have to adapt to new regulations, it creates a situation where no one should feel completely safe. Kimi has shown that even defeat does not scare him and that he can come back stronger. He proved this, among other things, at Silverstone, where he fought fiercely for one point, showing that he takes nothing for granted and intends to fight for victories until the end. Despite the defeat in Great Britain, he went to Belgium with a “clear head,” took pole position, and won the race the next day. The Belgian weekend showed that Kimi can leave behind a poor performance and almost immediately respond on the track. Now, however, he must learn to be the one everyone is trying to catch at all costs. And the pressure of being the leader may prove to be a completely different kind of burden than the pressure of a rookie.
The return of Lewis Hamilton
One of the “chasers” and probably currently the biggest “threat” to Antonelli is Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion is returning to racing at the highest level after somewhat unsuccessful recent seasons. And when after his debut year at Ferrari there were increasing voices about the possible end of his career, he returned to the right track. Towards the end of last year’s campaign, the British driver almost “exuded” helplessness and resignation. His results were far from expectations, and many suggested burnout. However, Lewis used the winter break phenomenally, emphasizing that he had never trained so hard, and the results came almost immediately. Add to that the right people he gathered around himself and effective innovations introduced by Ferrari, and you get a recipe for a driver who is the only one in the field to have finished all races in the points-scoring top ten. His consistency may have surprised many, especially those who suggested he should slowly step back into the shadows. Meanwhile, Hamilton became the first driver to break Mercedes’ winning streak by winning in Barcelona. Despite such achievements, the pressure of expectations seems not to subside. Lewis stands in complete opposition to Kimi – his vast experience and successes are contrasted with youthful energy. On his side remains the need to prove that his time is not over, that he can still realistically fight for the title and return to the top after years.
George Russell’s problems
When Hamilton left Mercedes, George Russell was supposed to take his place as the team leader. He was a much more experienced driver who had been through a lot in his career to earn a spot in the German team. And when his partner became the then 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, no one expected that after just one season Russell would again stand in the shadow of his teammate. Last year, the Brit was the only driver outside the top three fighting for the title until the end who won races, and the regulation changes were supposed to favor Mercedes from the start. Before the season, it was said they had created a rocket car, and combined with George’s seven years of Formula 1 experience, he was the main favorite for the coveted title. However, the bubble burst faster than everyone expected because while the first race confirmed all assumptions – pole position and victory for Russell – Kimi’s subsequent wins put the Italian in the role of the most serious championship contender. George once again found himself in a situation where he had to prove his worth as a driver and potential world champion. From a certain point, nothing went his way – significantly slower pace than Antonelli, bad luck with strategy and safety cars, a DNF in Canada, team errors in Monaco. All this caused Russell to fall off the podium and sometimes out of the points. And while the win in Austria brought significant relief, dropping out of the race in Belgium after a few corners and another mistake during the starting procedure in Hungary meant his deficit to the leader is now 59 points. The British driver’s attitude says a lot about his mindset, and Russell himself emphasizes that if he continues to perform like this, he has no chance of the coveted title. George’s problem may therefore not be trying to make up the points deficit but regaining confidence in himself and the team, as well as proving that he is a driver who has everything to become world champion.
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Charles Leclerc must step up
In the context of “unlucky” drivers, Charles Leclerc’s name is almost always mentioned. He has been called a “great Formula 1 talent” for years, but he still does not have the most important title. Over the years, he has had to deal with numerous problems often described in the media as “bad luck.” Unfortunate strategy, lack of pace in the car, the famous “home race curse” make up the picture of a driver’s career who must face increasing pressure to achieve what matters most. What is particularly striking in this story is the fact that the Monegasque has been named a title favorite for many seasons, yet his best result is second place in the drivers’ standings in 2022, but 146 points behind Max Verstappen. This season, he is again in this honorable group, mainly due to the car prepared by the Maranello team. At the very start of the season, old patterns reappeared – Ferrari’s wrong strategy in Australia, car problems, especially with brakes, failure to finish the home race in Monaco or in Barcelona. The driver himself began to show nervousness and frustration, expressed in his radio messages and mistakes he made, for example, in Miami or the already mentioned Barcelona. Worse still, as Leclerc’s performances weakened, Lewis Hamilton rose, becoming the team leader. The turning point could have been Silverstone, where Charles finished first and could finally breathe a sigh of relief, if only for a moment. The problem is that one victory is not enough to erase years of disappointment. In the second half of the season, Charles will have to do something he has not yet achieved – prove that he is no longer just a “great talent” but a real candidate for the world championship title.
The defending champion is still in the game
In the context of the title fight, one cannot omit the driver who won it last season. Although Lando Norris’s deficit to the leader is as much as 91 points, he still has a chance to defend it. And really, this could not have been assumed until the last race in Hungary. McLaren prepared an upgrade package that finally worked as it should, and the team was one step away from repeating last year’s success and finishing the race with two drivers in the top two positions. The current season started terribly for the Brit – huge car problems, lack of pace, wrong strategy, failure to finish two races in a row, and inability to start the Chinese GP. The exception was the awakening in Miami, where Lando won the sprint and on Sunday was one step from winning the main race. However, this was temporary, as then came a streak of DNFs in Canada and Monaco. What is particularly interesting is that Lando seemed to treat all these failures with great detachment. In interviews, he often joked and accepted the situation as it was, emphasizing that throughout his career he had become more accustomed to losing than winning. And when most thought McLaren had taken a definite step back compared to previous seasons, the team woke up for the last race before the summer break. It was then that Lando perhaps showed the greatest maturity as a driver – he no longer tried to prove anything to anyone, he just did his job. Particularly impressive was the last qualifying lap, where he took the coveted pole position by 0.012 seconds over Hamilton. Thus, he became the first driver this season to break Mercedes’ streak of starting from first place in the main race. On Sunday, his messages to the race engineer were full of confidence (which Lando often lacked in previous seasons) and belief in victory, confirmed by his extraordinary pace and race win. Despite a terrible start to the season, Lando can still be considered a threat to the current leader, and the fact that McLaren is preparing further upgrade packages may mean they still want to be in the title fight. Having achieved his life goal, Lando has gained enormous confidence, and now the question can be asked: will it be enough to make up the 98-point deficit and defend the title?
Summary
Five drivers, five different stories, and above all five different kinds of pressure they will have to face in the second half of the season. Ahead of us are several race weekends where not only the car’s pace will play a big role but also how each of them deals with their own weaknesses, expectations, and the pressure of fighting for the most important trophy.
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The article was written by Aleksandra Binkowska, you can find her on TikTok – link.
