Podcast: Grading every 2026 F1 driver so far: Only one A+ on the grid?

Mark Hughes has handed out just one A+ so far this season – and even Kimi Antonelli‘s own team-mate George Russell can’t quite explain how he’s making a rookie-in-his-second-year look this good.

Using the old-school GCSE method, Mark grades every driver on the 2026 grid at the summer break, from the Ferrari pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc through to the biggest team-mate swings on the grid, where Oliver Bearman’s A- dwarfs Esteban Ocon‘s C+ at Haas, and Carlos Sainz‘s A- leaves Alex Albon down on a C+ at Williams.

Mark and Bryn Lucas talk through how the marking system works, why it can never be truly scientific, and what separates a driver doing everything right in a bad car from one who’s simply not delivering.

They also debate whether Aston Martin‘s Fernando Alonso deserves his grade given how far off the pace his car is, and name the team that’s punched furthest above its weight – and the one that’s fallen shortest – over the first half of the season.

We’ll feature more listener questions in next week’s podcast. Don’t forget to post yours below.

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