Supercomputer Predicts 2026 F1 Drivers’ Championship

The curtain has finally fallen on the 2025 Formula 1 season, with Lando Norris claiming his maiden Drivers’ Championship in one of the tightest finishes in years.

Talk has already, however, moved to next season and how the campaign will unfold. With this in mind, a Supercomputer has already predicted the outcome of the 2026 Formula 1 Championship.

Off the back of a season which saw McLaren finally get their hands on the Drivers’ Championship after last claiming it in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton claimed the trophy, talk has moved to how Norris will cope with the task of retaining his title. After holding off Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri, people will be questioning if he can do it all again.

Verstappen looks brilliant in a difficult car, showing his ability as a driver. Piastri will be hoping for a bit more luck next year after a couple of mishaps in the latter part of the season, and the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes will be looking for improvement too after some challenging moments.

So, what has the Supercomputer produced? Well, a few surprises, of course. Using complex calculations, it has calculated the top 10 of the 2026 Drivers’ Championship. From 10-1, here is how it sees the upcoming season going.

10

Charles Leclerc

Points: 70

In 10th is the first surprise. Charles Leclerc had a respectable season this past year, finishing fifth. With Ferrari looking to improve next year, it seems a wild suggestion that the Monégasque driver would struggle so much, especially when he outperformed his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, massively.

Other teams will be looking to improve next year, but to a point where Ferrari struggle so much seems fascinating. Perhaps the Supercomputer knows something we don’t?

9

Carlos Sainz Jr

Points: 72

The Supercomputer is expecting a lot of change next season. Despite this, it does expect Carlos Sainz to hold onto ninth position. The Williams driver showed real class in the second half of the past season, where he claimed two podium finishes. Williams are going from strength to strength and will be looking for a better finish for the Spaniard. However, ninth seems a respectable finish.

8

Lewis Hamilton

Points: 90

After a difficult first season at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to better his sixth-place finish. According to the Supercomputer, though, this won’t be the case. The seven-time Drivers’ Championship winner has been demoted to eighth for 2026.

It seems that the Supercomputer does not have high hopes for the Ferrari team, with their drivers finishing eighth and 10th respectively. This would be a disaster for the Italian outfit, who will be hoping to get closer to the likes of Red Bull and McLaren at the top of the leaderboard.

7

Fernando Alonso

Points: 216

Fernando Alonso will be 45 by the time the 2026 season finishes, and according to the Supercomputer, this doesn’t matter one bit. They have the Spanish veteran finishing seventh in his Aston Martin.

The two-time world champion is a wily operator and is still one of the best drivers on the grid. A seventh-place finish, however, relies on whether the team can produce a car that allows the Spaniard to really showcase his ability. In what could be his last season as an F1 driver, a seventh would be a great way to finish an amazing career.

6

Isack Hadjar

Points: 220

Isack Hadjar will take the challenging second seat at Red Bull next season and will look to better his predecessors. Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and even Sergio Perez have all struggled in the seat in recent seasons and the young Frenchman will be looking to end that run of poor performances and help Max Verstappen and Red Bull to regain the Constructors’ Championship.

Hadjar showed his ability this season in the Racing Bulls and, by all accounts, the sixth-place finish that the Supercomputer has suggested looks like a reasonable shout.

5

Oscar Piastri

Points: 321

After pushing the 2025 champion all the way last season, Oscar Piastri will be looking to do one better, if not two better, by claiming his maiden title. That is not the case, however, according to the Supercomputer.

They have the McLaren driver down in fifth position, which would be seen as a disappointment both for the Australian and his team. But with McLaren changing engines this year, it could be a year of transition for them.

4

Kimi Antonelli

Points: 346

Kimi Antonelli lives with big expectations. The young Italian finished seventh in his debut season and showed glimpses of his undoubted potential. The Supercomputer has the Mercedes driver improving to a fourth-place finish next season, which is not beyond believable.

With both Red Bull and McLaren changing engine suppliers in the new year, it could be a season where other teams take advantage. A fourth-place finish at the age of 20 would be brilliant for Antonelli, as he continues his rise to a potential title contender in the future.

3

Lando Norris

Points: 366

The Supercomputer had the current world champion dropping to third in the Drivers’ Championship. Lando Norris claimed his maiden title with a professional performance in Abu Dhabi, but it seems that the Supercomputer thinks that, although he will be in the title picture once again, he will, unfortunately for him, fall short, 28 points behind the eventual winner.

With a lot of change happening before the new season begins, perhaps this wouldn’t be an awful season for the British team.

2

Max Verstappen

Points: 379

According to the Supercomputer, it is another second-place finish for the four-time champion. Max Verstappen will be looking to regain his title next season after losing it to Norris by two points in 2025. But in a similar situation to Norris at McLaren, Red Bull will have to work with new engines, meaning there may be teething issues.

However, if anybody can overcome such issues, it will be the Dutchman. With a 15-point deficit between Verstappen and who the Supercomputer sees as the next champion, it could be that the title goes down to the final race of the season again.

1

George Russell

Points: 394

Another British maiden winner is how the Supercomputer sees the 2026 Formula 1 season ending. George Russell has been on the periphery of a title challenge for a number of years now, and will be hoping, with all the changes happening at other teams, that Mercedes’ continuity can give them the edge.

The win would be a huge moment for the British racer, who has shown consistency for a number of years now. To get the victory over Verstappen would add a level of intrigue after their spat a couple of years ago. Even now, it seems their fallout hasn’t been patched up.

A Russell victory would also mean that Formula 1 has had three different winners in three years, which hasn’t happened since Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, and Lewis Hamilton did it between 2006 and 2008.