F1 Paddock Weekly — 2026-04-20

Race Weekend Recap

Note: No Grand Prix was held in the coverage period (April 13–20, 2026). The season is in a scheduled April break following the first three rounds. The most recent race remains the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, which took place on March 29, 2026 — already covered in previous issues. Below is a season-so-far recap drawing on the freshest analysis available this week.

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli has been the breakout story of the 2026 season, winning back-to-back races in China and Japan to lead the Drivers' Championship with 72 points after three rounds. The Italian — who became the youngest-ever championship leader after his Suzuka victory — has outscored teammate George Russell in two of the three rounds so far.

Russell sits second in the standings on 63 points, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third on 49 and Lewis Hamilton fourth on 41. The Scuderia pair have shown genuine pace but have yet to string together the consistent performances needed to challenge Mercedes at the front. McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are fifth and sixth respectively, though Piastri's stunning runner-up finish at Suzuka — where he passed Hamilton in a memorable late-race battle — suggests the Woking team's race pace may be underrated by early qualifying numbers.

A comprehensive team-by-team review published by Motorsport.com this week highlighted that Mercedes has the most cohesive package across both qualifying and race trim, while Ferrari's strength lies in race pace over a single lap. McLaren appear to be closing the gap as they develop their 2026 challenger, having delivered their best result yet at Suzuka.

3 sources

motorsport.com

motorsport.com

motorsport.com

Formula 1 2026 results and standings for top drivers and teams

motorsport.com

Formula 1 2026 Japanese GP Results | Formula 1 Race Results

Championship Standings

Drivers' Championship (Top 10)

Constructors' Championship (Top 5)

Paddock Buzz

Lambiase to McLaren: Verstappen Breaks Silence In one of the most shocking paddock moves of recent memory, Gianpiero Lambiase — Max Verstappen's long-time race engineer and one of the most respected strategists on the pit wall — has defected to McLaren. Verstappen has now broken his silence on the departure, offering "surprisingly" measured words for his former ally according to Motorsport Week. The full implications of this move remain to be seen: Lambiase's deep knowledge of Verstappen's driving style could prove invaluable to McLaren as they chase the front-runners, and it leaves Red Bull Racing with a significant personnel void just as the team is already struggling with car performance.

Verstappen and Norris Lead Driver Revolt Over 2026 Regulations Multiple drivers — most vocally Verstappen and Norris — have voiced strong and public criticism of the new 2026 cars and their regulations. The complaints centre primarily on driveability and the cars' energy-harvesting characteristics under braking and at corner exits. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has reportedly warned Verstappen to moderate his public comments, while behind the scenes, discussions between drivers and the FIA are said to have made "major progress." A decisive meeting is scheduled imminently to address the complaints. The-Race reports that the biggest potential in-season rule tweaks may not arrive until mid-June, potentially as far away as the Canadian or Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

Red Bull Racing's Pace Crisis: Slowest Since 2015 New analysis from Motorsport.com reveals the full scale of Red Bull Racing's 2026 competitiveness collapse. Qualifying data shows the team has not been this slow relative to the frontrunners since 2015 — an 11-year low. Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen have combined for just 12 and 4 points respectively. The Lambiase departure compounds what is already an alarming start to the new regulations cycle for a team that dominated the sport for much of 2021–2025.

Strategy & Technical Insights

The Qualifying-vs-Race Pace Paradox in 2026 One of the defining characteristics of the new 2026 technical regulations is a marked divergence between single-lap qualifying pace and race pace. The Motor Sport Metrics notes that the highly efficient energy recovery systems reward smooth, consistent driving over a race distance in ways that pure qualifying tools do not replicate. This explains why Piastri, less impressive in qualifying at Suzuka, was able to build and sustain race pace to finish second — and why Hamilton, strong in quali, was vulnerable in the closing stages. Teams that manage tyre temperatures and ERS deployment more carefully are finding genuine race-pace advantages even when qualifying positions suggest otherwise.

Ferrari and Mercedes Show Early-Season Technical Gaps Technical analysis from ScuderiaFans.com published this week identifies specific structural weaknesses for Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren in the 2026 title fight. Ferrari's package struggles in cool ambient conditions (a factor at Suzuka) and shows tyre degradation on the rear axle over longer stints. Mercedes appears to have the best all-round balance but may be dependent on Antonelli maintaining his current form. McLaren's early weakness has been in low-speed corners, where the new active aerodynamic rules create setup compromises — though the team is reportedly making rapid progress on solving this.

What to Watch Next

• Next Race: Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit — May 2–4, 2026
• Key Storyline: Will the FIA's emergency meeting on 2026 rule tweaks produce anything concrete before Bahrain, and how will the paddock mood affect on-track performance?
• Title Battle: Antonelli leads Russell by 9 points, with Ferrari's Leclerc a further 14 back. Mercedes holds a 45-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' standings — but Bahrain's high-temperature, high-degradation characteristics could dramatically reshuffle the order if Ferrari's tyre deg issues in the heat prove less severe than at cooler circuits.