Two Wins Each. Why Is Ferrari 89 Points Ahead of McLaren?

Ferrari and McLaren have matched each other’s Grand Prix victories, but their results across both cars tell a different story heading into Singapore.

Two wins each. An 89-point gap.

Ferrari arrives in Singapore second in the constructors’ championship with 405 points. McLaren has 316. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have supplied one Grand Prix victory apiece for Ferrari, while Lando Norris has delivered both of McLaren’s.

The difference comes from what happened around those wins, including races where neither McLaren scored.

Figures cover the 2026 season through the Bahrain GP at Sepang on October 4. Championship totals include Sprint points; win counts refer to Grands Prix only.

The gap is bigger before Sprints

Ferrari has scored 357 Grand Prix points against McLaren’s 263, a difference of 94.

Sprints have slightly reduced that advantage. McLaren has collected 53 Sprint points to Ferrari’s 48, bringing the championship gap down to 89.

The shorter races aren’t the source of Ferrari’s lead. They’ve helped McLaren limit it.

Two cars scoring makes the difference

Ferrari has put both drivers in the Grand Prix points at 12 of the first 16 races. McLaren has managed nine.

Hamilton has scored in 15 Grands Prix, with his retirement in Madrid the only exception. Leclerc has scored in 13. Norris has scored in 12, while Oscar Piastri has scored in ten.

Those totals reflect different problems, not simply different levels of pace. Neither McLaren started the Chinese Grand Prix because of separate electrical issues. Ferrari finished third and fourth, collecting 27 Grand Prix points while McLaren took none.

Canada and Azerbaijan also produced no Grand Prix points for McLaren. Ferrari collected 30 and 20 respectively.

Across those three races alone, Ferrari gained 77 Grand Prix points. McLaren recovered ground elsewhere, but those scoreless results explain much of the deficit.

Winning doesn’t guarantee the bigger haul

Hungary shows why counting victories can hide the other car’s contribution.

Norris won, but Piastri retired. McLaren scored 25 points. Ferrari’s fourth and fifth places brought 22, so McLaren gained just three despite taking the victory.

Silverstone produced a much bigger return for Ferrari. Leclerc won and Hamilton finished third, collecting 40 Grand Prix points between them. Norris finished fourth and Piastri 11th, leaving McLaren with 12.

At Sepang, Ferrari’s third and fourth places added another 27 against McLaren’s ten.

McLaren has demonstrated that it can win. Closing the championship gap requires more than another victory: it needs stronger returns across both cars, including the weekends when winning isn’t possible.