Three Points Apart. Seventeen in the Standings.

Across 17 Grands Prix, Russell, Hamilton and Verstappen have scored almost identical totals. Six Sprints account for 14 of the 17 points separating them in the championship.

Figures through the Singapore Grand Prix, October 11, 2026. Grand Prix and Sprint points are counted separately before being combined.

George Russell leads Lewis Hamilton by nine points and Max Verstappen by 17 in the fight for second in the championship.

Look only at their Grand Prix results, and those advantages shrink to two points and three.

After 17 Grands Prix, three drivers in three different cars have arrived at remarkably similar totals. The six Sprints have created most of the separation between them.

Seventeen Grands Prix, three points between them

Their Grand Prix-only scores are:

George Russell: 204 points.

Lewis Hamilton: 202 points.

Max Verstappen: 201 points.

They reached those totals in different ways. Russell has three Grand Prix victories, Hamilton one and Verstappen two. Hamilton has scored in 16 Grands Prix, while Russell and Verstappen have each scored in 13.

Verstappen’s recent surge has brought him back into this comparison. His victories at Sepang and Singapore supplied 50 Grand Prix points, leaving him just one behind Hamilton and three behind Russell on this measure.

Add their Sprint returns, however, and the picture changes.

Russell: 204 Grand Prix points + 34 Sprint points = 238.

Hamilton: 202 + 27 = 229.

Verstappen: 201 + 20 = 221.

Their order stays the same. The gap grows from three points to 17.

Where Russell built his advantage

Russell won the Sprints in China, Canada and the Netherlands. Those three victories alone delivered 24 points.

Verstappen collected just five across the same events: none in China, two in Canada and three at Zandvoort. Russell gained 19 points over him from those three Sprints.

Hamilton scored 11 across that trio, leaving him 13 behind Russell.

Miami added another small advantage for the Mercedes driver. Russell finished fourth for five points, ahead of Verstappen’s four and Hamilton’s two.

Silverstone helped Hamilton recover some ground. His second place earned seven points, compared with five for Russell and three for Verstappen.

The biggest reversal came in Singapore.

Singapore pulled the gap back

Verstappen won the Singapore Sprint and Hamilton finished second. Russell retired without scoring.

That gave Verstappen eight points and Hamilton seven, cutting into an advantage Russell had built over the previous five Sprints.

Before Singapore, Russell’s Sprint total exceeded Verstappen’s by 22 points. After it, the difference was 14.

Hamilton also reduced his Sprint deficit to Russell from 14 points to seven.

Singapore therefore narrowed the separation. It didn’t erase the value of Russell’s earlier Sprint wins.