One Driver. More Points: Verstappen’s 76 Beats Mercedes’ 75
Two Grand Prix victories and a Sprint win helped Verstappen outscore both Mercedes drivers combined across Baku, Sepang and Singapore, a sharp contrast with his 12-point opening three weekends.
One driver, three weekends, 76 points. Mercedes brought two cars to the same events and collected 75.
Max Verstappen’s latest return puts him one point ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli combined across Azerbaijan, the Bahrain GP at Sepang and Singapore. His eight points from the Singapore Sprint are included, and they make the difference.
This isn’t a season-long comparison. It captures a specific stretch in which Verstappen kept delivering while Mercedes lost opportunities to score with both cars.
Figures cover the Baku, Sepang and Singapore weekends through October 11, 2026. Grand Prix and Sprint points are included. Singapore’s race classification remained provisional when this comparison was prepared.
How 76 beat 75
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Verstappen: 18 points. Antonelli: 10. Russell: 25.
Mercedes combined: 35.
Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang
Verstappen: 25 points. Antonelli: 18. Russell: 0.
Mercedes combined: 18.
Singapore Sprint
Verstappen: 8 points. Antonelli: 5. Russell: 0.
Mercedes combined: 5.
Singapore Grand Prix
Verstappen: 25 points. Antonelli: 15. Russell: 2.
Mercedes combined: 17.
Total: Verstappen 76. Mercedes 75, comprising Antonelli’s 48 and Russell’s 27.
Mercedes began this comparison comfortably ahead. Russell’s Baku victory and Antonelli’s fifth place delivered 35 points against Verstappen’s 18.
Sepang reduced that advantage. Verstappen won, Antonelli finished second and Russell retired. Mercedes still led the cumulative comparison 53–43, but its margin had fallen from 17 points to ten.
Singapore completed the reversal. Verstappen collected the maximum 33 points available across the Sprint and Grand Prix. Mercedes took 22, allowing him to erase the remaining deficit and finish one point ahead.
Antonelli scored in all four races counted here. Russell’s scoreless Sepang Grand Prix and Singapore Sprint, followed by ninth on Sunday, left Mercedes relying heavily on its other car.
From 12 points to 76
Verstappen’s opening three weekends produced a very different return.
Sixth in Australia brought eight points. China added none: he finished ninth in the Sprint and retired from the Grand Prix. Eighth in Japan supplied another four.
That made 12 points across three Grands Prix and one Sprint. The latest three weekends contain the same number of scoring opportunities and have delivered 76, more than six times that opening haul.
The improvement is in the results: second at Baku, followed by victories at Sepang and in both Singapore races.
Why the boundaries matter
Remove Sprint points and Mercedes leads this comparison 70–68. Verstappen’s three-point advantage in the Singapore Sprint turns a two-point Grand Prix deficit into a one-point overall lead.
Extend the window back to Madrid and Mercedes leads 110–94, with Sprint points still included.
Those limits matter. The figures measure points earned, including the effects of retirements and race circumstances. They don’t independently establish which car was fastest.
Within these three weekends, though, Verstappen’s return was strong enough to exceed the combined score of both Mercedes drivers.
