– Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli determined the reader rating of Motorsport-Total.com after the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix. But right behind them there was a surprise: Audi driver Nico Hülkenberg took – unlike in reality – fourth place, after scoring his first Audi points in the real race as ninth.
Read more Return to Sepang: Martin Brundle praises flexibility of bosses
Formula 1 expert Marc Surer and the editorial team each gave Hülkenberg a 2. The readers contributed an average of 2.28 points. This resulted in a final score of 2.09. Only the three real podium finishers Norris (1.24), Verstappen (1.90) and Antonelli (2.05) performed better for Budapest.
Interestingly: In the readers’ favor, it was not race winner Norris who was ahead, but Verstappen: He received a rating that was 0.04 points better. However, because Verstappen had “only” received a 2 from both Surer and the editorial team, he ultimately remained behind Norris.
Surer explained: “Verstappen’s overtaking maneuver against Hamilton deserves a 1 – the spin in qualifying does not.” Norris also wasn’t flawless, “but I forgive him the small driving error in turn 2,” said Surer.
Oscar Piastri: Not in the finish, but in fifth place
Furthermore, the fifth place in the reader rating for Hungary is curious: Oscar Piastri. Because the McLaren driver did not see the finish after a technical defect. According to Surer, Piastri had “bad luck with Sainz and the gearbox” and was also in Norris’s shadow. Therefore, the editorial team gave a 3. In the end, it was an average of 2.47 points.
Incidentally, the aforementioned Carlos Sainz was at the bottom of the rating this time. Surer was still the most lenient with a 4. His reasoning: “Sainz seemed a bit unfocused this weekend. The contact with Piastri took away his chance of victory.” Readers (4.97) and the editorial team each gave a 5. This meant an average score of 4.66.
In the unofficial World Championship table for the reader rating, Antonelli continues to lead clearly ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen. Norris is the new fifth behind George Russell. Piastri is new to the Top 10 and Hülkenberg has made a small jump. After the first half of the season, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll are still without points in the reader rating.
Who really shone in Budapest – and who didn’t?
Incidentally, how the editorial team discussed the driver ratings after the Hungarian Grand Prix will be a topic on Tuesday evening from 8:30 PM in the call-in show “Live bei Scheuren” on the Twitch channel of Formel1.de. Host Kevin Scheuren invites users to join him personally via Zoom and chat with him about the Hungarian Grand Prix and Formula 1.
Read more Ferrari at a loss: Leclerc demands answers after Hungary disaster
Click through: This is how Surer rates the 22 drivers!
How Marc Surer rates the other drivers can be read in detail in an extended photo gallery. In this photo gallery, both the Formula 1 expert and the editorial team explain their ratings for each of the 22 drivers individually. So that users can hopefully understand even better from now on how the driver ratings came about.
Photo gallery: Budapest: The driver ratings from Marc Surer and the editorial team
By the way: Many users wish for more transparency from the editorial team when assigning ratings. That’s why we decided to publish the individual ratings of our editors in a separate table. For the overall editorial rating, which constitutes pillar 3 of the system, the editorial team agrees on a common full rating in a conference.
In this conference, which has become a fixed agenda item for us every Monday morning after Formula 1, things sometimes get heated when different opinions clash. And we collect arguments that speak for or against a better or worse rating.
How we assign our ratings
The idea behind our rating system is to evaluate performances on a weekend, and especially in the race, with grades (1 = Very good, 6 = Insufficient). External influences that drivers cannot control themselves should be disregarded. And so that not only the editorial team evaluates subjectively, as is the case with football magazines, we have created a total of three equal pillars with the readers and the expert.
And this is how we calculate:
From the average rating of Motorsport-Total.com users, the rating by expert Marc Surer, and the rating by our editorial team, we determine the average. This average value results in our driver ranking. We only display one decimal place, but we use all decimal places for the calculation. From these partially invisible decimal places, the order of the ranking of two drivers in the event of an apparent tie in ratings is determined.
The ratings of the individual editors:
We are often asked how our editorial ratings come about. All editors of our Formula 1 team first submit their individual ratings. In an editorial conference on the morning after the Grand Prix, we then discuss them and agree on common editorial ratings, which usually (but not always) reflect the average of the individual editors’ ratings. When setting the editorial ratings, discussions sometimes get heated. The goal is to agree on common driver ratings with which every editor can concur.
Award for the Driver of the Year:
Based on the overall ratings of a race weekend, we award points for the 2026 annual ranking. Analogous to the points system in the real Formula 1 World Championship, the winner receives 25 points, the second 18, the third 15 – down to one point for 10th place. There is no bonus point for the fastest lap. After the end of the season, the driver with the most points will be awarded the Motorsport-Total.com Award for the Driver of the Year 2026.
Read more Milestone reached but: Only now does it get really serious for Aston & Honda!
