For only the second time in the 2026 Formula 1 season, Mercedes was beaten on a Sunday as Ferrari and Charles Leclerc triumphed at the British Grand Prix.

But how did the twists and turns of the Silverstone weekend affect Edd Straw's F1 driver rankings - and which home driver ended up in top spot? Take a look below.

Want to quiz Edd on his driver rankings? Sign up to The Race Members' Club to do exactly that - and ask your questions in reply to this post.

Champions-tier members can also try their hand at putting their own driver rankings together for Edd to react to in a separate feature!

Started: 6th Finished: 4th

PROS
- Had the edge over Oscar Piastri on pace throughout.
- Overachieved with third place in the sprint after early gains.
- No obvious opportunities missed.

CONS
- Hard to stand out given McLaren's performance level.

Verdict: Couldn't have done more given the car limitations.

Started: 1st Finished: 15th

PROS
- A clear cut above team-mate George Russell.
- Executed the sprint race well, taking a calculated and patient approach to passing Lewis Hamilton in a way that allowed him to stay clear.
- Was driving a superb race that would have yielded victory when he sustained damage, and while he was fractionally wide at Copse the damage wasn't a foreseeable outcome.

CONS
- Had the car to have taken sprint race pole position, but left a little time on the table.
- Perhaps could have reduced the time loss and track-limits violations with a slightly calmer head, but that's an understandable reaction.

Verdict: Mostly hugely impressive, but slight rough edges cost him top spot.

Started: 14th Finished: 17th

PROS
- Wasn't in any way responsible for the penalty lap he was given for unlapping himself given the team instructed him to do it and it would have been impossible for him to be aware of the mistake.
- Was the stronger Williams driver all weekend.
- Excellent start in the grand prix briefly got him into the points before competitive gravity set in.

CONS
- Having briefly held 13th, was shuffled back to 17th on the first lap of the sprint, spending the rest of the race stuck there.
- Being hyper-critical, perhaps could have picked off Ollie Bearman in main qualifying with a perfect lap.

Verdict: Another weekend where the positives are many and the negatives minor.

Started: 2nd Finished: 1st

PROS
- Leclerc played a big part in the turnaround facilitated by overnight work that modified the set-up "philosophy" for qualifying proper.
- Made a good start then showed race pace that was a step ahead of Hamilton.
- Outqualifying and outracing Hamilton showed how big a step he'd really made.

CONS
- Struggled in the sprint element of the weekend relative to Hamilton, 0.327s off in qualifying showing he was "missing that final bit".
- Relied upon Antonelli hitting trouble to be able to win, but given the Mercedes had a pace advantage that's no criticism of him, just of the fact that the difference between first and second wasn't within his power to make.

Verdict: Reignited his season with a spectacular turnaround, but sprint struggles count against him.

Started: 10th Finished: 6th

PROS
- Made the most of the car to dominate 'Class B' in the sprint.
- Although he did get a warning for a late move at Stowe, overachieved in the sprint by holding off Hadjar.
- Had the underlying pace edge over Lindblad.

CONS
- Although he reached Q3, he appeared to have the underlying pace to have beaten Lindblad and had a poor lap amid balance struggles.
- Was fortunate to escape moving over on Piastri on the run to Brooklands on lap one, which broke the McLaren's front wing, without damage or a puncture.

Verdict: Other than Saturday qualifying, maximised the results achievable.

Started: 11th Finished: 8th

PROS
- Seemed the more comfortable of the two drivers in an Audi that at times looked a little unstable.
- Drove a strong grand prix to the best possible result - effectively 11th in the sixth-best car once you factor in the three frontrunners whose troubles he gained from.

CONS
- Although his overall qualifying result was good, a small wobble at Brooklands cost him a place in Q3.
- Finished just behind Hulkenberg in the sprint after having an even worse launch than his team-mate.

Verdict: Good, but a few rough edges are reflected in his ranking.

Started: 3rd Finished: 3rd

PROS
- Excelled in sprint qualifying, taking pole in a Ferrari that had marginally less performance potential than the Mercedes.
- Did what he could in the sprint race, but was always destined to fall behind Antonelli.
- Would have finished second in the grand prix but for the unfortunate safety-car pitstop and lack of restart.

CONS
- Grand prix jump start was costly, even though it was a minuscule error.
- Didn't seem to have an answer for Leclerc's renewed turn of pace for Saturday qualifying and the grand prix.

Verdict: Sprint elements outstanding, but thereafter solid rather than spectacular.

Started: 7th Finished: 20th

PROS
- Overachieved in sprint qualifying by maximising the machinery, before inevitably slipping back in the race.
- Held third when he crashed out late on, which would have been a superb result.

CONS
- Was outqualified by Hadjar on Saturday and threatened by him on Friday, although the team confirmed he was down on power.
- While his crash was primarily down to the lack of rear downforce, given the tyre condition and the known concerns, it wasn't as clear-cut a case of being outside of his control as it was in Austria.
- Poor sprint start cost third-place shot.

Verdict: A slightly uneven weekend, even though he so nearly got a great result.

Started: 9th Finished: 7th

PROS
- Had a great start to the race, but then lost out partly thanks to having to run wide at Turn 3 and Brooklands, with a loss of deployment that wasn't of his making also playing a big part.
- Delivered a better lap than Lawson in Q3 to take 'midfield pole'.
- Did a good job through the first pitstop sequence to cover undercut threats.

CONS
- Was the second-best Racing Bulls driver, but it wasn't by much.

Verdict: Backed up Lawson superbly, and without the first lap problem might have beaten him in the grand prix.

Started: 5th Finished: 5th

PROS
- Outqualified Verstappen on Saturday.
- Picked up a good result in the grand prix, at times showing the pace to have done better.
- Seemed a little more comfortable with the car at times than Verstappen.

CONS
- Although his qualifying pace was good, his race pace was at times not so strong.
- Only finishing ninth in the sprint was an underachievement, although the terrible start was largely down to the power unit.
- Good on-paper results bely the fact that they were both de facto last places in the top-four team group.

Verdict: A mixed bag in a tricky car.

Started: 13th Finished: 12th

PROS
- Outqualified Ocon in both sessions, with the caveat that yellow flags in Saturday's session made it an uneven fight.
- Wasn't to blame either for the start losses in the grand prix, or the clout from Albon that spun him, which dropped him to 20th on the first lap.
- Recovered well in the grand prix and generally showed good all-round pace in a limited car.

CONS
- His pass on Ocon in the grand prix wouldn't have been possible without his team-mate's time loss, although he'd also had earlier misfortune.
- Could have made SQ2 on Friday, but for not maximising the pack level for the lap - although that was partly circumstantial.

Verdict: A decent weekend in a car that wasn't up to challenging for the points.

Started: 17th Finished: 13th

PROS
- Had he not caught a yellow flag at the end of Q1, which cost him two tenths, he would have easily made it to Q2.
- Great first lap in the grand prix meant he leaped from 17th to 11th, which was thanks to a blend of a good launch, some canny racecraft and Piastri's problem.
- Showed good race pace, finishing directly behind Bearman in the sprint and only finishing behind him in the grand prix thanks to a slow first pitstop that cost him around 13 seconds.

CONS
- There were still complaints about downforce deficits early in the weekend, although that seemed to improve later in the weekend.
- Didn't execute sprint qualifying well.

Verdict: Showed a clear upturn in performance from previous weekends.

Started: 8th Finished: 11th

PROS
- Wasn't to blame for being sandwiched between the Racing Bulls on lap one, damaging his front wing and ruining his points chances.
- His underlying pace deficit to Norris was only marginal.
- Generally extracted close to the potential of the car.

CONS
- Tiny pace deficit in sprint qualifying and at the start made the difference between the third place Norris showed was achievable and Piastri's seventh.
- Lacked that last tiny edge of pace compared to Norris, which added up to a substantial difference in outcomes.

Verdict: Second-best McLaren driver.

Started: 19th Finished: 9th

PROS
- Had a good sprint race, finishing directly behind Pierre Gasly.
- Although he struggled with the car, describing it as "digital" in terms of grip (as in, either it had grip or it didn't with no progressiveness), in qualifying, was better in race conditions.
- Although he was fortunate to end up ahead of Gasly in the grand prix, did a good job to ensure he maintained his advantage.

CONS
- Had a marginal underlying race pace disadvantage relative to Gasly, beating him in the grand prix thanks to being given the undercut advantage and his team-mate's slow stop.
- Although the qualifying spin was definitely not his fault, with an unexpected loss of rear downforce explaining it, he struggled for single-lap pace across both sessions.

Verdict: Struggled in qualifying, better in the race, but the second-fastest Alpine driver overall.

Started: 4th Finished: 2nd

PROS
- Responded well to the puncture that compromised his race.
- Showed good racecraft in the grand prix in particular.

CONS
- Despite complaints about straightline speed disadvantage, he was the slower Mercedes driver.
- While his wing-crunching off at Luffield in Q1 was unusual, it appeared to be his error.
- Contributed to the poor prep for his Q3 lap.

Verdict: As he put it, "the performances need to be better, I need to be better".

Started: 15th Finished: 10th

PROS
- Recovered well from a poor FP1 to perform well across sprint qualifying and the Saturday race.
- Maximised the pace of the car in qualifying.
- Would have finished ahead of Colapinto but for the team (justifiably) pitting Colapinto first to protect against the undercut then having a slow stop.

CONS
- Although he was unfortunate given a radio failure meant he couldn't hear warnings, impeding Stroll in Q1 earned him a three-place grid penalty and compromised his race.
- A minor point, but he couldn't turn his small pace advantage over Colapinto into a pass - but then again, the team didn't need its drivers battling.

Verdict: A good weekend, with qualifying impeding the main negative.

Started: 21st Finished: 18th

PROS
- Strong performance across the sprint elements of the weekend, catching and passing Lance Stroll after being booted into a spin by Sergio Perez on lap two.
- Had a pace advantage over Stroll in race conditions, which also showed once he was ahead in the grand prix.
- Certainly on long runs, coped better with the major limitations of the Aston Martin than his team-mate.

CONS
- Qualifying pace was unremarkable, shading Stroll in sprint qualifying but lapping 0.162s slower in main qualifying.
- As always for the Aston Martin drivers, the lack of competition (for negative reasons) and car troubles make it difficult to impress.

Verdict: That 'winning' the Lego 'race' was the highlight of his weekend says much about his situation.

Started: 20th Finished: 14th

PROS
- Drove a particularly strong grand prix, in which his underlying pace was stronger than Bottas's.
- Significant car problems that were only really fixed for the race mean his 0.782s qualifying deficit to Bottas was in no way representative.

CONS
- Clattering into Alonso after a lock-up on lap two of the sprint was entirely avoidable.
- Car problems made it difficult for him to show his pace for much of the weekend, and while not his fault this means there's less evidence to gauge it on.

Verdict: Sprint collision costs what would have been a higher ranking.

Started: 18th Finished: 16th

PROS
- Had perhaps one of his cleanest weekends for Cadillac, and showed good pace at times.
- Although the comparison with Perez wasn't representative, Bottas still produced a strong performance in main qualifying.
- Couldn't have finished any higher in the sprint race.

CONS
- Grand prix pace was disappointing relative to Perez - although the gap that built up before the safety car was exaggerated by strategic offset.
- When all things are equal, still appeared to be the second-best Cadillac driver.
- Could have been slightly sharper when the safety-car pulled in and gained a position when Antonelli's penalty was applied.

Verdict: A good, solid weekend but nothing extraordinary.

Started: 22nd Finished: 19th

PROS
- Single-lap pace was good, outqualifying Alonso in main qualifying.
- Started both races well before slipping back.
- Battled on and registered two race finishes in a car that looked terrible to drive.

CONS
- While track-limits violations were understandable given the understeer and downshift problems, Alonso avoided such errors - and picking up three five-second penalties was excessive.
- Race pace wasn't at Alonso's level.

Verdict: Good on one lap, but struggled badly on longer stints.

Started: 12th Finished: DNF

PROS
- Had a decent sprint part of the weekend, qualifying only 0.028s off Bortoleto then leading him home in the race.
- Wasn't to blame for his retirement from the race, which was a hydraulic-related gearbox problem.

CONS
- Had an untidy main qualifying, with a laptime deletion for track limits then an untidy final attempt in Q2 that left him almost seven tenths off his team-mate.
- Overall, seemed slightly less at home with the tricky-at-times Audi than B.
- Spun at Luffield while running between the two Alpines through his own error on lap two, which would have cost him a points shot had the car lasted.

Verdict: Decent in the sprint components, but disappointing in qualifying and the race proper.

Started: 16th Finished: DNF

PROS
- Qualifying pace deficit to Sainz wasn't massive, with the 0.132s gap in main qualifying representative.
- While race pace is difficult to gauge versus Sainz because of circumstances, also wasn't disastrous.

CONS
- Locking up and clattering into Bearman at Brooklands on lap one was effectively a race-ruining mistake.
- Lacked the edge of pace that Sainz had.
- Underachieved significantly in sprint qualifying.

Verdict: Pace deficit and first-lap blunder adds up to a poor weekend.