Top of the class

Oscar Piastri Piastri is rightly leading the world championship and has earned his place at the top of the field. He has not only been quick in the best car on the grid but consistent and calm. This has not been the stuff of fireworks but relentless precision. His execution and attitude have no little of the Alain Prost about them and Piastri is shaping up to be a similarly formidable opponent as The Professor.

He has gone toe to toe with teammate Lando Norris across these opening 14 meetings and, overall, come out on top. There have been six wins and only twice has he failed to reach the podium. The three consummate victories in a row across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami made his title ambitions clear, while errors have been few and far between. A spin in the wet in Australia and a safety car infringement at Silverstone are the only blots on an otherwise immaculate copybook.

Next best

Lando Norris Entered the season as favourite and when the McLaren duly proved to be the class of the field was expected to exploit it. However, after a strong start in Australia it became clear that the MCL39 was not quite giving him the feel for the front grip of the car that he likes. It proved costly, particularly in qualifying, and Norris was typically forthright and honest that it was up to him to adapt better to it.

Errors compounded his problems, not least crashing in qualifying in Saudi Arabia and hitting his teammate in Canada. In Budapest he revealed an intriguingly nihilist approach, noting in regards to the title race: “In 200 years no one is going to care. We’ll all be dead”.

Yet rather than settling down to contemplate the meaninglessness of existence in a darkened room, the British driver has doggedly stuck at his task and returned some impressive wins with fine drives in Monaco and Austria and an inspired strategy coup last weekend in Budapest. If he can eliminate the faults Norris will be going blow to blow with his teammate to the end.

Room for improvement

Max Verstappen Before the weekend began in Hungary, Verstappen ended speculation over his future by stating he would be with Red Bull next year, but didn’t say whether he would see out his contract to 2028.

The world champion has already acknowledged the title is beyond him this year but he still craves performance and stability within the team. However, over these 14 races, the form of the car has been sorely lacking, while bringing an end to the turbulence of the last two years and soothing the ruffled brows of the Verstappen camp was at least part of the purpose of the removal of Red Bull’s team principal of 20 years, Christian Horner.

Verstappen has still succeeded in wrestling repeated results, including two impressive wins, from a car that is all but unmanageable, but he and the team’s focus is now on the future. There are major exams coming up in the form of the new regulations for next season and, for the second half of this one, the question that will dominate is how do Red Bull under new boss Laurent Mekies now adapt? If the Frenchman fails to deliver, the internal politicking at the team could be fascinating. And brutal.

Best newcomer

Gabriel Bortoleto When Sauber brought in a new floor in Spain the 20-year-old Brazilian rookie came alive, showing promise given his team’s relatively uncompetitive car. He is in good company in the new intake.

At Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar has been a standout too, adapting quickly to F1 with consistent, confident performances and largely outdriving his teammate Liam Lawson whom Red Bull had rated enough to, briefly, promote to the senior squad at the start of the season. Kimi Antonelli, too, has demonstrated his potential at Mercedes but has been inconsistent in a car that George Russell muscled to a win in Canada.

But Bortoleto has given the impression that he may have so much more to come. After Sauber applied upgrades in Barcelona, Bortoleto took his first points in Austria including challenging Fernando Alonso for seventh place. A crash at Silverstone followed while on slicks in the wet but he took points in Belgium, and in Hungary he was flying. He qualified a remarkable seventh, 12 places in front of his experienced teammate Nico Hülkenberg and claimed sixth in the race after a battling drive. If he can repeat it in the second half of the season, Audi, as Sauber will be next season, have a genuine asset.

Earned a holiday

Lewis Hamilton Left dejected after two races of, by his own admission, below-par performances – with 16th on the grid in Spa and a 12th in qualifying in Hungary he described as “absolutely useless” before finishing the race in 12th – Lewis Hamilton even appeared to cast doubt on his future in F1.

It was a response, likely a blip, from a driver worn down by having to deal with adapting to his new team under such scrutiny as well as dissatisfaction at how they, and he, are performing. It is unusual for Hamilton to be so publicly hard on himself and perhaps represents real frustration with Ferrari, but he has proved repeatedly he is nothing if not a fighter.

A step back after what has been a gruelling opening with a new team is clearly required even if, as is believed, he feels there is still enormous work to be done at the Scuderia. Hamilton accepted the process to adapt would take time but that frustration in Hungary suggests he might be disillusioned despite his belief that Ferrari have everything needed to return to the top.

He said rather dejectedly in Budapest he would “hopefully” return after the summer break. The touch is still there as he proved in Silverstone and Spa but he, perhaps like no other driver, could benefit from a reset over the summer break.