Head-to-head · season 2026

NicoHulkenbergAudi vs LiamLawsonRacing Bulls

Level at 7–7 in the race-grade duel, across the rounds both were rated in.

#15The Index · 7.62

P14DriverIndex Championship · 50 pts

P14Official · 11 pts

#16The Index · 7.54

P17DriverIndex Championship · 35 pts

P9Official · 68 pts

Round by round

the race grade decides each round · click a round for the full analysis

MEL – 6.5 SHA 7.7 8.4 SUZ 7.9 8.4 MIA – – CAN 7.4 7.6 MON 7.5 8.3 ESP – 7.3 AUT 8.1 7.9 GBR 7.6 8.3 SPA 7.2 6.8 HUN 8.2 8.1 NED 7.9 7.6 ITA 7.6 7.9 MAD 7.6 7.4 BAK 8.8 8.3 MAL 7.9 9.0 SIN 9.6 8.1

The nine dimensions

season grades, mirrored — the longer bar wins the measure

8.18 OVD Overdelivery 8.40

7.56 PAC Race Pace 6.98

8.14 CON Consistency 9.02

6.90 ATK Attack & Defence 8.16

9.51 TYR Tyre Management 8.68

8.54 QUA Qualifying 8.18

6.88 STA Race Start 9.26

8.98 PIT Pit Stop Execution 7.92

8.75 CLN Cleanliness 8.80

Race grade, round by round

gaps = not classified

Nico Hulkenberg vs Liam Lawson: who is driving better in 2026?

Nico Hulkenberg drives for Audi, Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls, so the raw results are not comparable — everything on this page has car performance taken out of it. Nico Hulkenberg leads on The Index, 7.62 to 7.54 — P15 against P16, a gap of 0.07 of a grade point. Round by round the two are tied 7–7 across 14 races where both were graded. Nico Hulkenberg's clearest advantage is Pit Stop Execution — 8.98 against 7.92. Liam Lawson takes Race Start back the other way, 9.26 to 6.88. They are effectively inseparable on Cleanliness. In the DriverIndex Championship — the same season paid on the official points scale, but on driver merit — Nico Hulkenberg sits P14 on 50 points to Liam Lawson's P17 on 35. Officially they stand P14 and P9.