INTOTURNONE

Championship Watch

1986 Standings

Alain Prost won the 1986 Drivers' Championship for McLaren. Final 1986 standings — every driver and constructor ranked by points and wins.

Driver Leader
Alain Prost
72 pts · McLaren
Title Gap
2 pts
Alain Prost over Nigel Mansell
Constructors
Williams
141 pts · gap 45
Most Wins
5
Nigel Mansell
Control Tower
Drivers Championship
Season
1986 Season Report

Alain Prost won the 1986 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for McLaren, finishing on 72 points, 2 clear of Nigel Mansell. Prost won 4 races that season.

Williams took the Constructors' Championship with 141 points, 45 ahead of McLaren.

5 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 19 drivers scored championship points.

Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.

Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.

Live Table

1986 Driver Order

Pos
Driver
Form
Points
Wins
P1
Alain Prost
McLaren
Championship Pace100%
Championship Leader
72
Points
4
Wins
P2
Nigel Mansell
Williams
Championship Pace97%
2 pts off the lead.
70
Points
5
Wins
P3
Nelson Piquet
Williams
Championship Pace96%
3 pts off the lead.
69
Points
4
Wins
P4
Ayrton Senna
Team Lotus
Championship Pace76%
17 pts off the lead.
55
Points
2
Wins
P5
Stefan Johansson
Ferrari
Championship Pace32%
49 pts off the lead.
23
Points
0
Wins
P6
Keke Rosberg
McLaren
Championship Pace31%
50 pts off the lead.
22
Points
0
Wins
P7
Gerhard Berger
Benetton
Championship Pace24%
55 pts off the lead.
17
Points
1
Wins
P8
Jacques Laffite
Ligier
Championship Pace19%
58 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P9
Michele Alboreto
Ferrari
Championship Pace19%
58 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P10
René Arnoux
Ligier
Championship Pace19%
58 pts off the lead.
14
Points
0
Wins
P11
Martin Brundle
Tyrrell
Championship Pace11%
64 pts off the lead.
8
Points
0
Wins
P12
Alan Jones
Lola
Championship Pace6%
68 pts off the lead.
4
Points
0
Wins
P13
Johnny Dumfries
Team Lotus
Championship Pace4%
69 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P14
Philippe Streiff
Tyrrell
Championship Pace4%
69 pts off the lead.
3
Points
0
Wins
P15
Patrick Tambay
Lola
Championship Pace3%
70 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P16
Teo Fabi
Benetton
Championship Pace3%
70 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P17
Riccardo Patrese
Brabham
Championship Pace3%
70 pts off the lead.
2
Points
0
Wins
P18
Christian Danner
Osella
Championship Pace1%
71 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P19
Philippe Alliot
Ligier
Championship Pace1%
71 pts off the lead.
1
Points
0
Wins
P20
Thierry Boutsen
Arrows
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P21
Derek Warwick
Brabham
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P22
Jonathan Palmer
Zakspeed
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P23
Huub Rothengatter
Zakspeed
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P24
Andrea de Cesaris
Minardi
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P25
Elio de Angelis
Brabham
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P26
Marc Surer
Arrows
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P27
Piercarlo Ghinzani
Osella
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P28
Allen Berg
Osella
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P29
Alessandro Nannini
Minardi
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
P30
Alex Caffi
Osella
Championship Pace0%
72 pts off the lead.
0
Points
0
Wins
About the 1986 championships · How F1 points work

Alain Prost leads the 1986 Drivers Championship with 72 points, holding a 2-point advantage over Nigel Mansell (Williams). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.

In the 1986 Constructors Championship, Williams leads with 141 points — a 45-point margin over McLaren. The Constructors title is decided by the combined points haul of a team's two drivers from every race, making car reliability, pit stop execution, and strategic pairing as important as raw pace.

The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.

A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.