Mercedes has won every race of the 2026 Formula One season. Four Grands Prix, four victories. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, aged 19, leads the Drivers’ Championship with 100 points — and the Italian prodigy is showing no signs of slowing down.
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Wolff Admits Mercedes Were Running Below Full Potential
Speaking at the Miami Grand Prix media session, team principal Toto Wolff delivered a remarkable admission. Mercedes had overcomplicated their energy management approach in the opening rounds. Once corrected, they recovered three to four tenths of lap time — performance that had been sitting unused since Bahrain. No major upgrade package was required. The car was already fast enough to win.
Rivals Point to the Same Problem: Pure Pace
McLaren’s Andrea Stella, Ferrari’s Frédéric Vasseur, and Red Bull’s Laurent Mekies all reached an identical conclusion after Miami. Mercedes holds a clear pace advantage — roughly two tenths per lap — over the rest of the field. Crucially, they are describing the Mercedes after the energy management fix, not before it.
Ferrari and McLaren Upgrades Not Enough
Ferrari arrived in Miami with their largest upgrade package of the season. McLaren fielded both drivers at full strength. Red Bull made their biggest single-race step. All three teams showed genuine progress. Mercedes still won the Grand Prix.
What Comes Next for the 2026 Championship?
Imola, Monaco, Spain, and Canada follow before the European summer break. Every rival team is pushing hard within the cost cap to close the gap. The gap, however, may yet be larger than the timing screens currently suggest. As trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin noted after Miami, it has been eye-opening to see just how much performance the competition was able to bring — and Mercedes still won.
Antonelli holds a 70-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Mercedes leads Ferrari by the same margin in the Constructors’ standings. The numbers tell a straightforward story.
▶ Watch our full breakdown of the Mercedes sandbagging controversy:
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