Can anything or anyone stop Mercedes from winning ...

With Mercedes successful two of the opening races this 12 months – and a further Method 1 dash in Shanghai – it seems as if the Silver Arrows are set to clinch each titles.

That was probably the most predictable end result of the primary few races: lengthy earlier than the 2026 season acquired underway, Mercedes was seen as a transparent favorite – and little means that it will not end in each titles going to Brackley this 12 months.

But, is the benefit that Toto Wolff’s squad has initially of the championship truly sufficient to run away from the opposition this 12 months? Our worldwide panel of journalists have their say.

The hole is nowhere close to as large as in 2014

Filip Cleeren, Motorsport.com International:

I attempt to be a glass-half-full form of man, and as I sit right here immediately, there are sufficient causes to counsel Ferrari and even McLaren can take it to Mercedes this 12 months.

Sure, Mercedes has been dominant in clear air, however the hole is nowhere close to as large as in 2014, and we’re solely at the place to begin of what is going to be a frenetic 2026 growth race that may kick off at Might’s Miami Grand Prix. How a lot will the extra exams to fight Mercedes’ suspected compression ratio trick actually peg the group again from June and past? I believe not that a lot, however Ferrari seems to imagine in any other case.

In the event you look again on the progress McLaren made throughout 2023 and 2024, then we definitely have not seen the final of the defending world champions but. Ferrari has a bit extra to show when it comes to in-season growth, but its upside-down rear wing, exhaust wing and halo fairings suggest that group boss Fred Vasseur and tech director Loic Serra have managed to unleash loads of creativity and innovation in Maranello, which is an efficient signal.

The practice has left the station

Stefan Ehlen, Motorsport.com Germany

A transparent no.

The info from the race weekends in Australia and China paints a really clear image: Mercedes holds a major benefit over the competitors. The group is forward in qualifying and can also be capable of draw back decisively in the course of the race. No probability – not even for Ferrari. Even the weak begins Mercedes has had up to now and the jostling within the opening laps can not cover that truth.

Nevertheless, the weekend in China additionally confirmed that Mercedes is just not invulnerable. Even after a problematic qualifying session, George Russell nonetheless secured second place on the grid, whereas Kimi Antonelli completed fifth within the dash regardless of botching the beginning, inflicting a collision, and serving a 10-second penalty. That speaks volumes – each about Mercedes’ energy and in regards to the reserves that also appear to be hidden below the hood.

As issues stand, Ferrari and the opposite chasing groups should hope for additional reliability issues at Mercedes or for main upgrades of their very own that drastically cut back the hole. In any other case, the championship practice might have already got left the station.

Subsequent cease: Lauda Drive, Brackley, England.

George Russell, Mercedes

Picture by: Lintao Zhang / LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos

Solely Mercedes can cease Mercedes

Federico Faturos, Motorsport.com Latin America:

Two grands prix into the 2026 season, it already appears crystal clear that the one entity able to stopping Mercedes from successful each titles this 12 months is… Mercedes.

McLaren and Pink Bull are, for all intents and functions, out of the equation. Admittedly, McLaren won’t proceed to rack up DNSs and Oscar Piastri will finally have the ability to participate in a race, whereas Pink Bull is unlikely to be overwhelmed “on benefit”, as Ayao Komatsu fairly rightly put it, by Haas at each circuit this season. Each groups will enhance because the 12 months progresses, however we aren’t about to witness a comeback akin to Max Verstappen’s in 2025.

That leaves Ferrari as the one outfit seemingly able to taking the struggle to Mercedes this 12 months. And “seemingly” is the operative phrase. Whereas each Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton seem snug with these new vehicles and have, at instances, been capable of problem Russell and Antonelli in each Melbourne and Shanghai, they’ve finally fallen brief – and by a major margin.

Vasseur identified after Sunday’s race that “we have been eight tenths off in Melbourne, six tenths on Friday, 4 tenths on Saturday” when referring to the hole to Mercedes. Nevertheless, this doesn’t assure that Ferrari will proceed to shut in and leap forward by Suzuka. The info gathered over the opening two race weekends already means that Mercedes is working at a degree of dominance not seen in recent times, harking back to the early hybrid period, when the Brackley outfit confronted no critical opposition.

All of which results in one clear conclusion: solely Mercedes can cease Mercedes this 12 months. The event race can be notably intense below the brand new laws, so the group can not afford to develop complacent, not to mention misjudge the event path of its W17. On the similar time, reliability should stay exemplary, because it has been up to now. The difficulty Russell skilled throughout Q3 in China is a reminder that nobody is solely immune.

Even so, with a group as skilled – and as hungry to return to the highest – as Mercedes, it appears extremely unlikely that it’ll falter now that it as soon as once more has the chance to string collectively victories on the way in which to a different championship-winning season.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Picture by: Alastair Staley / LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos

Most likely not even battle

Jose Carlos de Celis, Motorsport.com Spain:

We’ve seen this earlier than – it’s one more case of a group dominating firstly of a brand new period of guidelines, with rivals desperately attempting to catch up (by calling for rule adjustments or just copying them), and by the point they lose a few of their edge, it’s already too late. Mercedes’ superiority was evident even in a dash race the place it appeared like Ferrari would possibly beat it, and up to now, it has secured one-two finishes in each Sunday race.

That was one of many hopes of the opposite groups (and the followers) – that the reliability points that different groups have confronted would additionally have an effect on Mercedes – however up to now it has managed to keep away from them, and its drivers haven’t made any notable errors (apart from Antonelli a couple of laps from the top in China). Mercedes in all probability received’t finish the 12 months with one of the best automotive, as a result of past Ferrari, McLaren and Pink Bull are additionally anticipated to make progress. However by then, as has occurred earlier than, will probably be far forward within the championship.

And the battle? Or quite, the wars? On the one hand, the battle between its drivers might maintain the factors hole with rivals from getting too large, and if Antonelli holds his floor and repeats performances like his drive in China, Mercedes will face the dilemma of building its personal papaya guidelines (silver guidelines?) or reviving the ghosts of 2016 – although even in that 12 months, it simply received each championships.

However, the battle within the Center East has cancelled two races, which is able to give its rivals time to shut the hole, though the ADUO will nonetheless have to attend – and, forgive my pessimism, perhaps when it takes impact, it is going to find yourself proving that Mercedes’ success this 12 months is about way more than simply the engine.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Picture by: James Sutton / Method 1 / Method Motorsport Ltd by way of Getty Photos

Ferrari can’t be ignored

Khaldoun Younes, Motorsport.com Center East:

Mercedes’ mission will not be as straightforward because it appears – or at the least, that’s what we hope.

Two rounds of the 2026 season have now handed, and query marks are flying in from each path. Some imagine that is the absolute best begin to a brand new period, whereas others seem involved about fluctuations within the stability of energy, with some groups rising and others falling. As well as, there are the continuing criticisms from main stars comparable to Verstappen.

An important query: will Mercedes dominate the remainder of the season?

At first look, the reply could appear simple: a quick tempo (certainly, clearly sooner than the competitors), coming from a robust engine (enhanced by the next compression ratio than rivals below race circumstances), mixed with wonderful deployment {of electrical} power.

Furthermore, credit score should be given to the suspension system and the way in which the automotive as a complete handles corners, which in flip displays positively on tyre administration.

Nevertheless, anybody who watched the Chinese language spherical will realise that the Silver Arrows aren’t solely untouchable: reliability issues that emerged with the difficulty on Russell’s automotive throughout qualifying, a brief drop in tempo throughout the principle race on laborious tyres, and in addition the presence of a driver who continues to be thought of younger and subsequently susceptible to varied forms of errors (regardless of his simple expertise).

Moreover, Ferrari at present seems to be a real darkish horse in each sense of the phrase: if the group succeeds in bettering its automotive’s race tempo because the season progresses, then the Scuderia will pose a risk that can’t be ignored, particularly when contemplating its rocket-like begins and the truth that each of its drivers appear snug behind the wheel.

Most significantly, there’s a tightening of the laws coming by the summer time, which is able to modify the foundations on engine compression ratios, thereby including additional challenges for Wolff’s group.

Let’s stay lifelike: Mercedes is at present the strongest contender, however the mission is just not as straightforward because it appears – at the least, that’s what we hope.

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli

Ewan Gale, Autosport:

It could be protected to imagine that the vacation spot of the constructors’ title this time period is Lauda Drive, Brackley, however the Silver Arrows’ early-season dominance might conspire to forestall a championship double by the season finale.

Russell and Antonelli are seemingly in a personal battle for the drivers’ crown – the Italian impressing to sit down simply 4 factors behind after the primary two rounds, protecting his team-mate trustworthy.

However that may very well be an element that gives others with hope, particularly Ferrari duo Hamilton and Leclerc.

Take 2025 for instance and McLaren’s dominance. With two robust drivers in Lando Norris and Piastri, the duo persistently took factors off one another whereas the group was at its peak efficiency.

That meant that by the point Pink Bull and Verstappen sorted out points with its personal automotive, a stellar run of kind after the summer time break noticed the Dutchman finish the 12 months with extra wins than the McLaren duo registered individually, and the four-time champion completed simply two factors off eventual victor Norris.

If Russell asserts his expertise and dominance over Antonelli earlier than August’s conventional break, then the championship double must be within the bag for Mercedes. But when Antonelli matches the Briton race to race and Ferrari can develop the SF-26 quickly – as can occur firstly of a regulatory period – then the drivers’ title will not be as simple as initially anticipated.

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– The Motorsport.com Crew