A season’s achievement
Mercedes clinched the 2026 Constructors’ Championship with George Russell fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth in Sao Paulo. Its first crown since 2021 is its ninth, matching Williams. With Antonelli already crowned in Mexico, Mercedes has won both championships for the first time since 2020.
Speaking to F1 TV, Toto Wolff said he was already considering what had gone wrong in Brazil and what could improve in Las Vegas and 2027. He credited the trackside organisation and the Brackley and Brixworth factories, rather than reducing the achievement to the two drivers.
A promising start without a victory
Antonelli took the lead from second on the grid. He changed to slicks—dry-weather tyres without drainage grooves—later than some rivals. Norris closed on warmed-up softs while Antonelli was struggling for grip. A spin at Turn 1 cost Antonelli the lead; although he briefly returned to first, he could not sustain winning pace. He reported that the car felt as if it was steering itself, but Mercedes found no clear fault at the time.
Russell qualified second but started seventh after a five-place penalty for an engine change. He spun at the pit exit after switching to slicks, then was first to return to intermediates for the late rain. With his wet-weather tyres ready sooner than Antonelli’s, Mercedes swapped the cars and Russell finished fourth. Antonelli retained fifth despite a five-second unsafe-release penalty, leaving the team with 22 points.
Antonelli put his disappointment aside to celebrate with the people who had helped him become champion. He still wants more victories before the season ends and to carry momentum into 2027.
Russell said he may have taken too much risk because he saw a chance to fight for victory. After the spin, he did not make another stop for a fresh set of slicks. In his assessment, skipping that stop put him back in broadly the same competitive position.
He was encouraged by his qualifying and soft-tyre pace despite missing the podium. Having joined Mercedes in 2022, he experienced its difficult period before contributing as a race driver to this constructors title.
