The state of play at Mercedes after three rounds of the 2026 season

Mercedes lead both championships after three rounds of the 2026 season, and have won every race thus far courtesy of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. The Italian is the youngest man in history to lead the Drivers’ Championship, as the Silver Arrows – for the moment – remain the team to beat. But can they keep their nose in front as the development race hots up?

How has the 2026 season gone so far?

After dominating the turbo-hybrid era, Mercedes struggled in the ground effect era of racing that lasted from 2022 to 2025, managing no titles and just a handful of wins. But in these new regulations, the Silver Arrows are off to a flying start.

Many expected them to be strong, with the power unit set to play such a crucial part in determining the pecking order. And so it has proved, with the Mercedes PU the pick of the bunch.

The team had a few wobbles in pre-season testing on the reliability front, but since Melbourne they have been unstoppable. Russell won the first race of the year and then the first Sprint, while Antonelli tasted victory for the first time in Shanghai, before going back-to-back with a win at Suzuka.

They have also grabbed every pole on offer, with their drivers again splitting the four opportunities to start from P1 at two apiece.

The only real blot on their copybook was Antonelli’s crash in FP3 at Albert Park, but he bounced back from that admirably to qualify second just hours later, and then finish in P2 in the Grand Prix.

All of that leaves the team with a healthy lead in the Teams’ Championship, and Antonelli nine points ahead of his team mate in the Drivers’.

Reasons to be hopeful

Mercedes could not really have hoped for better – Russell was off the podium in Japan, but apart from that it has all been going to plan for the Silver Arrows. They have two drivers who are performing well, both over one lap and during the race.

The way Antonelli has stepped up in his second season in F1 is also a big positive, with the teenager really carrying some self-belief to each and every race – something that will only increase if he continues to win.

Their engine is the best on show at the moment, and Mercedes seem to have a better understanding of it than any of their customer teams including McLaren, giving them an edge over the current World Champions.

They might have lost a few key staff members over the past few years, but with Toto Wolff at the helm, Andrew Shovlin in situ and Pete ‘Bono’ Bonnington steering Antonelli in the right direction, Mercedes still have plenty of experience where it matters.

Reasons to be cautious

Reliability has been good, but not perfect for Mercedes – Russell suffered some issues when Qualifying in China, and Antonelli also ran into problems in the race.

Antonelli’s crash in Australia also showed how on edge these cars can be, and how easy it is to get it wrong – something that will be less forgiving at some circuits.

Then of course there is the small matter of the intra-team battle that is brewing. Russell came into this season as the favourite, now into his eighth year in the sport. But Antonelli has already shown himself to be a match for his team mate, and not yet overawed by the fact they seem to be fighting for the Championship.

Wolff will remember 2016, and the sometimes bitter fight between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and will be keen to oversee something more akin to last year’s battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – which most agreed was tough but fair.

That is assuming no one out-develops Mercedes in the interim, and inserts themselves right into the fight for the title… Ferrari and McLaren are not that far back right now, and both teams will be working hard to catch the frontrunners.

What have the drivers and team bosses said?

Antonelli is already looking for ways to “improve” in this spring break. He says the team also know they need to keep “raising our game.”

“We had a real battle [in Japan] and we know that it's not going to be easy to keep up this run of form," he added. "We're looking forward to using the time ahead of Miami well and hopefully putting ourselves in a strong position once the season resumes."

Meanwhile Russell acknowledged that Mercedes' competitors will be chasing them down. "It's clear from [Japan] that our competitors are beginning to optimise their cars much more now," he said.

"We have enjoyed a great start to the season, but our rivals are hot on our heels as we saw today. The upcoming gap in the calendar will also give everyone a chance to develop further so we know that, once we're back on track in Miami, we are in for a proper fight."

Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said the team know where their focus will be in terms of upgrades. “We have several areas of improvement and we will make the maximum use of the gap in the calendar to develop in the places where we are not strong enough,” he explained.

What do Mercedes need to work on going forwards?

Starts. Mercedes have often found themselves in trouble off the line, despite locking out the front row for every race so far and the Sprint. They are slower off the line than Ferrari by far and are also under pressure from McLaren as well.

Once the cars get into free air, they can break free of their rivals but if they get caught in the dirty air – which happened to Russell in Japan – a lot of their pace advantage disappears. Working out how to deploy the extra Boost power in that Mercedes PU when in traffic is also important.

As for the rest, the chassis looks very decent, but there were the front wing issues with Active Aero not closing as quickly as it should, something the team confirmed was not intentional.

Get on top of that, out-develop the rest, build enough of a lead in both Championships in case anyone brings a big package of upgrades mid-season… And Mercedes should be in the fight for both titles once again.