Mercedes does not view its current Formula 1 superiority as being similar to the last time it dominated a regulation set in 2014.
The Silver Arrows has made a near-perfect start to the first season of F1’s new rules era, claiming back-to-back one-two finishes in Australia and China.
Mercedes’ flawless start was only slightly blemished in the China sprint race, with a 10-second penalty for Andrea Kimi Antonelli restricting the teenager to fifth place.
Mercedes has produced the class-leading power unit in 2026 and holds a sizeable advantage over its nearest rival, Ferrari, while even its customers have been surprised at how much the works squad is extracting.
The imperious start has led to comparisons to 2014 at the dawn of the turbo hybrid V6 era, which marked the start of an ultra-successful F1 reign that saw Mercedes win seven drivers’ championships with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, as well as eight constructors’ titles.
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However, championship leader George Russell has insisted that things are not the same as the last time the Brackley-based outfit dominated F1.
“I think it’s not comparable to 2014 because in 2014 Mercedes had a major advantage on the power unit compared to every other manufacturer. And there wasn’t a team with a Mercedes engine that could compete,” Russell stated ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Now, the winner of the last two years has been a car with the Mercedes in the back of it. So, you know McLaren is capable of fighting with us. And Ferrari and Red Bull have seemingly a power unit that is very close to what we have.
“At the moment the differences look to be coming from the car. We’ve produced a very good car this year. There’s lots of talk about the engine, and of course the engine is great. But the car is fantastic as well, and that isn’t being given the credit it deserves. So, I’m sure it will close up quickly.”
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Mercedes has qualified on pole and won both grands prix so far in 2026
Why Mercedes is taking nothing for granted
Russell may have attempted to downplay Mercedes’ supremacy at the top of F1 prior to last weekend, but another convincing 1-2 for the German manufacturer only further underlined its advantage.
Winning both world championships in 2026 already looks like a slam-dunk for Mercedes, with nearest challenger Ferrari still a good half a second off the pace.
While Ferrari’s SF-26 challenger is proving more than a match for Mercedes in the corners, if not quicker, it is on the straights where lap time is haemorrhaged.
Ferrari plans to deploy an aggressive development path to catch up to Mercedes, but by that stage, the damage in the title race may have already been done.
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However, Mercedes remains wary of its rivals using “political knives” in a bid to wipe clear its advantage.
“We have a good car that, at this stage, is capable of winning,” team principal Toto Wolff said.
“But let’s see what kind of political knives are going to come out in the next few weeks and months.”
Wolff did not go into detail about what he meant by his ‘political knives’ comments, but Mercedes currently finds itself embroiled in several key political battlegrounds in F1.
A change in testing of compression ratio limits coming into force from 1 June is one of several big controversies F1 is currently wading through.
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Mercedes’ rivals believe it has found a loophole in the regulations that has given it a key performance advantage, something the looming tweak would stop.
Mercedes denies the accusations coming from its rivals, but the exact impact of the rule change – which will be imposed after the fifth round of the season – will be intriguing.
This is something Russell alluded to after Sunday’s race in Shanghai.
“As it stands, we have the upper hand. But we can’t take that for granted,” he stressed, “because obviously, we know some things are going to be changing in a couple of months.
“The upgrades are massive at the moment. So let’s see where it falls out.”
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Hamilton beat Leclerc to third after an intense battle
Why Ferrari might be best placed to strike back
Other key political battles are ongoing over race starts, an area Ferrari currently holds an advantage over the rest of the field.
The Italian team’s lightning starts have been a feature of the opening two rounds, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton propelling themselves from the second row of the grid into the lead in Australia and China respectively.
Teams including Mercedes want changes to F1’s race-start procedure but Ferrari is pushing back, having adapted its 2026 car after flagging early concerns to governing body the FIA.
Ferrari also hopes to take advantage of a new Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) rule as it looks to hunt down Mercedes. You can read more about that here.
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But perhaps the biggest weapon Ferrari has in its arsenal is a re-energised Hamilton.
As well as being a serial winner, with seven world championships under his belt, Hamilton has in-depth knowledge of how the Mercedes operation works, and was able to maintain its success for an unprecedented period of time.
Not only can Hamilton bring ideas to the table for Ferrari’s development path, he can lean on his past experience to try and guess what Mercedes might do next.
The 41-year-old Briton ended the longest podium drought of his F1 career with a brilliant drive to third place in China. Afterwards, Hamilton stated that a first victory with Ferrari felt closer than ever.
“I definitely feel that I could say that it’s more in sight than ever before. Last year it couldn’t have been further from view,” he said.
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“But I think as you’ve seen, these [Mercedes] guys in qualifying – somehow we were a little bit closer in qualifying yesterday – but in the race trim I think they’ve got four or five tenths on us at the moment.
“That’s a huge step to pick up, both in downforce and efficiency and also power. That’s a huge upgrade that we need to push for. But I really do believe in everyone back in Maranello and that it’s not an impossible feat to overcome. So yeah, forza Ferrari, we’ve just got to keep pushing.”
It is often said in F1 that it is easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted, and this is exactly the position Ferrari finds itself in.
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