Mercedes started the 2026 season flawlessly \u2013 a confident 1-2 finish with their closest challenger finishing 15s behind in Australia, followed by the same result and a maiden victory for Kimi Antonelli in China.<\/p>\n
It looked like we had our favourites for the year but, while the team’s performance has evidently been a step ahead of the rest, reliability struggles have proved an issue and drained their potential points haul. That has allowed their rivals to gradually close the gap and their lead at the top of the Teams’ Championship could have been so much more.<\/p>\n
But how much have Mercedes actually lost out on due to their own issues? The short answer is quite a lot. Mechanical failures and engine concerns have hindered what might have been domination, and they\u2019re not the only ones that have noticed.<\/p>\n
Customer teams have faced the consequences of their inconsistent engine performance too, and drivers at Ferrari<\/a>, McLaren<\/a> and Red Bull<\/a> started to capitalise on their setbacks as the summer break approached.<\/p>\n Here, we dissect Mercedes<\/a>‘ reliability issues and imagine an alternative unblemished reality\u2026<\/p>\n Canada \u2013 Russell (DNF)<\/p>\n Perhaps the most devastating of Russell<\/a>\u2019s misfortunes this season was his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix. It was Round 5, and he hadn\u2019t stood on the top step since the season opener, instead witnessing his teenage team mate thrive with three consecutive wins.<\/p>\n But the Briton came back with a vengeance in Montreal by converting Sprint pole into victory before beating Antonelli<\/a> to another pole position for Sunday\u2019s race. In fact, it was shaping up to be the perfect weekend for him.<\/p>\n The early stages of the Grand Prix saw an exhilarating close battle unfold between the pair as the lead changed hands multiple times \u2013 the rest of the team were likely gritting their teeth at the thought of them clashing, but it was a sign that Russell had found his mojo again.<\/p>\n However, with the win \u2013 or at least P2 \u2013 in his hands, he suffered heartbreak on Lap 30 when a sudden technical issue saw him grind to a halt. Russell\u2019s fury was palpable as he launched his headrest out of the car (which he later apologised for) and stormed away while Antonelli went on to triumph once again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an engine kill that was caused by a failure in the battery, which just suffered a catastrophic failure a third of the way into the race and brought George\u2019s race to an end there,\u201d Mercedes Technical Director James Allison explained<\/a>. \u201cWe can see enough at the end of the race that the battery was fairly unhappy, some heat damage there.\u201d<\/p>\n Estimated points lost: 25<\/p>\n Barcelona-Catalunya \u2013 Antonelli (DNF)<\/p>\n It\u2019s been repeated time and again that no one predicted<\/a> Antonelli \u2013 a driver who made a host of mistakes whilst finding the limits in his rookie season \u2013 would succeed in such a manner as he has in 2026.<\/p>\n He arrived at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya having claimed five wins on the trot, and it didn\u2019t look like he was going to slow down any time soon. Nevertheless, he sat out of FP1 for reserve Fred Vesti and couldn\u2019t recover the lost time, ultimately qualifying third and admitting that he was \u201coverdriving the car\u201d<\/a> to compensate for not feeling comfortable.<\/p>\n The Grand Prix produced a much-improved Antonelli as he bided his time before charging past Russell to snatch second place with five laps to go. Up next was Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, but he had built a considerable lead and it seemed an impossible task to catch him on the final laps.<\/p>\n Therefore, P2 was practically confirmed for Antonelli \u2013 all he had to do was bring the car home. In another unexpected turn of events, an electrical shutdown caused his first DNF of the season and took his potential points haul from 18 to zero in disastrous fashion.<\/p>\n While Team Principal Toto Wolff labelled Mercedes\u2019 reliability \u201cnot good enough\u201d<\/a>, the 19-year-old simply concluded that he felt \u201ca bit empty\u201d<\/a> to lose out so suddenly, with the incident allowing both Russell and Ferrari\u2019s Hamilton to reduce his advantage in the standings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Estimated points lost: 18<\/p>\n Great Britain \u2013 Antonelli (P15)<\/p>\n A few weeks on, Mercedes had returned to their usual double podium finish, with Russell winning in Austria and Antonelli taking third. There, Max Verstappen<\/a> emerged as their closest contender \u2013 another indication that given the opportunity, any one of the other top three teams could pounce and damage their title ambitions.<\/p>\n It was Antonelli who was keen to win again after less than ideal weekends in Spain and Austria, and he got off to a strong start by pipping Hamilton to victory in the Silverstone Sprint.<\/p>\n Ferrari had found their form but the Italian was able to add to his pole position tally ahead of Charles Leclerc<\/a> and Hamilton, both of whom soon dashed his hopes by sailing past on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix. While Antonelli eventually reclaimed P2 from the Briton, he had to extend his stint to give himself the best chance against long-time race leader Leclerc.<\/p>\n Their split strategies pointed towards a fantastic battle for the win, and sure enough, Antonelli made the most of his fresher tyres and went on the chase. Leclerc\u2019s advantage was coming down lap by lap before a left front wheel shield failure undid the Mercedes man\u2019s race \u2013 he pitted twice more as the team tried to solve the issue, and was then handed a five-second time penalty for track limits violations.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tricky to say whether he would\u2019ve overtaken the Monegasque, but the combination of his later pit stop, obvious pace and success the previous day suggests that a minimum of P2 was within his reach. Instead, he was classified P15 in a race where Mercedes should\u2019ve had both drivers on the podium.<\/p>\n “We would have caught Charles six laps to the end with a huge tyre offset,\u201d Wolff admitted<\/a>. \u201cBut, you know, it’s a mechanical sport. These things can happen.”<\/p>\n Estimated points lost: 18<\/p>\n Hungary \u2013 Russell (P7)<\/p>\n It took longer than usual for the drivers to get used to the challenging conditions at the Hungaroring this season, but someone who suffered more pain than most was Russell. Now 11 rounds in, the Silver Arrows\u2019 rivals had made significant gains, leaving the Briton searching for answers after he was resigned to start from P6.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t helped by a late yellow flag and unexpected water leak in Q3, and with the circuit being notoriously difficult to overtake on, Russell was targeting damage control. But even that was too much to ask \u2013 on the opening lap, his W17 went into anti-stall and he had to watch the majority zoom past, eventually ending up as low down the order as P21.<\/p>\n From there, he steadily improved back through the field and crossed the line in seventh place. Meanwhile, Antonelli took his ninth Grand Prix podium of the season, albeit with a notable deficit to McLaren\u2019s Lando Norris<\/a>.<\/p>\n