Mercedes needed just three more points than Ferrari at the Brazilian Grand Prix to lock down the Formula 1 constructors' world championship, and according to Motorsport.com Italia, that is exactly what they did. The Brackley outfit secured an accolade that had looked inevitable for months, stamping their authority in São Paulo at the end of what turned out to be one of the toughest races of the entire 2026 season for the team.
Mixed track conditions and the tricky transition from the starting Intermediate tyres to Soft slick compounds threw multiple drivers off rhythm. Both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli found themselves wrestling with the machine. Speaking on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show, Mercedes technical director James Allison detailed the precise headache that crippled their drivers' pace.
Even the Ferrari was having such a disastrous race that, despite all our problems, it didn't really look like the red cars could pose a threat to us at any point.
"It wasn't just our two drivers: many, many drivers in the pit lane were reporting the same problem. Max, in particular, expressed himself quite a bit on the subject," Allison stated. He explained that splashing through standing water after leaving the garage with tyres heated to 70 degrees instantly stripped away the ideal surface temperature, leaving the drivers in a brutal fight to get heat back into the rubber.
Both pilots suffered off-track excursions early in their slick tyre stints because the tyres were completely cold. For Antonelli, the situation compounded into disaster following a spin at turn one while defending against Lando Norris, which left his tyres severely flat-spotted and destroyed his rhythm. Once the tyres finally found their operating window, the pace returned, but rain soon struck again in the closing laps.
When the second set of Intermediates went on, both drivers were perhaps too aggressive with the right foot on a track transitioning back to wet, instantly ruining the rear tyres. Yet, despite these compounding struggles with the W17, the world championship was never genuinely under threat.
Barring a single brilliant moment from Lewis Hamilton lasting just the opening lap, the red cars languished behind. Allison delivered a blunt assessment on the team's podcast regarding the opposition: "Even the Ferrari was having such a disastrous race that, despite all our problems, it didn't really look like the red cars could pose a threat to us at any point."
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