(Motorsport-Total.com) – What role can Ferrari, McLaren, or even Red Bull still play in the fight for the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship? After Mercedes won all of the first six Grands Prix of the year, the picture in the last races before the summer break was much more balanced.
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Mercedes has “only” won two of the last five championship races, Ferrari also won twice, and McLaren recently celebrated the first Grand Prix win of the year in Hungary. Therefore, some are wondering whether the Silver Arrows should commit to one driver in the fight for the drivers’ title in the second half of the season.
Logically, that would have to be championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The Italian currently has a 50-point lead over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, while teammate George Russell is already 59 points behind. But Mercedes still does not want to hear about team orders.
“The principle is very simple,” reveals deputy team principal Bradley Lord and explains: “If a Mercedes can win the race, a Mercedes must win the race – and that has top priority. The team comes first.”
“The Constructors’ Championship is the main focus and the team’s primary goal,” emphasizes Lord, who explains: “Of course, we want to win both championships. And we create the best chances for that by bringing two cars to the finish as often as possible – and in the highest possible positions we can achieve.”
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Lord warns: Championship can still completely turn around
Therefore, internally at this point in time, they are not yet thinking about team orders with regard to the championship. Although Russell is clearly behind Antonelli in the championship at the summer break, Lord explains that the Briton should not be written off.
In the past, there have often been situations where it was assumed “there was only one possible championship winner – and then the situation completely reversed within three races,” emphasizes Lord.
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In fact, only in 2025 was Lando Norris temporarily 34 points behind his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ championship. Nevertheless, he became world champion at the end of the year, while Piastri finished only third in the championship behind Max Verstappen.
“We are only halfway through the season,” Lord reminds. Therefore, it is still “much too early to even think in this direction,” he makes clear. This does not exclude that at some point the time could come when Mercedes will commit to one driver in the title fight, according to the deputy team principal.
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But this will not happen in the first races after the summer break.