2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Yes. Even Bottas used to beat Lewis a few times in a season. Especially when setup directions were wrong.

Russell is not Hamilton.

I see you ignored rest of my post.

Thread topic: 2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. The rest of your post is off topic.

[venkyhere]

I didn't write off George or say Kimi will win the championship. I simply think Kimi is just 19 years of age, and his massive potential is already showing in similar ways to superstars of the past. It is like 2016 Red Bull imo. Ricciardo won the points battle, but everybody could see the star in the making in the other garage. Likewise, Russell might come away with the points lead (and title) this year, but everybody can see the star in the other garage.

Bingo. I was about to type this, you beat me to it.

I think posters here know when to take certain comments seriously and especially by some folks, on this thread. Internet is definitely a place.
Kimi is the same driver that was written off in the second half of last year to the point that Toto was frustrated of his lack of pace. If Max getting out qualified by Hadjar is not Max, it was car, regulations, war in the middle east etc., then how is George having a bad weekend makes Kimi better? Let's have some rationality yeh. 19 years is no guarantee that there is a bottomless bucket of talent in there. If there are drivers still going well in their 40s, a driver in 28 is too old against a 19 years old? Max cannot show his talent because these cars in the current regulations doesn't reward those exceptional cornering performance, but that's still some how a great yardstick to measure Kimi's talent against George? I know you guys don't like George and come to this thread when there are these rare moments where Kimi outperforms George. But hopefully we can have better comments here.

I don't know why a post which says "the talent is there to challenge the main guy" about a teenager is getting people like you to grab your flamethrowers. Yes, internet is definitely a place. (btw nobody said 'kimi is better').

[SB15]

Kimi's most impressive skillset isn't even his qualifying pace, but rather his explosive race pace. Now I agree with Toto, Kimi is only 19 years old and I wouldn't put too much pressure on him either for a WDC run and let's not forget that Titanium Dioxide meme especially during the European stint.

As much as I want to believe, I think it's far too early to back Kimi for a WDC push because consistency does matter.

[AR3-GP]

Kimi's most impressive skillset isn't even his qualifying pace, but rather his explosive race pace. Now I agree with Toto, Kimi is only 19 years old and I wouldn't put too much pressure on him either for a WDC run and let's not forget that Titanium Dioxide meme especially during the European stint.

As much as I want to believe, I think it's far too early to back Kimi for a WDC push because consistency does matter.

Yes I agree with his decision to take the pressure off of him, but that doesn't mean he should feed the narrative that the "wrong" Mercedes driver is in front.

Russell was slower all weekend in 1 lap and race sim. There's no need to talk about a setup issue (Bradley Lord said the setups were the same, and Russell only had minor front wing adjustment) or a lap he didn't do in FP3 because it doesn't allow people to see that Antonelli did it fair and square.

Then you've got folks above saying Antonelli is Bottas.

[f1isgood]

Antonelli is already taking the shine off Russell if at all it existed to begin with. Russell likely only has this year to win a title against Kimi.

[MB_Racer]

Solid job! Kimi’s gonna be a problem. I don’t like the fact that Mercedes were fiddling around GR’s setup before qualifying. Thats 2 compromised weekends in a row.

Mercedes wasn't "fiddling with GR's setup". GR saw that Kimi Antonelli was quicker than him all weekend, and wanted the car changed again at the last minute to beat him.

There's a very strange dynamic going on at Mercedes. I noticed after China that Wolff was keen to redirect any idea of an Antonelli championship campaign. After FP3 today, Button was asking Toto whether or not Kimi's win in China gave him the confident to drive so well this weekend. Wolff's answer was that Russell actually made a mistake on his final FP3 lap and would have been up there.

Why bring up Russell when asked a question about Antonelli? Also, Antonelli was quicker on all of the runs during FP3 by 2-3 tenths, not just the final run. Antonelli was also quicker by 2 tenths in the race sims on Friday. This is the same gap as qualifying. The gap is the gap all weekend aside from a few mistakes on the soft runs by Antonelli in FP1/2.

Then after qualifying, Toto immediately went to Russell's "setup mistake", which is just covering for the guy. The bigger picture is the driver who was positioned as "lead" , was slower all weekend.

My opinion is things already start to get complicated at Mercedes. They planned for Russell to be the lead driver and win the championship while Antonelli "learns". (sensible since he has more experience). But ultimately Kimi Antonelli is too quick to play a supporting role and it will put pressure on Mercedes leadership.

This should not be surprising to anyone who followed Kimi Antonelli's career and what Mercedes was learning about him during the TPC test. In Russell's 2nd and 3rd season in F1, he was being matched by Latifi on race pace. Even the older Hamilton was exposing Russell's weakness in 2022-2024...Antonelli already had better race pace than Russell in a couple of the races last year as a rookie (Jeddah, Imola, Qatar, Mexico, Las Vegas, Brazil, etc). Antonelli was also catching Russell at the end in Australia this year, and dismissed Russell's efforts to catch him in China.

Each time people are looking for excuses to say it's not real...Sorry but if you've got 7 years in F1 and you still can't beat the allegations when you finally got a dominant car, then they're probably true. Antonelli is going to overtake Russell. It's already happening.

I almost always agree with you, but on this one, absolutely not… You’re blowing things out of proportion.

Toto and Kimi’s dad were both very clear after KA’s victory. Sure, he did everything right, but he’s still too young, makes too many mistakes, and doesn’t stand a chance against GR for the title yet.

Like they said, no pressure on Kimi — he’s too young and will need a lot of time to compete against GR. I also agree with them; these are just facts. GR is now so experienced and basically never makes mistakes anymore.

Toto is also trying to remove the pressure from Kimi because he’s not ready yet to fight for a title.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Kimi, but I think what Toto and Kimi’s dad said after the race in China is a no-brainer.

[AR3-GP]

I almost always agree with you, but on this one, absolutely not… You’re blowing things out of proportion.

Toto and Kimi’s dad were both very clear after KA’s victory. Sure, he did everything right, but he’s still too young, makes too many mistakes, and doesn’t stand a chance against GR for the title yet.

Like they said, no pressure on Kimi — he’s too young and will need a lot of time to compete against GR. I also agree with them; these are just facts. GR is now so experienced and basically never makes mistakes anymore.

Toto is also trying to remove the pressure from Kimi because he’s not ready yet to fight for a title.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Kimi, but I think what Toto and Kimi’s dad said after the race in China is a no-brainer.

I am not saying there is any sabotage or team orders. I was just observing that Wolff seems to be very particular with his words on the TV. The motivations can be simple, as you say.

but then with a car like this and the only competition is your teammate...I don't think it really matters.

[MB_Racer]

I almost always agree with you, but on this one, absolutely not… You’re blowing things out of proportion.

Toto and Kimi’s dad were both very clear after KA’s victory. Sure, he did everything right, but he’s still too young, makes too many mistakes, and doesn’t stand a chance against GR for the title yet.

Like they said, no pressure on Kimi — he’s too young and will need a lot of time to compete against GR. I also agree with them; these are just facts. GR is now so experienced and basically never makes mistakes anymore.

Toto is also trying to remove the pressure from Kimi because he’s not ready yet to fight for a title.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Kimi, but I think what Toto and Kimi’s dad said after the race in China is a no-brainer.

I am not saying there is any sabotage or team orders. I was just observing that Wolff seems to be very particular with his words on the TV. The motivations can be simple, as you say.

Ok, I see your second point.

Watching Toto talk again about the setup on GR’s car, he does seems very annoyed…

I believe it’s mainly because he wants perfection within the team and minimal or no avoidable mistakes. I think he knows that, unfortunately, some other teams will close the gap, and that points are very important right now for the Constructors’ Championship.

Yet, I could be completely wrong about Toto, and your point would be very worrying for our team.

[AR3-GP]

Ok, I see your second point.

Watching Toto talk again about the setup on GR’s car, he does seems very annoyed…

I believe it’s mainly because he wants perfection within the team and minimal or no avoidable mistakes. I think he knows that, unfortunately, some other teams will close the gap, and that points are very important right now for the Constructors’ Championship.

Yet, I could be completely wrong about Toto, and your point would be very worrying for our team.

Well for sure, if there is any chance that Mclaren comes back into the championship, then it is simpler for Mercedes if 1 driver is consistently in front of the other. My hunch is there will be in-fighting at Mercedes no matter what, so they will want to work hard to maintain their advantage such that it doesn't get complicated like Mclaren in the last 2 years.

[Lasssept]

[avantman]

if at all it existed to begin with.

Very fair remark

[Lasssept]

[AR3-GP]

Brutal speed from Kimi. If George hadn't cooked his tires, as usual like I've been telling you for the last year, then he would have been able to stay out like Kimi. Kimi won because he kept his tires under him in dirty air, and didn't have to pit before the safety car. Russell asked to pit because his tires were dead, a regular occurrence.

[OverheatedTurbo]

Very impressive drive by Kimi with a bit of luck too!!! As for GR, I’m a loss for words, but it is a long season ahead. The starts are an issue that Mercedes need to address if it’s possible.

[SB15]

I don't think George would've been matching Kimi's pace today even with the proper setup tweak.... It was just sensational!