Have Mercedes Already Sealed the Championship?

It was an ominous sight, early on a Sunday morning watching the Mercedes cars qualify in Australia. Rumours had them as the favourites going into the 2026 season. An engine that would pull them ahead of the pack. Maybe it was naive of me but I wasn't expecting them to have such a huge advantage.

It hasn't been smooth sailing for the team, however. We've seen big crashes from Antonelli, and fines for the team from just the first race. It wasn't the well-oiled machine that Mercedes had been during the dominant Clearly there are still issues that need to be ironed out. So, they don't look entirely formidable just yet.

The next two races, China and Japan, showed that Mercedes were not a one-hit wonder. They were able to pull lap times that no one else could match. The gaps in qualifying seemed like an impossible mountain for the teams to climb. No one had an answer for their pace.

The race starts for the Silver Arrows does leave something to desire, though. Unlike Ferrari, who are incredibly quick off the line, Mercedes don't seem to have the same advantage. They get bogged down when the lights go out. Their poor start allow the Ferrari cars to easily pass them. Mercedes raw pace means that they can overtake easily with minimum tyre wear. So right now, race starts aren't a huge concern for the team.

Are both championships wrapped up right now, though? The first three races would definitely make you think so. But with 19 races left, there's a lot that could happen.

The unexpected April break in the calendar is giving all of the teams a chance to play catch up. They'll be back at the factories going through the data. Trying to find where they can make gains and work on the next upgrades package because he development race this season will be huge.

A new regulation cycle allow for quick learning and big changes to bring more performance. For the Mercedes powered teams in particular, they're going to be combing through every inch of their data to try and understand how to get closer to the kind of performance that the works team has.

I do think there's a big chance that the likes of McLaren and potentially Ferrari will be able to take a few steps to get closer to Mercedes. Enough to challenge for a championship? I'm not sure.

I think both teams will be able to bag a win or two throughout the season but there's a pretty big mountain to climb to catch Mercedes. The championship will definitely get a lot more interesting if more teams manage to find a way to battle with Mercedes. So, here's hoping that the five week break will help them all find more performance.