Toto Wolff, director of Mercedes, has opened the door to reconsidering his team’s strategy regarding the free competition between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. This decision comes at a time when Lewis Hamilton has become a serious contender for the title after a very promising start to the 2026 season, with six consecutive victories before the series pause in Barcelona.
Despite the impressive start, Mercedes faced reliability issues and points losses in the last grands prix, including the retirements of Russell and Antonelli in Canada and Barcelona, respectively. Thus, Hamilton now sits 41 points behind the first position, occupied by Antonelli, and nine points ahead of Russell in the championships.
Wolff has expressed that Mercedes could have fought for victory in Barcelona if Antonelli had been able to compete without the distractions of racing against his teammate. The team principal estimated that the struggle between the two Mercedes cost them “five or six seconds of race time,” which necessitates discussing future team strategies.
“When we are in an internal dispute, it can be fun, but if there is a rival and it’s for the victory, maybe you should think about letting the faster driver go,” said Wolff, who assured that internal discussions will be established to address this issue.
Antonelli, who finished third in the standings, followed Russell and Hamilton in Barcelona, without the team intervening in this battle, despite warning about the risk of penalties for exceeding track limits. In the last laps, Antonelli managed to overtake Russell, but at that moment, Hamilton had already increased his lead ahead.
After a spectacular start to the season, Hamilton has returned to his best form, with podiums in China, Monaco, and Canada, culminating with a victory in Barcelona. Wolff, with over ten years working with Hamilton, is aware of his ability to fight for the title, and prefers to avoid direct competition between them.
The double world champion, Nico Rosberg, has commented that during his time on the team, the priority was to secure victories. Emphasizing that Mercedes needs to be stricter in the management of its team orders, Rosberg has indicated that the moment to prioritize the interests of the team over internal competitions becomes evident when there is a risk of losing a victory.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
