Jul.6 (GMM) Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits the team’s growing reliability concerns are becoming a threat to its 2026 title hopes after Kimi Antonelli’s latest issue at Silverstone.
Antonelli appeared to be mounting a serious challenge to eventual winner Charles Leclerc before running over a kerb and suffering pace-destroying damage.
Wolff, however, insisted the Italian youngster was not to blame. “The fact is – this part shouldn’t break.”
The problem follows Mercedes’ recent battery reliability problems and came as Ferrari underlined its resurgence with another victory.
“You can’t win a world championship with three retirements,” Wolff admitted.
“Without a doubt, everything is still to play for in the championship.”
Antonelli’s misfortune allowed teammate George Russell to reduce the gap between the pair to 25 points, although the Briton said the standings accurately reflect their performances so far.
“Based on my performances and based on his performances over the course of these nine races, I think probably a 25-point gap is in his favour, is probably correct,” Russell said.
“He has done a better job than me this year to this point, so he deserves to be ahead of me.
“Whether it should be 25 points, whether it should be 10 points, whether it should be 35 points is a debate, but in that ballpark between 10 and 30 points behind is probably about fair.”
Russell also admitted Mercedes still lacks the pace to sustain a championship challenge.
“If I’m honest, I’m not going to compete for the championship if the performance stays that way. So I’m not satisfied with this weekend.”
Antonelli was philosophical despite putting his recent five-race winning streak firmly now in the past.
“We had an incredible run with five consecutive wins and I think everything was going too well for me.
“I was going for the win here and I think we had a real chance of winning it. I was within striking distance of him, it’s a shame I couldn’t even try.
“The important thing is to come back stronger.”
The 19-year-old also insisted he would not change his approach despite the setback.
“I don’t want to race thinking about the championship. I was 66 points ahead three races ago and now I’m 25.
“I’ve had two retirements, I’ve lost a lot of points, and that’s why I need to race freely, without worrying about anything else.”
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