Mercedes Returns To Glory

Five years is practically a lifetime in Formula One, and a lot, indeed, can happen in five years. Drivers come and go, regulations change, and teams can quickly find themselves at the top (or somewhere in the midfield). For Mercedes (or Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, to be exact), their journey back to the top has been one of evolution. 

At the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix, the Silver Arrows won their ninth Constructors’ Championship, their first since 2021. Though George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth (Lando Norris won at Interlagos, with Verstappen and Hadjar finishing second and third), the result was enough for Mercedes to be crowned champions once again. But to truly appreciate the significance of this achievement, one must look back to when the team last held the title. 

In 2021, Mercedes celebrated its eighth consecutive Constructors’ Championship, completing a remarkable run that began in 2014. That achievement was somewhat overshadowed by the conclusion of the Drivers’ Championship in Abu Dhabi, where Lewis Hamilton lost the title to Max Verstappen in circumstances that have been, and will remain, the most debated in the sport’s history. Unbeknownst to the team at the time, 2021 would also mark the end of its uninterrupted reign over the Constructors' Championship. There was also a major change in driver seats: Valtteri Bottas left Mercedes at the end of the season, and George Russell, who spent three years at Williams, took his place. His arrival coincided with Formula One’s technical regulation changes in 2022. 

That particular technical era wasn’t easy for Mercedes. Russell had the team’s only race win in 2022, while the following season saw the team go winless. 2024 brought relief and improvement, including victories for both Russell and Hamilton, but their consistency simply wasn’t what it had been. Then came the most significant change in the team’s history to date: Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari at the end of 2024, ending one of Formula One’s most successful driver-team partnerships and leaving the Silver Arrows facing a true unknown. 

At the same time, it gave Toto Wolff (the team’s Team Principal, CEO, and co-owner) an opportunity to redefine the team’s future. Rather than searching for an established star to replace Hamilton, Wolff placed his confidence in Kimi Antonelli - a young talent long regarded as one of Mercedes' most promising prospects. Russell, meanwhile, assumed the role of the team’s experienced driver. 

Their first season together was not without difficulties, but Mercedes still finished second in the Constructors’ standings, offering a glimpse of what this new collaboration could provide. 

And what a difference another year would make. 

With the introduction of Formula One's new regulations in 2026, Mercedes possessed both the machinery and driver pairing to return to the forefront of the competition. Antonelli's Drivers' Championship triumph in Mexico City, achieved in only his second Formula One season, was followed just one week later by Mercedes securing the Constructors' crown in Brazil. In many ways, 2026 has been a golden year for the Silver Arrows, not because they simply secured another title, but because they showed their success never depended on one particular driver or pairing. 

As an entire team (the Team Principal, the drivers, the engineers, mechanics, strategists, and countless individuals working behind the scenes) has proven that Mercedes can reinvent itself without abandoning the ambition that once made it Formula One's dominant force… Which also means that any other team is capable of doing the same. 

There’s no guarantee that its latest triumph will mark the beginning of another dominant era for Mercedes. Rivals, like Ferrari and Red Bull, will inevitably respond. And the fight for both Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles in 2027 may prove just as demanding, if not more so, than this year’s double win. In the meantime, Mercedes gets to enjoy celebrating a season that brought them back to the pinnacle of Formula One. Whether they can recreate this year’s successes in 2027 will become clear with time.