Bernie Collins spots Mercedes weakness keeping Formula 1 title race wide open

Formula 1’s title race is far from over, with Bernie Collins convinced three teams – and Max Verstappen – remain genuine contenders in the second half of the season.

According to the former Aston Martin strategist, Mercedes has given its rivals a look-in as Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have been “a bit distracted” by each other.

Bernie Collins explains why the Formula 1 title fight remains open

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Antonelli, who made F1 history at the Japanese Grand Prix when he became the youngest driver to lead the F1 standings, entered the summer break with P1 firmly in his grasp.

The Italian holds a 50-point lead over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, while Russell is a further nine points off the pace. Behind them sit Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris.

Although Mercedes won the opening six rounds of the championship, the team has won only two of the last five, with wins going to Hamilton, Leclerc and more recently Norris.

Momentum has shifted with the teams’ development programmes.

Ferrari brought an extensive package to the Barcelona race that Hamilton won, before heading to Silverstone on the back of its first ADUO engine improvement with Leclerc taking the chequered flag.

McLaren unveiled a significant MCL40 upgrade in Hungary, targeting added downforce and improved balance, and Norris clinched his first win of the season.

Collins believes the F1 development war will see momentum continue to swing throughout the second half of the championship.

“I think this year is going to be about upgrades,” Collins said on Sky’s The F1 Show podcast.

“It’s going to be about who can get on top of these cars, who can get the best out of the cars, the best out of the engines.

“At the moment, as the calendar sets, we’ve done 11 rounds; we’ve got 12 still to go. So there’s still lots and lots of points on the board.”

As things stand, there are 316 points available with the top five in the standings separated by less than 100 points.

Verstappen, in sixth place, is 110 points behind Antonelli, but last season he not only closed a 104-point deficit to Oscar Piastri, but he also beat him by 11 points to finish runner-up.

Collins predicts Formula 1 could see seven drivers fighting for the race wins, the world title, in the second half of the championship after Mercedes left the door open with its early-season tussles.

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“We’ve seen McLaren this weekend at least have a little bit of the upper hand,” she continued.

“And maybe Mercedes have been a bit distracted with each other in some of the earlier races as well.

“So, I think that it’s still all to play for.

“I think you’ve pretty much got three cars, maybe Verstappen as well in that fight, that I think who knows as we go through later races who will be at the front week in, week out.

“And that’s really interesting to watch.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has previously spoken about shutting down the back-and-forth battles between Antonelli and Russell.

That was notable in Barcelona, with the two opening the door for Hamilton to scamper off into the distance.

“So you know after the learning that we had in Barcelona, the kind of mission that we set for today is that we are not going to lose time with each other,” Wolff told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.

“We don’t want any yo-yoing, and then have a Ferrari or a Red Bull breathing down our neck and losing a victory, as happened in Barcelona – without the DNF Kimi would have won the race.

“So, since Barcelona, we would in any case always give preference to the race victory.

“And if it meant that Kimi or George were ahead, this is what we would do. This is a constructors’ championship as much as a drivers’ championship.”

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