Toto Wolff names Ferrari as Mercedes’ biggest F1 title threat after Silverstone

Toto Wolff believes Ferrari will be Mercedes’ biggest threat for the rest of the season after the Scuderia claimed two wins from the last three Grands Prix.

Mercedes’ lead in the constructors’ championship, though, was only reduced by a single point, from 79 points to 78.

Toto Wolff expects Ferrari to challenge Mercedes for both championships

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Mercedes dominated the early rounds of the F1 2026 season, living up to pre-season predictions, as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli claimed six wins on the trot to sit 1-2 in the drivers’ standings.

But while the W17 clearly had pace, reliability issues hurt the team.

Russell felt the brunt of that in the early rounds, before championship leader Antonelli recorded two non-scores in the last three races. He retired in Barcelona due to a battery issue, while a broken wheel shield cost him in Britain.

Both races were won by Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag in Barcelona with an inspired strategy call, before Charles Leclerc won in Silverstone.

Although there was widespread talk ahead of the British Grand Prix that Ferrari’s SF-26, with its smaller turbo, would struggle at the power-hungry circuit, Leclerc was leading when Antonelli broke his wheel shield.

The unexpected result has Wolff predicting Ferrari could be a continued threat to Mercedes’ ambition of a championship double.

“We need to look at ourselves,” the Mercedes team principal declared to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media at Silverstone.

“They said before the weekend that they were going to be lacking energy at this track. They haven’t.

“They were a strong competitor, and this is to be expected now for the rest of the season.”

Ferrari’s victories, though, have done very little to change the makeup of the constructors’ championship, with Mercedes’ advantage reduced by just a solitary point.

The drivers’ championship is a different story.

F1 2026: The season’s winners and losers

The results of the F1 2026 championship

The F1 2026 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Antonelli’s lead is down to 25 points over Russell, with the Ferrari drivers having closed in. Hamilton is 32 points behind the Italian, and Leclerc is a further 39 back.

“We lost a lot of points, but the momentum is there,” Antonelli said. “I think this weekend we showed the speed, and we showed as well, what the potential can be.

“When I’m in a good place, when you know also we’re in a good place with a team with a car, we showed what we are capable of, so I think that the momentum is still there.

“Actually it makes the fire grow even more, to go out there at Spa and try to do even better.”

As for Russell, he insists he’s not even thinking about Ferrari and the championship.

“I’m not even thinking about it, to be honest, because I’ve got my own things I need to deal with and improve upon on my own side,” he said.

“I left Monaco three races ago 68 points behind and I leave here 25 points behind.

“So yeah, I would take it, but it won’t continue like that forever unless the results, the performance, gets better.”

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