135 points. That’s Mercedes’ total after three races of what was supposed to be Formula 1’s great leveling act.
Their nearest rival? Ferrari, sitting 45 points behind at 90. To put that gap in perspective: Mercedes have already scored more points than Aston Martin managed in the entire 2025 season (129 points). They’re on pace to finish with over 1,000 constructor points if this continues — a figure that would break every record in the sport’s history.
The 2026 regulations promised chaos. Active aero, massive electrical power increases, shorter cars, deleted MGU-H systems — the biggest technical reset since the hybrid era began in 2014. Instead, we got Mercedes doing what Mercedes do best: turning regulatory chaos into clinical dominance.
The numbers don’t lie
Three wins from three races. Six podiums from six possible slots. Russell and Antonelli have finished outside the top four exactly once (Russell P4 at Japan, which still scored 12 points).
When your “worst” result is fourth place, you’re not just winning — you’re operating in a different category entirely.
Compare that to Red Bull Racing, the team everyone expected to bounce back after a difficult 2025. Verstappen and Hadjar have combined for 16 points. Sixteen. Verstappen alone scored more than that in individual races last season. Now he’s qualifying P11 and finishing behind Pierre Gasly.
'The gap to P1 is... wait, let me recalculate this. No, that's right. Forty-seven seconds.'
— Race engineer, Japan GP lap 45
Unverified. Our paddock sources are unreliable at best.
History repeating
This feels familiar in the worst possible way. Remember 2014, when Mercedes figured out the new hybrid regulations while everyone else was still trying to make their engines start? The W05 won 16 of 19 races that season. The constructor championship was over by July.
Now we have the W17 — if that’s what they’re calling it — doing victory laps while teams like Aston Martin and Williams are still figuring out how to extract performance from cars that look fast but drive like they’re pulling caravans.
The cruel irony is that Mercedes weren’t even the pre-season favorites. Most paddock whispers pointed to Ferrari’s early testing pace, or Red Bull’s experience with complex energy systems. Instead, Toto Wolff’s team have turned up with a car that makes the new regulations look like child’s play.
What this means
Twenty-one races remain on the 2026 calendar. If Mercedes continue at this pace, they’ll clinch the constructors’ championship sometime around the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. That would tie the record for earliest constructor title, set by themselves in 2014.
But here’s the thing that should worry every other team: Mercedes aren’t just winning on pace. They’re winning on strategy, reliability, and driver performance. Russell looks like the complete package he always threatened to become. Antonelli is 19 years old and driving like he’s been doing this for a decade.
This isn’t a fluke run of good fortune. This is a team that understood the assignment better than anyone else and executed it flawlessly. The gap isn’t closing — if anything, it’s widening.
The 2026 regulations were supposed to shake up the order. Instead, they’ve created the most dominant start to a season since the sport’s modern era began. 135 points after three races isn’t just impressive — it’s historically unprecedented.
We wanted unpredictability. We got Mercedes being Mercedes again. The only question now is whether anyone can figure out how to fight back before this championship becomes a procession.
