Mercedes ‘are back’ declares Toto Wolff after Australian GP one-two but insists his team are in 2026 title battle with Ferrari

Mercedes ‘are back’ declares Toto Wolff after Australian GP one-two but insists his team are in 2026 title battle with Ferrari | F1 News

March 10, 2026:

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has declared his team “are back” after their one-two in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but insists the Silver Arrows have a fight on their hands against Ferrari.

Having been touted as favourites throughout the pre-season after a major regulation change, Mercedes backed up that status as George Russell led home Kimi Antonelli in Melbourne.

The result came after a challenging period for Mercedes under the previous set of regulations, which saw them go four years without a constructors’ title having claimed a remarkable streak of eight successive championships before that.

Wolff said: “Most importantly, there’s so much contentment that I feel in the team at the moment.

“We’ve had such a winning streak with these eight championships and then very difficult years.

“We still won races and finished second in the championship, but a solid one-two where you feel there is a season ahead, that means you can fight for a world championship, that wasn’t for a long time.

“Therefore, you’re probably more grateful when you bounce back like this, having known the difficult years, that you’re just continuing and that’s why I’m very happy for everyone.”

Many expected a procession after Mercedes delivered a dominant front-row lockout in qualifying, but Ferrari were competitive in the early stages as Charles Leclerc overtook Russell at the start and held the lead in the early stages.

It was only a virtual safety car being deployed on lap 11 when Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull broke down that handed back control of the race to Mercedes, who pitted both Russell and Antonelli while Ferrari chose not to bring in Leclerc and Hamilton, who was running between the Mercedes cars in third.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur insisted after the race that the decision had not cost Ferrari, reasoning that Mercedes’ superior pace would have ensured a one-two for the Silver Arrows regardless of whether his cars had pitted under the VSC.

While Mercedes did have a clear pace advantage, Russell twice got past Leclerc in the early stages but on both occasions was immediately overtaken by the Monegasque, leading many to believe Ferrari could have put up more of a fight had they retained track position by pitting on lap 11.

Despite having fresher tyres, Leclerc and Hamilton were unable to make inroads in the second half of the race and finished third and fourth respectively

Wolff said: “When it comes to Ferrari, before the race, people were saying, ‘well, you’re going to disappear in the distance, we’re looking at your long runs’. And that wasn’t the case.

“We knew that they were strong on the starts and that’s what happened. It was an out-and-out battle between Charles and George at the beginning.

“It was a three-way fight at a certain stage between the two Ferraris and George, and eventually Kimi caught up.

“For me, the prevailing feeling is now we have a fight on our hands with Ferrari.

“The worry that we had was that it wasn’t exciting in terms of the fighting, and the boost and the overtake modes made it actually quite interesting to watch, on a track that is particularly difficult for energy, so we’ll see how that goes in Shanghai [at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix].

“But most of all, there’s been a certain degree of contentment that Mercedes is back.”

Sky Sports F1’s Chinese GP schedule

Thursday March 12
5am: Drivers’ Press Conference
8am: Paddock Uncut

Friday March 13
1.05am: F1 Academy Practice
3am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3.30am)*
5.30am: Team Bosses Press Conference*
6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*

Saturday March 14
2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
3am: CHINESE GP SPRINT*
4.30am: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
5.30am: F1 Academy Race 1*
6.30am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday March 15
2.35am: F1 Academy Race 2*
5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
10am: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 heads to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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