Mercedes equal Ferrari's record 251 F1 engine wins as Antonelli triumphs in Madrid
Mercedes draw level with Ferrari on 251 engine victories
Kimi Antonelli's victory at the inaugural Madrid Grand Prix has pulled Mercedes level with Ferrari on 251 Formula 1 engine wins, setting up a likely record-breaking moment at the next race in Baku.
The 20-year-old Italian didn't exactly deserve to win on Sunday — the driver who did, according to The Athletic's analysis, was the “very fast” Lando Norris, who fell on the wrong side of timing when the race's virtual safety car period ended. Had Norris converted his stunning speed into victory, Mercedes still would have gone to 251, since the total includes all races won by both factory and customer engine programs.
A record four decades in the making
The milestone carries deep historical weight. Two years before his death in 1988, Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari won a political battle he personally found very important — to get F1 to return to using naturally aspirated engines, including V12s. Ferrari was keen on the change for two reasons: his team had failed under the turbocharged rules that McLaren-TAG-Porsche and McLaren-Honda had mastered as the 1980s wore on, and Enzo still viewed Ferrari as “essentially an engine manufacturer.”
At Ferrari's Maranello factory, it was a source of immense pride that the team wrestled back the mantle for most F1 wins for an engine builder when it moved ahead of Ford's 176 total at the 2004 United States GP. Ferrari held that record — now at 251 after Charles Leclerc's Silverstone victory — ever since, until Mercedes' surge.
What stands out is the rate of Mercedes' modern-era dominance. Since the 2004 U.S. GP, Ferrari has added just 76 more engine wins. Mercedes? 208. The totals also differ in composition: only one of Ferrari's vast total came from a team other than its works squad (Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari-powered victory for Toro Rosso in the 2008 Italian GP), while Mercedes' 251 comprises the combined totals from four teams — its works operations of the 1950s and the present day, plus McLaren, Brawn GP (now Mercedes) and Racing Point (now Aston Martin).
Antonelli on course for history
Antonelli, 20, is well on course to smash the record for youngest F1 world champion, currently held by Vettel at 23 years and 134 days, set in 2010.
Ferrari's widening drought
For Ferrari, the picture is bleak. Lewis Hamilton, after his first retirement of the year, effectively conceded the 2026 title fight, saying: “there's no stopping (Antonelli) or Mercedes this year.”
Ferrari's streak without a title of either kind will hit 19 years in 2027 — already three years longer than the previous biggest gap between sealing either F1 title (the 16 years between its 1983 and 1999 constructors' championships), and closing in on Ferrari's record 21-year stretch between Jody Scheckter's 1979 drivers' crown and Michael Schumacher's in 2000.
“That suggests a far deeper problem than just not producing F1's best engines,” the newsletter noted.