Antonelli storms to eight wins as Mercedes sweep 11 of first 15 races in 2026 F1 season
Antonelli storms to eight wins as Mercedes sweep 11 of first 15 races in 2026 F1 season
Mercedes have turned the 2026 Formula 1 campaign into a near-private affair, with rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli and team-mate George Russell combining for 11 victories across the opening 15 rounds of the championship.
Antonelli's record-breaking debut year
The headline story of the season so far is the sheer dominance of 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli, who has stood on the top step of the podium eight times. The Italian kicked off his winning run in China on 15 March and never looked back, adding Japan, Miami, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Spain to his tally.
Of Antonelli's eight triumphs, the Monaco Grand Prix on 7 June stands out as a marathon — the teenager covered 78 laps in a race that lasted 2:23:31.243, the longest of the season by some distance.
Russell's trio of victories
George Russell, the more experienced of the two Silver Arrows drivers, claimed the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 8 March with a time of 1:23:06.801, the fastest winning race of the year. He added further wins in Austria (28 June) and Azerbaijan (26 September) to bring his personal haul to three.
The challengers: Ferrari and McLaren strike back
Mercedes' stranglehold was briefly broken by the chasing pack. Lewis Hamilton delivered Ferrari's first win of the year at the Barcelona-Catalunya round on 14 June, while his Scuderia team-mate Charles Leclerc took the chequered flag at his home British Grand Prix on 5 July.
McLaren's Lando Norris proved the only other multiple winner, claiming back-to-back victories in Hungary (26 July) and the Netherlands (23 August) in a late-summer charge that hinted at a closer fight to come.
2026 race-by-race winners
| Round | Grand Prix | Date | Winner | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 08 Mar | George Russell | Mercedes | 58 | 1:23:06.801 |
| 2 | China | 15 Mar | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 56 | 1:33:15.607 |
| 3 | Japan | 29 Mar | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 53 | 1:28:03.403 |
| 4 | Miami | 03 May | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 57 | 1:33:19.273 |
| 5 | Canada | 24 May | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 68 | 1:28:15.758 |
| 6 | Monaco | 07 Jun | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 78 | 2:23:31.243 |
| 7 | Barcelona-Catalunya | 14 Jun | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 66 | 1:32:28.105 |
| 8 | Austria | 28 Jun | George Russell | Mercedes | 71 | 1:26:37.979 |
| 9 | Great Britain | 05 Jul | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 52 | 1:27:11.335 |
| 10 | Belgium | 19 Jul | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 44 | 1:24:42.479 |
| 11 | Hungary | 26 Jul | Lando Norris | McLaren | 70 | 1:39:56.180 |
| 12 | Netherlands | 23 Aug | Lando Norris | McLaren | 72 | 2:04:44.859 |
| 13 | Italy | 06 Sep | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 53 | 1:51:15.281 |
| 14 | Spain | 13 Sep | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 57 | 1:34:23.754 |
| 15 | Azerbaijan | 26 Sep | George Russell | Mercedes | 51 | 1:38:02.143 |
Win count at the 15-race mark
- Mercedes: 11 wins (Kimi Antonelli 8, George Russell 3)
- Ferrari: 2 wins (Lewis Hamilton 1, Charles Leclerc 1)
- McLaren: 2 wins (Lando Norris 2)
With the championship battle shaped by Antonelli's remarkable consistency and Russell's steel at the front, Mercedes hold a commanding advantage heading deeper into the 2026 calendar, whilst Ferrari and McLaren search for the form to mount a sustained title challenge.