At the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP, Mercedes secured its ninth F1 Constructors’ Championship, outscoring its main rival of the season, Ferrari, by an impressive 142-point margin. Led by Team Principal Toto Wolff, with George Russell and newly crowned 2026 F1 Drivers’ Champion Kimi Antonelli behind the wheel of the W17, Mercedes clinched 12 wins across the past 20 rounds of the 2026 F1 season.
The top F1 teams’ Team Principals congratulated Mercedes on their dominant season following the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP and reflected on competing against the Brackley outfit.
Fred Vasseur
Mercedes’ closest competition for the 2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship was Ferrari through the season. The Scuderia held second place in the standings consistently since the beginning of the season and was able to close the performance gap coming out of the summer break.
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur reflected on competing against the 2026 F1 Constructors’ Champion Mercedes and admitted that the Scuderia knew it would be an uphill battle since the season’s opening round in Melbourne. The SF-26 has suffered from a persistent straight-line speed deficit throughout the season compared to Mercedes because of a lack of power.
Nonetheless, Vasseur reflected that with the current chassis that Ferrari has, he is proud of the development the team has done to close the performance gap with Mercedes and is looking forward to Ferrari being more competitive against the Silver Arrows next season.
“I think everybody on the grid wants to win, wants to fight. We are all competitors and we all want to win. When you start the championship, you have this goal. Now we knew from the beginning that it would be difficult for us. We understood from the first straight line. And I think the team did a good job to continue to push, to develop the engine. I think on the chassis side, on the grip limited, we are more than performing. Congratulations to Mercedes and see you next year.”
Laurent Mekies
Meanwhile, Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies recounted how Mercedes arrived at the season opener round in Melbourne with a massive advantage over the grid. The Brackley outfit was able to sweep the first six races of the early season, with George Russell winning the season opener and Kimi Antonelli clinching the following five race victories.
Similar to Vasseur, Mekies also reflected that he was “equally impressed” by Red Bull’s late-season turnaround as he congraulated Mercedes on winning the 2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship
“You know, I think they have done an outstanding job. We all recall how dominant they were at the start of the season. And of course, as you said, we knew they had switched earlier than most. But it’s something to switch earlier than most. It’s something else to convert to lap time, and that’s what they have done. And, you know, the start of the season was more than a second advantage on us. So they have obviously done a very good job, so well done to them. And it’s equally impressive that we have managed to close that gap in half a season.”
Andrea Stella
Finally, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella gave his congratulations to Mercedes for winning the 2026 F1 Constructors’ Championship and spoke on the highly competitive field of the sport. The Woking outfit had entered the 2026 F1 season defending back-to-back Constructors’ Championships in 2024 and 2025, but currently sits fourth in the 2026 standings.
“First of all, I take the opportunity of this question to congratulate Mercedes on winning the Constructors’ Championship. Formula 1 is operating, like I’ve been saying for some time, at a very, very high level, very high standards. To be able to win in this kind of competitive context is a reflection of great work that must have happened at Mercedes. So they deserve to be certainly acknowledged.”
