‘Rather have this than slow and reliable’ - How Mercedes views its F1 Achilles’ heel
Toto Wolff would rather have a fast and unreliable car than the opposite, but admits Mercedes must improve its biggest weakness.
Toto Wolff has admitted the Mercedes Formula 1 team needs to sort out its reliability woes, believing his side should have won every grand prix in 2026.
Mercedes has largely dominated the 2026 F1 season and has won seven of the opening nine rounds of the campaign, suffering defeats only to Ferrari in Barcelona and Silverstone.
While Lewis Hamilton won on merit in Spain, Ferrari’s latest victory at the British Grand Prix was aided by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s wheel shield breaking, which forced him to make unscheduled pit stops late in the race and took him out of contention for the win.
That was the latest example of reliability woes striking Mercedes, with Antonelli forced out of second place with an electrical problem in Barcelona, and George Russell retiring from the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix due to a similar issue.
While Mercedes team principal Wolff acknowledges the German manufacturer has to improve its biggest weakness of 2026, he is content with the fact his squad boasts the fastest car.
“We are such a performance organisation on the chassis and engine side, we want to squeeze everything out,” Wolff told media including Crash.net at Silverstone.
“I'd rather dial back a little bit something that is really good, and fix some of the reliability gremlins, than run behind performance. So far, we've won six races out of eight? I lost track. And I'd rather have this than slow and reliable.”
After Wolff was informed it was actually seven victories from nine races, the Austrian replied: “Should have been nine from nine.”
As well as winning seven of the nine grands prix so far, Mercedes has taken every pole position this season. Its only defeats in qualifying have come at the hands of McLaren and Ferrari in sprint qualifying sessions.
Antonelli’s nightmare at Silverstone has seen Russell close the gap to his team-mate in the drivers’ championship down to 25 points, with Hamilton a further seven points adrift in third place.
Mercedes has a healthier buffer in the constructors’ championship, leading Ferrari by 78 points.
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