Why Mercedes' F1 2026 driver fights may not last

Mercedes thinks it may have to 'put the handbrake on' giving Kimi Antonelli and George Russell total freedom to race each other in Formula 1 this season.

Despite some intense battles between the drivers in both the Canadian Grand Prix sprint and main race, which included them nearly coming to blows several times, Mercedes elected to steer clear of any team orders last weekend.

The only message that came from the pitwall during the race was alerting both drivers that they needed to "tidy up" their battles otherwise there could be the need for intervention.

But while Mercedes wants to allow Russell and Antonelli to fight among themselves with equal opportunities, team principal Toto Wolff said that circumstances could force it into a change of policy.

This is for two reasons. The first is that in fighting so hard for position, including their minor collision in the Canada sprint and some off-track moments in the main race, they risk a retirement.

Wolff cited Antonelli's lock-up early in the Canadian GP, when the championship leader made a mistake and nearly slid into the back of Russell at the final chicane, as evidence of how close the pair came to things going wrong.

"Kimi tucking back in and locking the tyres could have ended up in a double-DNF," said Wolff.

"That's not because of overaggressive driving with each other. It is simply by a mistake.

"So it's important to analyse the race and discuss with the drivers whether they felt it was a bit close.

"And if that is the case, it is how we can avoid these very, very tough situations or, let's say, situations where we deem it a little bit too close."

But the other issue that could trigger a change of mindset from Mercedes is the risk that in allowing the pair to fight, the door is opened to rivals making up time.

One of the quirks of the current rules is that when cars are battling for position the time loss is exacerbated compare to previous years.

This is as a result of the altered braking and acceleration phases to defend and attack meaning that harvesting and deployment is not optimised, which costs laptime.

So if drivers end up doing this and losing tenths of a second per lap to rivals behind, then it does not make sense to keep them battling and open the door to another team challenging for victory.

And this could become even more of a problem if other teams are closer to Mercedes in pure pace terms.

Wolff said: "We had a pace advantage that when they were driving behind each other, we were going half a second quicker than everybody behind us. But there could well be times when we are not.

"When they were fighting we were losing a second to all the others. So we had the gap, we had the margin, and then it's easy to accept that they are fighting to a certain degree. But obviously that's not going to be always the case.

"So as much as we look very sportsmanlike allowing it, there could be a situation where we would maybe turn it down a notch."

Time for review

The fights between Russell and Antonelli in Canada were spectacular and intense, with both drivers revelling in the experience.

While Russell ended up disappointed after a power unit problem that caused his retirement - Mercedes has since explained this was caused by battery failure and heat damage - he said the opening stages of the race were truly memorable.

"I loved it. I thought it was great," he said. "I've not had a battle like this in years. I haven't seen a battle like this probably since Lewis [Hamilton] and Nico [Rosberg] in Bahrain 2014, and these new cars allow you to do that.

"These new engines allow you to do that. I don't know why anybody wants to change them."

Antonelli added: "It was a tough fight. I think a couple of times it was maybe a little bit on the edge, but we were going at each other. We were both pushing and we both wanted to win. And it was, I think, for everyone watching, pretty entertaining."

But Wolff said Mercedes may need to evaluate whether the duelling became too much, and whether some different rules of conduct need to be established.

"We want to look at the pictures and have them [the drivers] come to the conclusions, to the right conclusions, in terms of saying, 'Do you think that was the level of fighting you think is right?' And if that is, why is that?" he said.

"We will say why we think one or two situations could have been avoided, and what do you want to do to mitigate it? But definitely, more than ever, this fight is on. There's so much at stake for both. There's so much at stake as a team."

And Wolff insisted he would have no issue intervening if it came to that.

"As uncomfortable as the ride is sometimes, you have to accept that this is the fight they've been trained for," he said.

"But equally if there was a situation where we believe the team's points are at risk of being lost, or there was a situation where we were losing so much time to our competitors behind, then we would not be a millimetre hesitant in putting the handbrake on."