Chairman says 2026 F1 crown proves racing defines Mercedes.
Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, has described the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s 2026 Constructors’ Championship as both a personal milestone and a powerful collective achievement. The title was sealed at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, November 8, with three races of the season still to run.
Chairman says the 2026 crown proves racing defines Mercedes.
Speaking after the team secured the crown, Källenius said bringing home the Constructors’ World Championship means a great deal to him personally, and even more to everyone who has invested so much this season. He added that achieving the result under a completely new set of rules makes the triumph even more special.
In his assessment, the result is “the strongest proof that racing is deeply rooted in the Mercedes-Benz brand.” He described the achievement as engineering excellence at the highest level and said he was glad the whole world has a chance to see it.
Why the 2026 Regulations Raise the Stakes
The 2026 season introduced one of the most extensive technical overhauls in recent Formula 1 history. The power unit, the chassis and the aerodynamics were all redefined at the same time, which left every team with far less carried-over knowledge than in a stable rules cycle. Every organisation had to learn, develop and execute under competitive pressure across a full calendar.
For a constructor, success in that environment depends on more than a fast car. It requires a power unit and a chassis that work together, a development programme that keeps pace as the season unfolds, and a race operation that converts performance into points at every round. The Constructors’ Championship rewards exactly that breadth, because it counts the points scored by both drivers across the entire season.
How Mercedes Clinched the Title at Interlagos
Mercedes arrived in São Paulo holding a commanding advantage over Ferrari, with 630 points to the Italian team’s 504. The weekend delivered the points needed. George Russell finished fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth, together collecting 22 points, while Ferrari managed eight.
Mercedes finished the weekend on 652 points. It was the team’s ninth Constructors’ title and its first since 2021, a return to the top after several seasons. The result also completes a title double, with Kimi Antonelli having already secured the Drivers’ Championship.
Ferrari, which arrived at Interlagos on 504 points, added eight and left Brazil on 512, so the gap at the top of the standings stands at 140 points. With three rounds remaining, the championship question has been settled, and attention turns to how both teams finish the season.
Race honours on the day went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, who won from pole position, but the day belonged to Brackley and Brixworth for a different reason. Mercedes did not need to win the race to win the championship; it needed to score consistently and to outscore its closest rival, and it did both. The race was run in wet and unpredictable conditions, which placed a premium on adaptability and execution from both cars, and Mercedes’ pair of top-five finishes reflected that.
A Championship Built on Collective Effort
Källenius framed the title as the product of sustained investment across the whole organisation. While drivers and cars attract the attention on race day, the Constructors’ Championship recognises the work of many people at the circuit and in the factories at Brackley and Brixworth, supported by the wider Mercedes-Benz engineering network.
That emphasis on the collective is consistent with how the team’s leadership has described the season. Team principal Toto Wolff has said the strong start Mercedes made to 2026 provided the foundation for the championship success, underlining that the title was built across the year rather than in a single weekend.
Verstappen Rejects Herbert Claims, Ends Lawson Row
What the Result Means for Mercedes-Benz Brand
For Mercedes-Benz Group, the significance extends beyond the standings. Källenius presented the result as evidence that racing sits at the heart of the brand, and the timing reinforces that message. The automotive industry is moving through a period of rapid technological change, and a Constructors’ title won under an entirely new rulebook offers a public demonstration of engineering capability that reaches beyond the race track.
The achievement also restores Mercedes to a familiar position. The team won eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 to 2021, and the 2026 title takes its overall tally to nine, level with Williams. Returning to the summit after several seasons away, and doing so in the first year of a new technical era, gives the result a distinct character within that history.
On the sporting side, the season has produced a rare double. Antonelli’s Drivers’ Championship and the team’s Constructors’ crown mean both major titles sit with Mercedes in the first year of the new regulations. Russell’s fourth place and Antonelli’s fifth in São Paulo showed the value of a line-up able to score heavily together.
Attention now shifts to the final three rounds, beginning with the Las Vegas Grand Prix. With the Constructors’ title decided, Mercedes can approach the closing races from a position of strength, and Wolff has already begun looking ahead to 2027, reflecting a team already planning beyond the present season.
Taken together, the facts point to a title earned through preparation, depth and consistency in the first year of a new rulebook. For Mercedes, the task now is to carry that momentum from a title-winning season into the next phase of the sport’s new technical era.
All remarks attributed to Källenius in this report come from the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s official race report, which remains the primary reference for the championship result and the chairman’s statement.