Eight straight constructors’ titles were followed by four seasons without one. Now Mercedes has won more Grands Prix in 2026 than in those four years combined—and clinched its ninth championship on its first podiumless Sunday of the season. Here’s how the numbers tell the comeback.
Mercedes won seven Grands Prix across the entire 2022–2025 period. In 2026, it has already won twelve.
That is the scale of the comeback behind its ninth constructors’ championship. After four seasons watching other teams take the trophy, Mercedes secured it in Brazil with three races still to run.
The unexpected detail? This was its first Grand Prix without a podium all year. George Russell finished fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth. Nineteen consecutive races with at least one Mercedes driver in the top three had already done much of the work.
From four wins to eight straight titles
Mercedes’ modern works-team return in 2010 did not immediately produce a championship machine. Its first four seasons brought just four victories: Nico Rosberg’s breakthrough in China in 2012, followed by three wins between Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton in 2013.
Then came 2014. Across the next eight seasons, Mercedes won 111 Grands Prix and every constructors’ championship.
The contrast with what followed was stark. Mercedes managed one victory in 2022, none in 2023, four in 2024 and two in 2025. Eight consecutive titles gave way to four seasons without one.
This year, Mercedes had already matched that entire four-year win total when Russell won in Austria. Five more victories followed before Brazil crowned the team champion again.
Two drivers built the ninth
Antonelli has supplied nine victories and 390 points. Russell has added three wins and 262 points, roughly 40% of Mercedes’ total.
Their contributions have also complemented each other. When Antonelli retired in Barcelona and finished 15th at Silverstone, Russell took second in both races. When Russell retired in Belgium, Antonelli won.
Together, they have collected 24 Grand Prix podium finishes across 20 races. Mercedes won the opening six rounds and has taken 60% of the season’s Grand Prix victories so far.
That combination of winning pace and coverage across both cars explains how fourth and fifth in Brazil could be enough.
Nine titles, with history still growing
Mercedes has now won nine constructors’ championships in 17 seasons since its 2010 return. It stands level with Williams, behind McLaren’s ten and Ferrari’s sixteen.
Its Formula 1 history stretches back to Juan Manuel Fangio’s championship years in 1954 and 1955, but those were drivers’ titles. The constructors’ championship did not begin until 1958.
The modern team’s ninth belongs to a different driver pairing and follows a very different journey from the previous eight. Mercedes knows how to sustain success. In 2026, it proved it could recover it.
Statistics through the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix. Wins and podiums count Grands Prix only; championship points include Sprints.
