Mercedes clinched the 2026 constructors' championship at the São Paulo Grand Prix, its first team title since 2021. With Kimi Antonelli already crowned drivers' champion in Mexico last weekend, Mercedes now holds both titles with three races still to run.
What Mercedes needed, and what happened
Going into the race, Mercedes led Ferrari 630 points to 504, a gap of 126. Outscoring Ferrari by three points or more in São Paulo would be enough.
George Russell finished fourth for 12 points and Antonelli fifth for 10, so Mercedes added 22. Charles Leclerc was eighth and Lewis Hamilton ninth, adding only six for Ferrari. By Grandprix.com's count Mercedes finished on 652 points, Ferrari on 510, a margin of 142.
Leclerc received a five-second penalty for causing a late collision with Liam Lawson, which dropped him to eighth. Antonelli was given five seconds for an unsafe pit release but kept fifth.
How the season got here
According to an ANI report carried by The Tribune, Mercedes won the first six races of the season and 12 of the 20 contested so far. Grandprix.com calls this the team's ninth constructors' title; The Tribune says only that it is the first since 2021.
Neither car had a clean afternoon. Antonelli passed polesitter Lando Norris on lap one and led, then spun at Turn 1 on lap 20 and gave up the lead. Sources differ on how many times he went off at Turn 1, and one says he ran straight on again on lap 24. Russell spun at the pit exit on lap 16 and hit the wall but kept going, then finished fourth after the team asked Antonelli to let him by. Norris won, and Max Verstappen came from 21st on the grid to second.
What is left of the season
The championship moves on to Las Vegas in two weeks. In the drivers' standings Antonelli leads on 390 points, ahead of Verstappen on 279, Russell on 262 and Hamilton on 261. With both titles settled, the focus for the remaining races shifts to the places behind Antonelli in the drivers' table and the fight for second to fourth among constructors.
