Racing
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Mercedes may be unbeaten in Formula 1 so far in 2026, but technical director James Allison says the team’s advantage could disappear almost immediately if it fails to keep developing through the next phase of the season.
Speaking in Mercedes’ Canada debrief video, Allison said the first year of the new regulations has created an unusually aggressive development race, with gains and losses now measured at roughly a quarter of a second per month. That makes the run beginning at Monaco especially important for a team that has won every grand prix so far this season.
“The development race is really steep,” Allison said. “Something like a quarter of a second a month.”
His warning was not aimed only at the cars at the track. Allison said the pressure will hit the whole operation as Formula 1 enters its European leg, which starts in Monaco before what he described as “a really intense period of six races in just eight weeks.” He said that stretch will test not only the race team but also “everyone back here in the factory,” with Brackley and Brixworth needing to sustain the same pace.
To underline how little margin Mercedes believes it has, Allison used a stark example. “A power cut here in Brackley and the same up the road in Brixworth for six weeks” would leave “all of the advantage that we’ve eked out so far this season gone in a flash,” he said.
That is the central pressure point for Mercedes as it heads to Monaco. The team has controlled the early part of the season, including four consecutive wins for Kimi Antonelli, but Allison’s message was that early dominance offers no protection if development slows under these rules.
He said Mercedes has to keep bringing performance to the car through the next six-race sequence because standing still in 2026 would effectively mean moving backward relative to the rest of the grid.