Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord believes the team left around 100 points on the table during the first half of the 2026 Formula 1 season, even arguing that the W17 had the potential to win every race. It is an extraordinary assessment of Mercedes’ competitiveness and one that inevitably raises expectations for what Kimi Antonelli, George Russell and the Brackley squad must deliver after the summer break.
Bradley Lord looks back at Mercedes’ opening half of the championship and sees a glass that is considerably more than half full. Judging by his assessment of the numbers, it is almost overflowing. The W17 has been competitive enough for the British executive to make an exceptionally bold statement: “We could have won every race.” Not nine, not eight. Every one.
Bradley Lord says Mercedes could have won every race
There is an important distinction between knowing that a car is capable of winning and reaching the summer break while listing all the victories that, in Mercedes’ view, could have been achieved. It is a perfectly legitimate display of confidence when the technical potential of the car is clear, but it inevitably raises another question: if those 100 points really were left on the table, Mercedes now has to prove it can stop letting similar opportunities slip away.
Bradley Lord did not simply emphasise the competitiveness of the car. He also put a number on Mercedes’ missed opportunities.
“I think, internally, the most important thing for us is those 100 points that we can say we’ve left on the table.”
One hundred points is a remarkable figure, particularly for a team already fighting at the front of both championships. Mercedes has nevertheless acknowledged that missed opportunities remain a concern, with Bradley Lord’s 100-point assessment highlighting the scale of the potential results that went unconverted.
Mercedes’ season of ‘we could have’
Bradley Lord’s argument begins from a difficult premise to dispute: Mercedes has frequently possessed a car capable of running at the front. According to the deputy team principal, the problem has been converting that technical superiority into a points total that properly reflects the W17’s potential.
“We could have won every race, but it didn’t work out that way because of reliability problems and because of the way we manage the race with the two drivers,” Bradley Lord explained.
That is also what makes the claim so significant. If Mercedes genuinely believes it has had a car capable of winning every Grand Prix before the summer break, then the calculation cannot stop at the points already lost. The second half of the season becomes a test of whether the team can execute more effectively and make full use of the machinery at its disposal.
The challenge is particularly relevant with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell both involved at the front. Mercedes has made it clear that it does not want to prematurely declare Kimi Antonelli the championship favourite despite his advantage, underlining how seriously the team is treating the races still to come.
Mercedes’ own assessment raises expectations after the summer break
Mercedes can therefore look back on the opening half of 2026 with considerable satisfaction, but its own interpretation of the season also raises the bar. If the W17 really had the potential to dominate and the principal weakness was converting that performance into results, simply remaining competitive after the summer shutdown will not be enough. Mercedes will need to execute better.
Reliability and the management of two cars have already prevented the team from maximising several opportunities. The challenge is now to turn potential into complete race weekends more consistently, particularly as Ferrari, McLaren and the other leading teams continue their own development programmes.
Mercedes is not standing still technically either. The team has adjusted its approach to the remainder of the campaign, with a major W17 upgrade package taking shape for the second half of 2026. That makes Bradley Lord’s assessment even more significant: the team believes the underlying performance has already been strong enough to win far more than it has, while further development is still coming.
Ultimately, Mercedes has set the standard by which its own second half will be judged. Claiming that every race could have been won and that around 100 points were left unclaimed demonstrates enormous confidence in the W17. After the summer break, however, the objective becomes far less theoretical: Mercedes must show that it can convert that potential into the results it believes should already have been achieved.
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