Mercedes left the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix with mixed emotions after Kimi Antonelli finished third and strengthened his Formula 1 championship lead, while another reliability problem compromised George Russell’s weekend. In Mercedes’ customary post-race debrief, deputy team principal Bradley Lord explained exactly what happened to George Russell at the start, why the team changed Kimi Antonelli’s strategy and how McLaren overturned the competitive picture seen only one week earlier at Spa-Francorchamps.
Kimi Antonelli’s performance was one of the clear positives. The Italian recovered from seventh on the grid to secure a valuable podium, with his third place extending his Formula 1 championship advantage. George Russell, meanwhile, was forced into recovery mode almost immediately and eventually finished seventh after his car barely moved away when the lights went out.
Mercedes Hungarian GP analysis identifies impact of McLaren upgrades
Bradley Lord’s first assessment focused on the technical picture that emerged in Budapest. According to the Mercedes deputy team principal, the championship is entering a phase in which upgrades are making an increasingly significant difference, with teams introducing their development packages at different stages of the season.
“We have seen the competition closing in throughout this first half of the season as the different teams brought upgrades at different times,” Bradley Lord explained, adding that “McLaren introduced a fairly significant upgrade package in Budapest.”
The result was a striking reversal from Spa, where Mercedes had secured both pole position and victory. At the Hungaroring, McLaren returned to the front as Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix, although the team missed out on the double podium it had been targeting.
George Russell not to blame for disastrous Hungary start
The other central topic was the problem George Russell encountered when the lights went out. Mercedes moved to clarify the cause of the incident and ruled out any responsibility on the part of the British driver.
During the start procedure, while George Russell was holding the required wait revs, the engine speed suddenly increased far beyond the level requested through the accelerator and reached the rev limiter. In an attempt to bring the situation back under control, George Russell had to reduce his throttle input drastically. Unfortunately, the lights went out at precisely that moment.
“The lights went out while George had less than 10% throttle application, through no fault of his own. That triggered the anti-stall,” Bradley Lord explained.
The Mercedes therefore remained almost stationary on the grid, compromising George Russell’s entire race within the opening metres. The team’s full explanation of the engine fault behind George Russell’s poor start confirmed that the incident was caused by the car rather than a driver error.
Despite the setback, Bradley Lord praised George Russell’s recovery as the number 63 driver regained position after position during his opening stint. Mercedes also felt that the timing of the race worked against him, as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed just one lap after his second pit stop.
“If he had been able to use the Virtual Safety Car for a free stop, he could have finished even higher than seventh,” Bradley Lord said.
Mercedes says Kimi Antonelli had the pace to finish second
On Kimi Antonelli’s side of the garage, Mercedes’ debrief revealed the background to the Italian’s strategy. The original intention was to complete the race with a single pit stop, extending the first stint on Medium tyres until at least lap 30 before switching to the Hard compound for the remainder of the Grand Prix.
That plan changed when Kimi Antonelli reported a sudden drop in rear-tyre performance at around lap 22. Mercedes consequently brought his pit stop forward and switched him to a two-stop strategy.
“Kimi did a great job in the second stint, extending the run and differentiating his strategy from those of his rivals,” Bradley Lord explained.
According to Mercedes’ simulations, Kimi Antonelli would have held a tyre-life advantage of approximately 20 laps over the drivers around him and “should have been able to climb back up to second position”. However, the Virtual Safety Car effectively erased that strategic advantage.
Kimi Antonelli’s timing still proved crucial. The Italian managed to overtake Lewis Hamilton before Safety Car line two and then successfully defended third place to the chequered flag. The late-race developments formed part of a dramatic conclusion reflected in the final 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix classification.
Mercedes confident after eight wins in first 11 races
Mercedes remains optimistic heading into the second half of the season. Bradley Lord stressed that the team’s overall record from the opening part of the championship remains extremely positive, with eight victories and 10 pole positions from the first 11 Grands Prix.
“It has been a fantastic first half of the season. In the second half, we will continue to bring performance to the car. It will be a very intense fight, but we hope to introduce enough performance to add more trophies to our collection by the end of the year.”
Kimi Antonelli’s podium ensures that Mercedes enters the next phase of the campaign with its driver still leading the Formula 1 driver standings. However, McLaren’s Budapest resurgence and George Russell’s latest reliability setback have underlined how fiercely contested the remainder of the 2026 season is likely to be.
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