- Toto Wolff flags Red Bull’s Miami surge as the biggest threat to Mercedes’ lead.
- Mercedes’ Montreal upgrade looks fast on paper, but Wolff wants stopwatch proof.
- Wolff warns Mercedes must respond fast, with 7 races in the next 10 weeks.
Mercedes heads into this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal as the championship leader, but team principal Toto Wolff has sounded a clear warning: the advantage will not last without action.
The Silver Arrows have won all four races of the 2026 Formula 1 season.19-year-old Kimi Antonelli has taken three of the most recent victories and holds a 20-point lead over team-mate George Russell in the drivers’ standings.
Yet the Miami Grand Prix exposed cracks in Mercedes’ dominance, with McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all arriving with significant upgrades that visibly closed the gap.
Wolff has since made his concern public. “Our competitors took a step forward in Miami, and we need to respond,” he said in the team’s official Canadian Grand Prix preview.
“Seven Grands Prix in 10 weekends before shutdown is an opportunity to do that and build momentum.”
Rivals closed the gap in Miami, and Wolff knows it
Mercedes ran with minimal new parts in Miami. Its rivals did not. McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all brought meaningful upgrades to Florida, and the effect showed on track.
Lando Norris led a McLaren one-two in the Sprint race, with Antonelli winning the Grand Prix only by holding Norris off. Red Bull’s improvement stood out most sharply to Wolff.
“Red Bull was a big surprise because they made a huge step forward, going from more than a second behind the leader to being right there at the front, fighting with Verstappen,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport in Florida.
McLaren’s gains were more expected but no less significant. The Woking team has grown increasingly comfortable with its Mercedes power unit, and that comfort is now showing in its results.
Montreal upgrade: promising on paper, but Wolff wants proof on track
Mercedes chose to hold back its development resources in Miami, saving them for the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. The team arrives in Canada with its first major upgrade package of the season.
Wolff is not treating this as a reason to celebrate yet. “We bring our first update package of the year to Montréal, but we know that performance is only performance once it is delivered on track,” he said in the team’s race preview.
He expanded on that caution before the weekend: “On paper, it’s easy to say you’re three or four tenths faster. But it has to show on track and on the stopwatch.”
Mercedes will not be the only team bringing new parts to Canada. McLaren split its upgrade programme across Miami and Montreal, with roughly 60% deployed in Florida and 40% arriving this week, headlined by a new front wing.
The true order of the field may not become clear until the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in mid-June.
Staying grounded despite leading both championships
Wolff’s tone throughout the build-up to Montreal has been deliberately measured. Mercedes leads both championships, but the Austrian has repeatedly pushed back against any suggestion that the season is settled.
“Despite being in the middle of May, we are just four races into the season,” Wolff said. “There is a long year ahead and, whilst this is an important weekend, it will not decide any outcomes.”
He also acknowledged that performance shifts will be a regular feature of the year. “I think it’s normal throughout this year to see performances change from race to race,” he added.
That steadiness applies inside the team as much as it does in press conferences. “We will stay balanced, keep learning, and execute each weekend as well as we can,” Wolff said.
“We won’t get too high when we succeed or too low in the difficult moments; that is as true for our drivers as it is for the rest of the team.”
Montreal’s unpredictable weather, its sprint race format, and a field full of fresh upgrades will test how much of that composure Mercedes can hold onto when the lights go out.
