Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists that Ferrari is the favourite for the Chinese Grand Prix. Although Mercedes has a 100% record so far this season, Wolff says the Italian team will be the benchmark in Shanghai.
In Australia, Ferrari surprised everyone with just how far they were off the pace after winter testing indicated the team would enjoy a three-tenths of a second advantage over the field.
The second race of the season in Bahrain painted a different picture, with Ferrari back to normal and their missing pace from testing recovered. In the race though, a sudden loss of power for Charles Leclerc handed the Silver Arrows their second one-two finish of the year.
Wolff however says the jump in performance of the SF90 and the areas in which it excelled in Bahrain means that Ferrari is once again the favorite for the race in China.
"Bahrain was very strong [for Ferrari], straight-line performance is unbelievable," he is quoted by ESPN.
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"The power they have displayed is unmatched by anybody. There was, I think in qualifying five tenths on the straights only. that is really difficult to compete with.
"It's not the drag. It's never one silver bullet or one simple action, but the drag levels we have calculated would have been 0.1s maybe in difference. It's sheer power. So we have to get used to this level of performance in my opinion and see Melbourne as the outlier."
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British Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 03.07.26
Practice 1
11:30 AM
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03:30 PM
Saturday 04.07.26
Sprint Race
11:00 AM
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03:00 PM
Sunday 05.07.26
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02:00 PM
Friday 03.07.26
Practice 1
Fri 11:30 AM
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F1-stand 2026
Season
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | MercedesMER | 179 | |
2 | MercedesMER | 136 | |
3 | FerrariFER | 132 | |
4 | McLarenMCL | 85 | |
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10 | Racing BullsRCB | 31 |
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