Mercedes take advantage of McLaren’s loose grip on the Constructor’s Title

What started out looking like a sure fire double trophy season for McLaren is quickly making a short left turn into the favour of Mercedes, following a double podium finish in Canada this weekend. 

Mercedes looked distraught in recent weeks leading up to Canada, bogged down by car troubles and George Russell having his usual tussle with Max Verstappen. There’s still no love lost between the two, but the incident between Verstappen and Russell definitely gave the Mercedes driver the need to dig deep and fight fire with fire. 

It’s no wonder where Russell got the will to seize his first win of the year from, and it came at the most opportune moment for Toto Wolff’’s team - just as the momentum appears to be fading away at McLaren. 

Again, Wolff is probably giving himself a pat on the back for signing arguably the hottest rookie in the sport - Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli’s bold overtake of Oscar Piastri during the opening lap allowed him the chance to fight for the podium, and he did just that - finish at P3. 

“I had a good first launch and I managed to get alongside. In the first corner I just tried to carry as much speed as possible.

“Then when I was alongside him at Turn 2 I knew I would have an advantage, especially going into Turn 3. Really happy to stick that,” Antonelli said about overtaking Piastri. 

Mercedes have put themselves within reach of the title, 75 points behind McLaren. Russell’s consistency in the opening part of the season also means he’s within reach of his first World Title this year. 

Unforced errors and what appears to be a loss of concentration at the papaya camp has allowed Mercedes swoop in mid-season and mount a full-scale attack on the Constructors Title. 

Lando Norris put a dent in his Championship fight in Canada after crashing into the rear end of Piastri, forcing him to retire from the race and give up vital points for himself and the team. 

McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella was vocal about the shortcomings of their drivers this weekend, labelling their battle for fourth place as unacceptable. Norris was immediately remorseful for his actions and apologised to Piastri after the race, earning the praise of team boss Zak Brown. 

“Well, we never want to see a McLaren car involved in an accident and definitely we don’t want to see the two McLarens having contact, so this situation is a situation that we know is not acceptable.

“At the same time, we appreciate that Lando immediately owned it and apologised to the team, which for us sort of reset the situation. I’m sure he has an important learning point coming from this race, he paid a price in the championship. 

“If Lando had a different reaction, then there would have certainly been serious conversations to have, but I think he immediately realised that he simply miscalculated, this caused a problem for himself, for the team, and it was very close to causing a problem for Oscar,” Stella said.