Mercedes has made a commanding start to the 2026 campaign, leading both championships after winning every Grand Prix so far. Monaco will open the next phase of the season, with Barcelona, Austria, Britain, Belgium and Hungary following in quick succession across June and July.

Allison said the development race under the new regulations was moving at an unusually steep rate, with performance gains running at about a quarter of a second a month. Allison warned that any slowdown in work at Brackley or Brixworth could wipe out the advantage Mercedes has built during the opening rounds.

Allison said Mercedes must keep bringing performance to the car throughout the next batch of races if the current lead is to be preserved. The warning comes as Mercedes prepares for a demanding period that will stretch staff travelling to circuits as well as team members working at the factory.

Alongside preparations for that sequence, Mercedes is also trying to identify the root cause of the power unit problem that forced George Russell out of the Canadian Grand Prix. Allison described the failure as an engine kill caused by a battery problem and said evidence gathered after the race showed heat damage to the battery.

Russell’s retirement tempered what was otherwise a strong weekend for Mercedes in Montreal. Kimi Antonelli secured a fourth consecutive race win in Canada, while Allison said the event also marked the introduction of the team’s first major upgrade package of the year. Allison said Mercedes had wanted the upgrade to deliver strongly, a target that was met despite the disappointment over Russell’s reliability problem.

Mercedes now heads to Monaco with momentum intact, but Allison has made it clear that the next six races could prove decisive. Allison’s message was that early dominance will count for little unless Mercedes continues to develop at the same pace as rivals through the intensifying European stretch.

–F1/ChannelAfrica–