'Simply shouldn't happen' - Mercedes reveal 'biggest focus' as F1 returns

The Silver Arrows lead both world championship races but have only seen Kimi Antonelli and George Russell both finish in the top six of the same race once in the last seven grands prix; watch the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday

Mercedes technical director James Allison believes that car reliability could be even more important than upgrades in determining the outcome of Formula 1's title battles over the rest of the 2026 season.

F1 returns from its four-week summer break this weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, the first of a scheduled 12 races left this season.

Mercedes lead both world championship races with Kimi Antonelli 50 points clear in the drivers', and the team 72 points ahead in the constructors' standings.

But their advantages in both would have been greater but for reliability problems with its W17 car and power unit in the first year of the sport's revised technical regulations. Allison said "reducing the self-inflicted wounds" was the key area of focus for the team given the damage more DNFs could do to their prospects.

"Everyone naturally focuses on upgrades because they're visible and they're exciting, but reliability may end up having a much bigger impact on the championship," Allison told Mercedes' Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show.

"A successful upgrade programme might gain you 10, 15 or perhaps 20 points over the course of a season, depending on the circumstances.

"A single retirement can cost you that amount in one afternoon. So while we're committed to continuing development, our biggest focus going into the second half of the season is reducing the self-inflicted wounds that have cost us points in the opening races.

"We've had reliability issues and operational setbacks that simply shouldn't happen, and addressing those areas is arguably more important than the next upgrade package.

"If we can continue to improve the car while also delivering clean execution and reliability, then we'll put ourselves in the strongest possible position for the championship run-in."

However, the championship leaders have promised they have more car upgrades to come too in a first year of a ruleset in which "the gain rate we're seeing in the wind tunnel is roughly six or seven times greater than it was last season", according to Allison.

The technical chief says Mercedes are therefore readying more development parts to bring to the track as they bid to hit back against the performance gains made by Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull before the break.

"We made a conscious decision before the season to push the first car harder than we've ever pushed one before," said Allison.

"We left things later than usual and effectively built a programme with almost no contingency. The upside was that we were able to capture as much of that steep development curve as possible before the first race, which is why the car arrived with such a strong level of performance.