On November 8, 2026, at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Mercedes clinched the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship with George Russell fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth. Neither driver finished on the race podium. That was a first for the team this season, making the end of a remarkable run coincide with its biggest collective prize.
Nineteen races, then an unexpected exception
Comparing the official Antonelli season results with Russell’s results shows that Mercedes had placed at least one driver in the top three in each of the previous 19 Grands Prix. The sequence covered the season from Australia through Mexico. Brazil was the first race in which both cars finished outside those positions.
That is a team statistic: the podium finishes did not all belong to one driver. Across those earlier races, Russell and Antonelli kept Mercedes represented. The Race’s analysis independently identified the unusual timing of the team’s first race without a podium and its championship celebration.
The Sao Paulo podium belonged instead to race winner Lando Norris and the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Mercedes occupied the next two places. For the race result, that left the team behind its rivals; for the season’s accumulated score, it was enough to settle the championship.
A difficult route to fourth and fifth
The finishing positions followed a much more eventful afternoon than a straightforward points collection. Antonelli took the lead at the start, but spun at Turn 1 on lap 20, allowing Norris back into first. Russell also lost time with a spin at the pit exit after switching to slick tyres.
As the official F1 race report explains, the 71-lap contest began on a wet track, dried out and then featured rain again late on. Mercedes had opportunities to fight nearer the front, yet mistakes interrupted both drivers’ races. Norris ultimately won, while Russell and Antonelli brought both cars home in the top five.
Antonelli later received a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane. His position remained fifth, according to F1’s team reactions report and The Race. The added time therefore changed neither the Mercedes finishing order nor the points earned by its two drivers.
A ninth title beyond the podium
Fourth place awarded Russell 12 points and fifth gave Antonelli 10, a combined 22. Those positions secured Mercedes its ninth constructors’ crown and its first since 2021, as Motorsport.com’s championship report and Grandprix.com’s race account confirm.
The oddity lies in how the two results arrived together. Mercedes finally missed a Grand Prix podium after 19 races of representation, while the championship rewarded the wider campaign. A Sunday with mistakes, no victory and no top-three finish still ended with the team confirmed as world champions.
Sources and further reading
- Formula 1: Sao Paulo race report
- Formula 1: drivers and teams react
- Formula 1: Antonelli’s 2026 results
- Formula 1: Russell’s 2026 results
- The Race: winners and losers in Brazil
- Grandprix.com: race notes and championship result
- Motorsport.com via Yahoo: Mercedes wins its ninth title
