Mercedes branded 'biggest spoiler' for fixing fundamental vulnerability

Martin Brundle labelled Mercedes the "biggest spoiler" of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend after the team appeared to resolve the start issue that had haunted the team through the opening rounds of the 2026 season.

The improvement had been a long time coming. Across the first four rounds of the campaign, including the China sprint, Russell and Kimi Antonelli had collectively lost over 20 positions off the line. 

Despite locking out the front row at the first three rounds — and Antonelli having front row starts in Miami, including pole for the grand prix — the only race a Mercedes driver had led into the first corner all season was Russell in the sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Toto Wolff had called it "not acceptable," while deputy technical director Simone Resta labelled improving starts a "very high priority."

That changed in Montreal. Russell made a clean getaway from sprint pole to lead into Turn 1 on Saturday. In the grand prix, Lando Norris swept past both Mercedes cars at the start, though that was entirely down to McLaren's gamble on intermediate tyres in the damp conditions rather than any failing from the W17 on the line.

Brundle, writing in his post-round column, identified the development as one of the most significant stories to emerge from Montreal.

"The biggest spoiler of the weekend, for us and not them, was that Mercedes appear to have completely sorted out their starts and, in fact, George Russell from sprint pole was best away," the former F1 driver wrote in his post-grand prix column for Sky Sports F1.

Re-established advantage

The start fix arrived alongside a significant upgrade package centred on a new front wing concept, extensive floor revisions and reworked corner geometry.

The combination moved Mercedes comfortably back to the head of the field, after things had been closer in Miami; Antonelli won the grand prix by over 10 seconds after Russell's battery failure ended his afternoon, while the Briton had earlier taken the sprint victory.

Brundle was struck by the scale of the step forward, but noted how tight the competitive order remains despite it.

"The Mercedes car upgrade certainly moved them to the front of the pack again with a small but undeniable advantage, and although the top five were in the same order for both sprint and main grand prix, a third of a second covered the top seven," he wrote.

"I really didn't expect Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull to be so close so quickly."