Mercedes warned of F1 threat as Guenther Steiner predicts "tremendous" development rate in 2026

Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes will face threats from other teams this year due to the high rate of development in the 2026 season. 

After the first two rounds of the season, Mercedes leads the constructors' standings with 98 points, 31 points more than Ferrari in second. George Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and Chinese sprint race, and his team-mate Kimi Antonelli claimed his maiden F1 win at the Chinese Grand Prix. 

While the Brackley outfit has dominated the season-opening double-header, Steiner warned against jumping to the conclusion that the strong streak will continue to the end of the year.

"The only thing that I would say is that we jump to the conclusion, 'Oh this will be now Mercedes until the end of the year,'" Steiner said during The Red Flags Podcast.

"I think the other Mercedes [powered] teams will learn more about their car, how to manage their PU, McLaren more than anybody else. I think Mercedes will be strong, but will somebody take the fight to them? I think so. I think at some stage somebody will take the fight to them because the development this year will be tremendous.

Guenther Steiner

Photo by: Kym Illman / Getty Images

"How people get better, and how people learn to get more out of the car. I think Mercedes is best prepared for that - is better prepared than anybody else. But I think the other teams have got more in the pipeline to discover, to make their cars better with stuff already there. Not to develop, to get more out of the package they've got."

The next round of the F1 season will take place at the Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix, beginning today from 27-29 March. There will then be a five-week break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix in April, before the Miami Grand Prix from 1-3 May.