Mercedes has revealed some of its pitcrew members at the Singapore Grand Prix were doing their first live Formula 1 pitstops in 15 years.
F1 recently completed its first of (provisionally) three triple-headers to conclude the 23-round 2026 season, with a strenuous Azerbaijan-Malaysia-Singapore sequence.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli came away from the triple-header winless, yet with an increased advantage over team-mate and current runner-up George Russell in the standings, up from 81 points to 102. Meanwhile, Ferrari has narrowly outscored the Silver Arrows but remains 134 points adrift in the constructors’ standings.
In that context, Mercedes is striving to maintain its operational level – even as its squad members suffer from the working conditions.
“Obviously as a team, there is the picture of the drivers' championship, but more importantly we've lost ground to Red Bull and to Ferrari in the last couple of events in the constructors' championship,” deputy team principal Bradley Lord told the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show. “There's a healthy advantage, but absolutely nothing is done and dusted, and we just need to focus on getting both cars to the finish as high up as possible. I mean, that sounds so banal, but it's our job each race weekend.
“I would also say maintaining the sort of operational effectiveness and slickness that we've seen over the last triple-header, probably the most demanding three races in terms of conditions in the garage, temperature, humidity and everything else. In Singapore, even with changes in the pitcrew – you know, we had people in the pitcrew who hadn't done a live pitstop for 15 years, who were subbed in because of injuries and things like that – we were the quickest team through the pitlane, delivered the fastest stop for the second weekend in a row.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
“That just shows the level that the team operationally is working at, and that's really encouraging to see as you come into the really tough bit, the real grind at the end of the season – long trips away from home, away from family. Just really operating at an incredibly high level. That was quite a feather in the cap of the team in the garage and the pitstop crew to be really nailing those stops at every single race we can.”
Mercedes’ pitstop performance has been unparalleled so far this season, as it has performed the quickest tyre change eight times out of 17 grands prix (as measured by time spent in the pitlane).
Ferrari and Audi are joint runners-up with three fastest times each. At the other end of the spectrum, the new Cadillac squad broke into the top 10 only at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the sixth-quickest pitstop, and in Italy, where only nine pitstops were performed.
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