Wolff admits Mercedes must fix reliability after nine poles yield just seven wins

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has acknowledged that his team’s mechanical gremlins have cost them victories in 2026, after the Silver Arrows converted just seven of nine pole positions into grand prix wins this season.

Wolff is unapologetic about the philosophy that produced those poles — squeezing every last tenth from both chassis and power unit — but accepts the reliability issues that have accompanied that approach are no longer acceptable. “I’d rather dial back a little bit something that is really good, and fix some of the reliability gremlins, than run behind performance,” he said. “Should have been nine from nine.”

The two races that slipped away tell a familiar story. At the Canadian Grand Prix, an electrical fault retired George Russell from the lead. Three weeks later in Barcelona, a similar issue eliminated Kimi Antonelli from second place, handing Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton a victory on merit. Most recently at the British Grand Prix, a broken wheel shield on Antonelli’s car prevented him from mounting a serious challenge to Charles Leclerc, who dominated the race.

Despite those setbacks, Mercedes has still covered more race distance than any team except Ferrari in 2026 — 5,215km of a possible 5,408km — suggesting the reliability picture, while frustrating, is not catastrophic.

At the opposite end of the spectrum sits Aston Martin, which has completed just 3,753km after managing only eight official race finishes from a possible 18. There are signs of improvement with the team’s Honda powertrain since the April break, with seven finishes from 12 starts since then, but the gap to the front remains vast.

For Mercedes, the challenge is more surgical: the raw pace is clearly there, and Wolff has no intention of sacrificing it. The task now is ensuring the machinery can survive long enough to bank the results that pace deserves.