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Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has admitted that they have a ‘luxury problem’ with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
It is no secret that the Silver Arrows are the dominant force in 2026, having won all five races so far this season.
Russell kicked off the campaign with a win in Melbourne, but has since seen his teenage teammate, Antonelli, win four races on the bounce.
After Russell’s retirement at the Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli now leads the world championship standings by 43 points.
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Bradley Lord admits Mercedes have a ‘luxury problem’ with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli
With the title race hotting up, Mercedes deputy team principal Lord has spoken about a so-called ‘luxury problem’ they have to manage.
The 46-year-old spoke about how Mercedes are managing the fact that they have two high-calibre drivers fighting in the W17, which is a very dominant car on the F1 grid.
He also touched on the lessons Mercedes learned during Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s tense title fight back in 2016.
Lord said on the latest episode of the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show: “We were just talking before we started recording and saying it feels a little bit like watching a sequel to a movie.
“Obviously, we had Lewis and Nico battling very, very hard for championships and for race wins each weekend and had those dynamics to manage.
“I think as a result, we did quite a lot of learning about what we could have done better back in those years and trying to apply that now.
“Of course, it’s what every F1 team dreams of, having a car competitive enough to win races and two drivers competitive enough to win those races as well.
“So, some of our rivals have said this is a luxury problem, and that’s very true to some extent, but then we’ve got to manage it in the right way.”
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Bradley Lord outlines Mercedes’ ‘rules of engagement’ after Canadian GP Sprint incident
Following Antonelli and Russell’s incident during the Canada Sprint, Lord reveals that rules of engagement have been put in place for the drivers to adhere to.
He added: “We make sure that what we call racing intent or the rules of engagement are quite clear in terms of what we want the drivers to do and where the line is of what the team considers acceptable.
“Broadly, that is, make sure they don’t make contact and make sure we don’t cost the team overall points with how they race on track.
“After that, when things do happen, keep communicating, keep talking about it and do not let things either fester or not get addressed.
“Put it all on the table and work out what we think about it, even if we don’t always all agree on everything and move forward from there.”
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