Otmar Szafnauer reveals Mercedes chief disagreed with him saying McLaren are their ‘biggest’ threat

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Otmar Szafnauer has revealed that he and a Mercedes chief disagreed on which team would be Mercedes’ ‘biggest’ threat in 2026.

So far in the 2026 Formula 1 season, Mercedes have been a class above the rest, with George Russell winning in Australia before Kimi Antonelli secured three consecutive victories in China, Japan and Miami.

As things stand, heading into the Canadian Grand Prix, Antonelli leads Russell by 20 points at the top of the standings.

Meanwhile, Mercedes have a 70-point gap between themselves and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.

Do you think Kimi Antonelli will become Mercedes’ No. 1 driver?

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Otmar Szafnauer says McLaren will be Mercedes’ ‘biggest’ threat in 2026

Speaking recently on the High Performance Racing podcast, ex-Alpine team boss Szafnauer recalled a conversation he had with the Mercedes chief engineer.

Szafnauer claimed that he feels McLaren will be the Silver Arrows’ biggest threat for the 2026 title, but the Mercedes chief disagreed, instead picking Ferrari as their main rivals.

Szafnauer said: “I had a conversation with Mercedes’ chief engineer, this was on Friday, and I said I think you guys are going to win this championship, but McLaren are going to be your biggest challengers.

“And he said, I think you’re wrong. He told me all the reasons, he said I think it will be Ferrari, who will be our biggest challengers. Maybe that’s because this was before we ran, and he saw the 11 upgrades.

“But, as it turned out, I think McLaren soon will leapfrog Ferrari in the championship; they are still behind, but they had a strong weekend.

“The other thing to note from the upgrades, Mercedes didn’t bring anything; they are bringing it to Canada.”

Which F1 drivers realistically stand a chance of winning the title this year? 🏆

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READ MORE: Will Buxton says Max Verstappen will be ‘licking his lips’ watching Kimi Antonelli vs George Russell

Fred Vasseur picks out key area Ferrari need to address after ‘mega tough’ Miami GP

Despite bringing as many as 11 upgrades to Miami, Ferrari endured a torrid weekend as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished in P6 and P8, respectively.

Speaking after the race, team boss Fred Vasseur stated that tyre management is something Ferrari have to improve on.

As per F1, Vasseur said: “It was the story from the beginning of the weekend about tyre management, tyre temperature.

“As soon as you are in a good position the pace is there. It was true for us but it was true for everybody with a big swing of performance and it’s quite easy to overheat and to go on the other side.

“It’s true that the first stint went very well. Then we had the Safety Car, we packed everybody together, then it’s a lot about energy management.

“You had two phases in the race, the first one when we are in free air with the good pace, and then when we had the Safety Car it allowed everybody to come back and it was much more difficult.”