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Toto Wolff is believed to be on edge that Ferrari will end Mercedes’ unbeaten start to the 2026 F1 season this week at the Monaco Grand Prix, despite their inferior engine.
Mercedes have recorded a perfect start to the campaign, with five Grand Prix wins and pole positions over the races in Australia, China, Japan, Miami and Canada. Andrea Kimi Antonelli has also won the last four races to open a 43-point lead atop the early F1 drivers’ standings.
George Russell has fallen to almost two Grand Prix wins behind his 19-year-old teammate in the standings after encountering a run of bad luck plus reliability problems. He won the first race of 2026 ahead of Antonelli in Australia, yet he has since seen the Italian rise to the fore.
The 28-year-old was plagued by gremlins during qualifying in China after having a glitch with his gearbox and issues with his front wing, he was caught out by the timing of a safety car in Japan and suffered a battery failure whilst leading in Canada that handed Antonelli the lead.
The jewel in the crown is upon us! Who’s your pick for the Monaco Grand Prix? 👑
Toto Wolff fears Ferrari will be stronger than Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix
Mercedes team principal and CEO Wolff is not convinced that the Silver Arrows’ dominance will last much longer, though. That is according to Blick, which reports that Wolff is ‘on edge’ that Ferrari will be the team to beat – rather than Mercedes – at this weekend’s Monaco GP.
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Wolff fears that Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will be the favourites to win on the streets of the Principality, as Monaco’s roads will suit the Scuderia’s SF-26 more than Mercedes’ W17. The SF-26 is often one of, if not the best cars in slow corners so far in 2026.
Ferrari’s inferior engine compared to Mercedes’ power unit is also not expected to hold the Maranello natives back in Monaco given the lack of any long straights. Instead, the roads of Monte Carlo may help, as Hamilton’s data in Canada suggests Ferrari will be fast in Monaco.
Hamilton took his best result as a Ferrari driver to date with P2 in the Canadian Grand Prix, having exploited the SF-26’s strengths in slow corners (of which there are many in Monaco) to be fast in Montreal’s first sector. Now, Wolff fears Ferrari can beat Mercedes in Monaco.
Helmut Marko and Riccardo Patrese name Charles Leclerc as the favourite to win the Monaco GP
Many pundits are also backing Ferrari to secure their first Grand Prix win since Carlos Sainz’s victory in Mexico City back in October 2024 this weekend in Monaco. The Scuderia have not stood on the top step of a Grand Prix podium through the past 33 rounds, and still counting.
What’s ONE idea you have to fix the Monaco Grand Prix? 💡
The race has been the subject of intense debate due to a lack of overtaking
Former Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko and ex-F1 ace Riccardo Patrese also both feel that Leclerc is the more likely Scuderia driver to win this week’s Monaco GP, rather than Hamilton. Marko also believes that Monaco’s slow corners are likely to hold Mercedes back.
Marko told OE24: “[Mercedes] will struggle with the slow corners. I see Leclerc ahead there. He’s at home on those corners and my favourite in qualifying – and whoever is in front in Monaco will win the race.”
As for Patrese, the Italian goes as far as backing Leclerc and Hamilton to hand Ferrari a one-two finish in the 2026 Monaco GP. The Scuderia last had a one-two finish when Leclerc took the most recent of his eight Grand Prix wins in the 2024 United States GP ahead of Sainz.
Patrese told Vision4Sport, via quotes by Formula Passion: “At the moment, I think Ferrari will be the best in Monaco. Charles Leclerc will win ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with George Russell completing the podium.”
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