Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle has fired a warning shot to Mercedes, believing that rivals will catch up following the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
The start of the 2026 season has seen ruthless domination from Mercedes, with three consecutive race wins for the Silver Arrows: one for George Russell and two for Kimi Antonelli.
But Japan marked a change in the competitive order, as a resurgent McLaren used Japan to stake its claim as Mercedes’ nearest challenger.
The race was a stark wake-up call for Ferrari; the Scuderia found itself demoted to third by the chequered flag, behind Piastri, and having battled Norris in qualifying.
Brundle believes that, despite the Mercedes’ dominant start to the season, Ferrari are poised to make a significant leap forward with performance, hinting at an open championship.
“I think this championship is wide open, and we’ll see with this enforced spring break a lot of changes when we get to Miami, and through the spring and summer,” Brundle said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
“Because I think Ferrari will find a lot with their power unit and their deployment and with the delivery of their power, I think they’ll improve a lot.”
Double threat to Mercedes in 2026?
Brundle cited the dramatic turnaround from McLaren, but was confident Ferrari could weather the storm and challenge Mercedes, firing a warning shot to the Brackley marque.
“McLaren seems very confident that they know what to do with their car to go faster as well, but with the top three teams, I think it is going to be absolutely wild, and Ferrari will be right in there,” he said.
“Mercedes won’t stand still either, and they’ll come back from Japan, where Antonelli’s pace on the hard compound wasn’t absolutely extraordinary, thinking: ‘Yeah, we’ve got a race, we’ve got a challenge on our hands, so those two teams are coming.”
Brundle’s comments are optimistic on face value, given the significant pace advantage Mercedes enjoys over its rivals. However, F1’s development race in 2026 could yield surprises, but Ferrari and McLaren need to act fast to keep Mercedes within reach.
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