Mercedes is preparing itself for what looks like an unavoidable round of grid penalties for both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell before the F1 2026 season wraps up. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has come out and admitted it's almost certain both drivers will cop engine-related grid drops in the second half of the campaign. Despite the team's incredible run on track, winning all but two races so far, reliability issues have bitten hard at crucial moments.

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Antonelli and Russell have both suffered race-ending mechanical failures that have haunted the team's otherwise dominant 2026 season. Antonelli hit trouble in Barcelona while Russell's race fell apart in Canada, and these kinds of reliability gremlins tend to force teams' hands when it comes to power unit penalties. With the grid penalties looming, Mercedes knows it's just a matter of time and timing before one or both drivers take the hit.

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In other news from Wednesday, Cadillac has shaken up its leadership structure by appointing Marcin Budkowski as its new team principal. Budkowski takes over from Graeme Lowdon, who's stepping away after playing a key role in getting Cadillac's F1 entry off the ground. Lowdon, the former Marussia chief executive, leaves with the team sitting dead last in the constructors' standings having failed to score a single point in the first half of 2026.

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Lewis Hamilton continues to be one of the big winners of 2026 so far, with his resurgence at Ferrari earning him a spot among the season's standout performers. Hamilton grabbed his maiden victory for the Scuderia back in June at Barcelona and has genuinely looked like a different driver in his second year with the team. It's a far cry from where things stood at the halfway point.

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