George Russell and Kimi Antonelli admit Ferrari is the team to beat in Monaco. Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli admit Ferrari has the upper hand in Monaco.

Not a weekend as favourites

For the first time this season, Mercedes finds itself in the unfamiliar position of chasing rather than leading. After dominating the opening phase of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign and winning every Grand Prix held so far, the Brackley-based team endured a difficult Friday around the streets of Monte Carlo.

The unique characteristics of the Monaco circuit appear to have reduced one of Mercedes’ biggest strengths. With limited opportunities to exploit the full power of the W17 and an increased emphasis on mechanical grip and low-speed performance, the Silver Arrows struggled to match the pace shown by Ferrari throughout both practice sessions.

In FP2, George Russell finished fourth while Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured fifth place. More notably, the championship leader ended the session half a second behind Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark lap, highlighting the challenge Mercedes faces heading into the remainder of the weekend.

Speaking to reporters after Friday’s running, both Mercedes drivers acknowledged that Monaco could prove to be their most difficult event of the season so far.

George Russell: “Ferrari was expected to be strong here”

George Russell explained that Mercedes managed to make encouraging progress between the two practice sessions, but admitted much more improvement would be required if the team hopes to fight for pole position and victory.

“We made some good improvements between FP1 and FP2, but if we want to fight for pole position and the win, we will need to make a similar step forward again between now and tomorrow,” Russell said. “This is shaping up to be the most challenging weekend of our season so far, and certainly more difficult than we had hoped.”

The British driver revealed that Ferrari’s strong performance had not come as a surprise, given the team’s historical strength around Monaco.

“At the start of the day, we expected Ferrari to be at the front because they have always been strong here. Historically, their cars, especially from a mechanical point of view, seem to suit this type of circuit very well,” he added. “That was certainly the case today, although it was also surprising to see Red Bull so competitive.”

Despite the gap to Ferrari, Russell remains optimistic that Mercedes can still close in on the frontrunners.

“We have work to do if we want to get back into the fight, but we have some ideas about where we can improve and we know there is still lap time to find. If we execute everything perfectly and maximise what we have, hopefully we can take a step forward.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli sees Ferrari as qualifying favourite

Andrea Kimi Antonelli echoed the views of his teammate and admitted that Friday had been one of the most difficult practice days Mercedes has experienced this season: “It was not the easiest Friday of the year,” Antonelli said. “I struggled with the car, particularly in the middle sector, and that limited our pace throughout the day.”

The young Italian explained that Mercedes experimented with a wide range of setup options during practice in an effort to better understand the behaviour of the W17 around Monaco’s demanding layout: “We tried many different setup configurations and collected a lot of useful data. That will help us evaluate the work we need to do overnight and determine the changes required for FP3 and qualifying,” he explained.

Antonelli also had no hesitation in identifying Ferrari as the benchmark after Friday’s action: “Ferrari looks to be in a very strong position. We know they are usually competitive in Monaco and they certainly appear to be the favourites for tomorrow,” he said.

However, the Mercedes driver is not ready to give up on the weekend just yet: “We know there is still time to improve because we have not yet found the perfect balance with the car. Hopefully we can make another step forward and put ourselves in contention tomorrow.”

While Ferrari heads into Saturday as the clear reference point thanks to the pace shown by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes will be hoping that overnight adjustments can help reduce the gap and keep the fight for pole position alive.