Mercedes’ remarkable run of podium finishes at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season has ended at 19 consecutive Grands Prix, leaving the team level with its own record from 2014. The streak came to an end at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where neither George Russell nor Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in the top three. However, even if Mercedes had extended its run, it would still have remained a long way from Ferrari’s extraordinary all-time record of 53 consecutive races with at least one driver on the podium.
Mercedes equals its 2014 F1 podium record but falls short of a new milestone
On the very weekend when Mercedes mathematically secured the 2026 Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship, the Brackley-based team saw another impressive achievement come to an end. Having started its podium streak at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Mercedes had placed at least one driver in the top three at every race for 19 consecutive Grands Prix.
That consistency had put the Silver Arrows in a position to establish a new Formula 1 record for consecutive podium finishes from the beginning of a season. However, the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos brought the sequence to a halt, with George Russell finishing fourth and Andrea Kimi Antonelli fifth.
As a result, Mercedes equalled rather than surpassed the achievement recorded by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg during the 2014 Formula 1 season.
There is an important distinction between the two campaigns. In 2014, the Formula 1 calendar featured exactly 19 races, meaning Mercedes managed to place at least one driver on the podium at every Grand Prix throughout the entire championship.
In 2026, Mercedes matched that remarkable 19-race sequence from the start of the season, but its failure to reach the podium in Brazil prevented the team from setting a new benchmark.
Ferrari’s incredible 53-race podium streak remains the all-time F1 record
While Mercedes has demonstrated exceptional consistency, the outright Formula 1 record for consecutive Grands Prix with at least one driver finishing on the podium still belongs to Ferrari.
Between the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix and the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari achieved an astonishing sequence of 53 consecutive races with at least one car finishing in the top three.
The achievement remains particularly remarkable because it stretched across multiple championship campaigns. Ferrari’s uninterrupted run covered the final two races of the 1999 season and the entirety of the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.
It was a period of extraordinary consistency for the Maranello team, whose sustained podium presence established a benchmark that remains exceptionally difficult to challenge, even with the much longer Formula 1 calendars of the modern era.
The scale of Ferrari’s achievement becomes even clearer when compared with Mercedes’ second-place position in the all-time rankings. Between the beginning of the 2014 season and the 2015 British Grand Prix, Mercedes recorded 28 consecutive races with at least one podium finish.
That sequence, impressive in its own right, represents only slightly more than half of Ferrari’s historic 53-race total.
Mercedes’ 2026 campaign has therefore produced another significant statistical achievement, with its opening 19-race podium streak matching the team’s perfect 2014 season. Yet Ferrari’s remarkable record from the turn of the millennium continues to stand as the ultimate benchmark for sustained podium consistency in Formula 1.
Leave a Reply