F1 constructors' title: Mercedes eye Brazil clinch as Red Bull and McLaren tie on 355 points
Mercedes lead Ferrari by 133 points with five rounds left and could seal the teams' title in Brazil. Behind them, Red Bull and McLaren are level on 355 points in the fight for third.
The drivers' title gets most of the attention as Andrea Kimi Antonelli closes in, but the 2026 constructors' championship is nearly settled too. After the United States Grand Prix, Mercedes lead Ferrari by 133 points with five rounds left. Behind them, Red Bull and McLaren head to Mexico City level on 355 points in a straight fight for third place.
The standings after Austin
| Pos | Team | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 607 | 12 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 474 | 2 |
| 3 | Red Bull | 355 | 2 |
| 3 | McLaren | 355 | 2 |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 102 | 0 |
| 6 | Alpine | 69 | 0 |
| 7 | Haas | 30 | 0 |
| 8 | Audi | 23 | 0 |
| 9 | Williams | 12 | 0 |
| 10 | Aston Martin | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | Cadillac | 0 | 0 |
The drivers' totals add up. Antonelli (365) and George Russell (242) give Mercedes its 607, and Lewis Hamilton (241) and Charles Leclerc (233) make up Ferrari's 474.
When can Mercedes clinch?
There are no sprints left this season and no point for the fastest lap, so a team can score at most 43 points in a race, from a one-two finish (25 + 18). Five races remain: Mexico City, São Paulo, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That leaves Ferrari a theoretical maximum of 215 more points.
In Mexico: Four races would remain after Sunday, worth up to 172 points. Mercedes would need to stretch the gap from 133 to at least 172. A tie on points would go to Mercedes, because they have far more wins. That means outscoring Ferrari by 39 points in one race, which only a Mercedes one-two with Ferrari taking four points or fewer would do. A clinch this weekend is possible but very unlikely.
In Brazil: Here the sums turn in Mercedes' favour. Only three races, worth up to 129 points, would remain after São Paulo. If Mercedes simply keep their current 133-point lead through Mexico and Brazil, the title is theirs. To take the fight to Las Vegas, Ferrari would need to outscore Mercedes by at least five points across the next two weekends combined, because a tie on points would again go to Mercedes on wins.
Ferrari can at least point to Austin, where Leclerc's second and Hamilton's fourth earned 30 points against Mercedes' 29. Antonelli won while Russell finished eighth.
Red Bull v McLaren: dead level for third
Going into Austin, McLaren were seven points clear, on 339 to Red Bull's 332. In Austin, Max Verstappen finished third and Isack Hadjar sixth, worth 23 points to Red Bull. McLaren's Lando Norris (fifth) and Oscar Piastri (seventh) added 16. That wiped out the gap exactly.
Momentum has been with Red Bull. Verstappen won back-to-back races at the relocated Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang and in Singapore this month. That followed a sidepod, floor and cooling upgrade introduced in Azerbaijan, which appears to have fixed the drivability problems that held the RB22 back early in the year. McLaren's form has stalled since its Hungary floor update. A double non-score in Baku was especially costly, and team principal Andrea Stella has promised further upgrades in stages over the final rounds.
Verstappen's 129-point gap to Antonelli is now larger than the 125 points left, so he is out of the drivers' title race. That leaves Red Bull free to focus on the teams' battle and on his fight for second in the drivers' standings, where he is six points behind Russell.
The midfield is all but settled
Racing Bulls (102) have a 33-point cushion over Alpine (69) in fifth. Further back, Haas, Audi, Williams and Aston Martin are separated by 23 points. Newcomers Cadillac have yet to score.
Key takeaways
- Mercedes lead Ferrari by 133 points with up to 215 points left for each team.
- A Mexico clinch needs a 39-point swing; in Brazil, holding the current gap is enough.
- Red Bull and McLaren are tied on 355 points, each with two wins.
- Red Bull scored 23 points to McLaren's 16 in Austin, wiping out a seven-point deficit.
FAQ
How many points can a team score per race in 2026? A maximum of 43, from a one-two finish. There are no sprints left this season and no fastest-lap bonus point.
Can Mercedes win the constructors' title in Mexico? Only in theory. They would need a one-two finish with Ferrari scoring four points or fewer.
Who is third in the constructors' standings? Red Bull and McLaren are tied on 355 points. Each team has two wins, so the next tiebreaker is the number of second places.
Sources: Crash.net, RacingNews365, Formula1.com, FIA, Grande Prêmio