Mercedes started the 2026 Formula 1 season with absolute dominance, winning the first three GPs of the year, but Jacques Villeneuve believes the German team already has reasons to worry. The former driver and 1997 F1 champion pointed to McLaren’s strong reaction at the Japanese GP as a warning sign for the current championship lead.
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Even with the three victories in the first three races of the year, Mercedes’ advantage may not be as comfortable as it seems. For Villeneuve, McLaren’s recent performance indicates that the title race could become more balanced throughout the season.
The German team has 135 points after three stages, with a 45-point lead over Ferrari, which appears with 90. McLaren occupies third position, even after a difficult start marked by Oscar Piastri’s absence in the first two races of the championship. Still, the British team showed strength at Suzuka, where the Australian finished in second position.
Piastri even led the race on the very first lap and seemed to control the gap to the Mercedes cars. However, the entry of the Safety Car at an unfavorable moment for him changed the scenario and complicated the situation for the McLaren driver, who ended up behind Kimi Antonelli, the race winner, but still ahead of George Russell, in fourth place.
It was precisely this performance that led Villeneuve to question whether Mercedes’ advantage is truly consistent. The Canadian highlighted that McLaren has a recent history of rapid evolution and believes the German team needs to stay alert.
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“We saw McLaren being very good at responding last year,” Villeneuve told F1 TV after the race at Suzuka. “But I would be worried if I were Mercedes now, because in the first two races it was easy. They felt safe, but after this race they don’t anymore.”
Villeneuve also highlighted that Suzuka is a circuit where car performance makes a big difference, which makes the result even more significant: “The gap is not as big as they expected, especially on a track very dependent on the car. It’s a circuit where, if your car is good, you’ll be at the front,” he added.
The 1997 champion also stated that Mercedes not securing a one-two finish in Japan reinforces the warning: “A weekend where Mercedes doesn’t finish first and second is not good. A normal weekend for Mercedes is first and second. Japan was a big deviation,” the former driver concluded.
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