How COVID-19 played a part in Mercedes' domination

Mercedes may have topped the pre-season testing times, but engine unreliability proved to be a significant problem. The coronavirus pandemic therefore presented the team with a chance to address the issue and allowed its dominance to continue.

Alex Kalinauckas Nov 25, 2020, 9:56 AM

Upd: Nov 25, 2020, 10:02 AM

Mercedes' march to its seventh title double has looked as serene as ever in 2020. Ahead of the final three races of the season, it has scored 12 wins and 13 poles - only losing its 100% record in qualifying at the last race in Turkey.

But, had the campaign started as expected in Australia, Formula 1's dominant squad might well have run into a "painful" problem.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.