Four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has revealed who he believes will win this year’s Drivers’ Championship after watching the first two races of the 2026 season.
Vettel, who won all his championships during a dominating period for Red Bull, eventually ended his career following moves to Ferrari and Aston Martin, but now happily retired, the German has had his say on the current crop of drivers and who he feels will be crowned world champion come December.
Mercedes Dominating So Far
Although there have only been two races so far this season, the Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese Grand Prix, it’s very clear who the front-runners are going to be for the majority of the season, and that is Mercedes, who have picked up back-to-back 1-2 finishes with their drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
It was Russell who picked up the first win of the season Down Under, beating his teammate to top spot, but the roles reversed a week later in China, as the Italian earned his first-ever race win in Formula 1.
But, those two results have seen Mercedes already pull away from the chasing pack in the Constructors’ Championship, with Toto Wolff’s side sitting on 98 points. In second place is Ferrari, who have earned 67 points from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, and they are widely tipped to be the nearest challengers to Mercedes this year.
Sebastian Vettel’s Pick For 2026 Drivers’ Championship
While speaking about the new season and the two races so far, Vettel believes Mercedes are the sensible team to back, given how they’ve started and how their car has adapted to the new rules and regulations.
Speaking to ServusTV, as per Total Motorsport, the four-time German champion said: “On the one hand, based on what can be seen so far, it is probably not a bad choice to tip Mercedes.”
While elaborating further, Vettel then revealed who he’s backing to win the Drivers’ Championship, and unsurprisingly, he chose one of the Silver Arrows drivers.
“But quite deliberately, McLaren also runs Mercedes engines, and they have not done a bad job in recent years. However, I would pick George, because I consider him very intelligent, because I know how hard he works on himself.
“There are several drivers in the field who can do that, but in the current situation, my gut feeling would be that George, together with Mercedes, will succeed best this year.”
Upon hearing the four-time champion’s prediction, Russell didn’t really seem overly fussed, stating: “Didn’t really feel anything from hearing that, to be honest. As I’ve said for a long time, I feel ready to fight for a World Championship.
“Whether we have that comment above us or not, that does not change my approach one single bit. I’m working so hard, the team, everybody here has been working flat out to really maximise this new set of regulations.”