Mercedes boss Toto Wolff questions Ferrari’s car upgrade rate amid fast F1 2026 development race F1 News

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff doubts Ferrari will be able to maintain the current scale of their car’s development for the season against the constraints of Formula 1’s budget cap, believing they will “run out of money soon”.

The opening months of F1’s new regulation era have seen most teams introduce aerodynamic updates to their cars on an almost race-by-race basis, with larger packages regularly having a clear impact on the pecking order.

Ferrari is second behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship after eight races with Lewis Hamilton’s win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last month, beaten by the Silver Arrows on race day so far.

Ferrari’s strong performance at Barcelona was aided by the introduction of an eight-item aerodynamic upgrade package to their SF-26 car. They brought three circuit-specific updated parts to the previous event in Monaco and then four more revised items, including some practice test items, to last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, where they experienced a tougher race.

By contrast, Mercedes have made a total of four car changes since their last major update at the Canadian Grand Prix four races ago, although remain the teams to beat with Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull – who brought the biggest updates in Austria and made significant gains – all keen to catch up through in-season development.

All teams must adhere to an annual budget cap – which was raised to $215 million for 2026 due to the scale of the new chassis regulations – or face bans, with Wolff hopeful that Mercedes will spend more development on their Italian rivals to deploy later in the season.

“On the chassis, we’re always making small improvements here and there, because we’re a bit surprised how Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car,” said the Mercedes team chief.

“I think they’re going to have to run out of money very soon, spending cap money, because we can’t afford to do that. We lack the buffer of a cost cap for the way they’re going to be able to bring in so many parts.

“Hopefully that’s going to change at the end of the season when they can’t bring in any more parts. At least logic will say that, and we’ll bring in more.”

Alongside the new chassis changes, Ferrari brought their first revised engine of the year to Austria as one of the three manufacturers granted two upgrade opportunities under the ADUO system. The Scuderia played down the significance of that first upgrade, with a major move expected later in the year.

Mercedes have been offered an engine upgrade to deploy this season although Wolff says there are “no plans to upgrade at the moment”.

Regarding the general rate of development seen in the fight at the front, Wolff added: “The only ones who are not slowing down are Ferrari. Between McLaren, Red Bull and ourselves, you can see that we had a big (upgrade) that we introduced in Montreal.

“There are small parts between us. I think the same for Red Bull and McLaren. It’s just that Ferrari seems to be limitless, and then they were expecting ADUO and already coming with a new engine, so they must have started development six months ago.

“I hope the rules are the same for everyone.”

‘A spiral of overthinking’ – Wolff on how Russell had to ‘just drive’ after Antonelli’s run.

Mercedes made it one-two in the Drivers’ Championship last weekend in Austria as George Russell returned to victory for the first time since the season-opening round in Australia in March.

Having failed to score points in Monaco, 68 points behind title-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli, Russell admitted he reached “quite a few points” at the next race in Barcelona a week later.

But aided by Antonelli’s first DNF of the season in Spain at the end of the race while ahead of his second-placed teammate, Russell’s win last Sunday cut the Italian’s advantage to 40 points heading into this week’s home British Grand Prix.

Reflecting on pre-season title favorite Russell’s tough run after his win in Melbourne, which followed Antonelli’s five wins in a row, Wolff said: “It’s a high-pressure environment. You have a young teammate and it’s your year. Then he’s so strong, you have a DNF, you’re falling behind.

“Like every top athlete, you can spiral yourself. And it’s not a spiral of negativity, it’s a spiral of overthinking. What more can I do? Where do I need to optimize? And sometimes you forget the bottom line, it’s just driving.

“‘Just drive’ is something we talk about a lot. It’s just in the moment of driving. Don’t worry too much about strategy, what the km is doing. Drive as fast as you can, watch the temperature of the tires and don’t burn them, so that’s the only metric you have to look at.”

Sky Sports F1’s British GP schedule

Thursday, July 2
2pm: Drivers press conference
6pm: The F1 Show

Friday, July 3
7.40am: F1 Academy practice
8.45am: Exercised F3
9.55am: F2 practice
12.00pm: British GP Practice (Session starts at 12.30pm)*
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying*
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying*
3.35pm: British GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 4.30pm)*
5.55pm: F1 Academy Qualifying

Saturday 4 July
9.30am: F3 Sprint*
11am: British GP Sprint Build-up*
12pm: British GP Sprint*
1.40pm: F2 Sprint*
2.50pm: British GP Qualifying Build-up*
4pm: British GP Qualifying*
6pm: F1 Academy Race 1
6.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Sunday, July 5
8.20am: F3 Feature Race*
9.55am: F1 Academy Race 2*
11.10am: F2 Feature Race*
12.55pm: Grand Prix Sunday: British GP build-up*
3pm: British Grand Prix*
5pm: Checkered flag: British GP reaction
6pm: Ted’s Notebook

*Also on Sky Sports main events

Next up is the big one of the 2026 Formula 1 season, the Sprint Weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix – races from Thursday to Sunday at 3pm with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime