Fundamental Updates
With the new regulations introduced at the beginning of 2026, it was clear that during the championship updates would make more difference than ever. Certainly, Mercedes started with a significant advantage over the rivals, but in the five races Ferrari won twice and McLaren once, a sign that the important but not overwhelming gap in the championship could gradually be eroded.
Recent statements from the team principals of the 4 top teams (Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull) suggest a philosophical choice – quite different from one team to another – at the base of every development plan.
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Mercedes (1st, 379 points): the big updates will come after summer
Toto Wolff: “McLaren has made a step forward, while we haven’t brought updates for a while. It will be a fight on developments also in the future. We have to be really strategic and understand when to introduce updates, when we think they will have the greatest impact on performance. We plan to do so, rather than introducing them at every Grand Prix as in the past. There will be a moment when others will be overtaken with an update, then others will do the same. We will bring updates and we are monitoring how many we can implement. At the moment, we are in a good position regarding the budget cap. We have tried to give more weight to the second part of the season. We will see if it will be enough.”
Ferrari (2nd, 307 points): focusing on continuity
Frederic Vasseur: “We know we have to improve on the engine front, and we will, even if the inertia on the engine is much greater than that on the chassis. The most important thing would be to maintain the pace in development. McLaren has made a huge step forward, but it does not exactly have our same philosophy because it is introducing important packages. The first was in Miami, and surely every time they introduce something they make a huge step forward, but we at Ferrari have a different approach, trying to introduce parts gradually. And we have to maintain this momentum because there are still 12 races to go. We have room for improvement on the chassis in every area and we have to keep this pace.”
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McLaren (3rd, 220 points): bursts with substantial packages
Andrea Stella: “If we want to be able to fight consistently for wins we have to focus on introducing further updates. It will be a race to bring more developments and we are back in the fight and we expect to recover another half second from now until the end of the year. We know that when McLaren understands which direction to take, it manages to develop quite effectively. The updates brought in Hungary are part of a series of improvements distributed in different phases. This was the first part and we will have more news in the next races. In our approach to the budget cap, we knew that 2026 would not have its focus at the end of the year, but in the development race. We had planned a sufficient margin to invest in updates. But at some point some teams will have to decide which season to focus on: will the 2026 or 2027 car be sent to the wind tunnel?”
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Red Bull (4th, 177 points): an eye already on 2027
Laurent Mekies: “As far as we are concerned, we have made a huge number of changes to the car between the first race and this one. To try to correct as soon as possible the big disadvantage we initially had“, and to De Telegraaf: “We are in a completely different situation compared to last year, when we were in full comeback mode and fought for the title until the end. So you won’t see us pushing this season as we did then. After the summer break, most of the attention will shift to next year’s car, which seems completely normal to me. Updates will come this year, but to a lesser extent than in 2025.”
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