2026-08-25 08:39:35

Toto Wolff has claimed that Mercedes “haven’t got the money” to develop their F1 car.

The German team has seen its early-season advantage wiped out in recent races, with McLaren’s Lando Norris winning the past two Grands Prix, and the team boss explained that the sport’s cost cap restrictions limit the upgrades they can make to their car.

Wolff said: “We haven’t got the money to put developments on the car. I said it before, we are trying to evenly split that through the season, based on our calculations of when we can bring the biggest updates and optimising the championship points. We just can’t do what we can’t do.”

However, the Mercedes boss suggested that the team could still make improvements to the car later on in the season.

Wolff explained: “That’s why it is a development race. If you bring an upgrade, each of the top teams will have a couple of tenths in it, at least, and that’s what we lose.

“So yeah, the ride is going to be tougher than at the beginning of the year. But you will see if toward the end of the season [if] they are going to be able to deploy as much stuff onto the car as they do now. Someone might have a different strategy in spending more at the beginning and in the middle of the year than toward the end.”

World championship leader Kimi Antonelli claimed after the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend that Mercedes no longer had the fastest car on the grid.

The Italian driver, who finished second behind Norris at Zandvoort, said: “I mean, for sure, we’re clearly not the fastest car anymore on the grid.

“We’re probably second or third, at least in today’s race, and McLaren has taken a huge step, ​especially since Hungary, since the big upgrade package they brought.”

However, Antonelli is “confident” that Mercedes will respond to their rivals.

He said: “I’m confident with the team. You know, the team has been working super hard on this next package that is coming up, and they just want to make sure that it’s going to work out well once we put it on.

“So for sure, in this race, it’s going to be more difficult, it’s going to be challenging, but we’re ready to do our best and to maximise every opportunity. And then hopefully it’s going to be our turn to bring the package that’s going to give us a little bit of the upper hand again.”

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