Mercedes boss questions Ferrari's "limitless" F1 upgrades amid budget cap era

Since Formula 1’s enforced April break, following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, it has seemed as if barely a race weekend goes by without Ferrari adding upgrades to its SF-26.

As F1 now  operates under a budget cap, development is one of many areas of expenditure subject to tight controls. Long gone are the days when leading teams had at least two wind tunnels running 24/7 as well as separate test teams running unlimited laps around privately hired circuits.

It’s natural, then, that when one team is perceived to be lavishing upgrades on its car, others begin to chafe openly.

"We're a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after the Austrian Grand Prix, where Ferrari introduced a new engine specification as well as bringing revised front wing elements, plus a handful of test items.

"In my opinion, they need to be running out of money soon, cost cap money, because we can't do that. We're simply lacking the buffer in the cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do.

"So, hopefully that's going to change towards the end of the season when they won't be able to bring any parts anymore. At least, let's say, the logic would say that and we're going to come with more."

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first grand prix victory for Ferrari after the Barcelona upgrade

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

While Red Bull has also made significant changes to its RB21, Ferrari’s SF-26 has been substantially remodelled through the season. Aside from big aerodynamic changes in Miami and Barcelona, there have been many smaller revisions to items such as wing endplates and floor-edge geometries.

It also introduced the innovative 'Macarena wing' in which the upper plane of the rear wing pivots by 180 degrees when Straight Line Mode is activated.

Less visible areas have come under scrutiny too. The FIA concluded its first Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities ranking after Monaco, in which manufacturers whose internal combustion engines were found to be underperforming the benchmark are granted budgetary breaks, extra dyno time, and permission to change certain items that would otherwise be 'frozen’ in spec until 2027.

Rather than waiting for these funds and opportunities to be unlocked, Audi and Ferrari had engine developments ready almost immediately.

Wolff claims there are no Mercedes engine developments in the immediate pipeline, though in Austria it brought a reliability-based improvement to the battery pack, which falls outside the scope of ADUO. On the chassis side, Mercedes introduced very few new components until applying a major update package in Montreal.

Other teams have done relatively little. Williams has been clear that the constraints of the budget cap force it to use certain components until the end of their projected operating 'life’, and then swap them out for development parts, rather than bringing new ideas on stream as soon as they become available. A big update is due for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Aston Martin has avoided changing the visible envelope of its car entirely, targeting what is understood to be a single and very large update around the summer break. McLaren, meanwhile has introduced relatively minor updates when they become available, though it has been labouring to perfect a new front wing in recent races and is about to introduce its own version of the Macarena wing.

"The only ones who are not slowing down are Ferrari," said Wolff. "You can see we had one big one [upgrade package] that we introduced in Montreal. We have small parts that come in between.

"I think the same for Red Bull and McLaren. It's just Ferrari seems to be limitless in that way – and then on top, they were expecting an ADUO and come with a new engine.

"So, they must have started development six months ago…"