Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff says his squad "hasn't got the money" to develop its 2026 car as much as McLaren and Ferrari are doing.
Both McLaren and Ferrari have made significant progress in recent months by piling on upgrades to their respective cars, which has turned both into multiple race winners.
Meanwhile, a more conservative upgrade plan at Mercedes, with little significant updates since May's Canadian Grand Prix, has eroded the Brackley squad's initial dominance.
Speaking after McLaren's reigning world champion Lando Norris took his second consecutive grand prix win of 2026 in Zandvoort, Wolff said Mercedes isn't able to match what its rivals are doing in the 2026 development race.
When asked by Motosport.com if those development decisions are now starting to become increasingly uncomfortable in light of McLaren's rapid progress, Wolff said his team's hands are tied with how it has partitioned its $215m cost cap allowance.
"We haven't got the money to put developments on the car. I said before that 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. But we just can't do what we can't do," the Austrian said.
"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 you lose. So, yeah, the ride has been a bit tougher than at the beginning of the year."
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
When pressed on why Mercedes hasn't got the cost cap budget to bring upgrades when McLaren and Ferrari have, he replied: "Well, you will see towards the end of the season whether 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 the middle of the year than towards the end."
Mercedes isn't expected to bring any significant upgrades to the W17 until F1 heads overseas again, starting with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the start of October.
Wolff pointed out that the picture would have looked differently if Mercedes hadn't struggled as much with the reliability of its power unit, which has cost both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell several dozens of points thus far and will lead to grid penalties down the line.
"Did we spend too much at the beginning and the initial development? I don't think so," he added. "I just think we are an organisation with a certain size and infrastructure.
"In that respect we had a really quick car. We left between 50 and 100 points on the table due to reliability issues. That would have given us a little bit more of a gap than we have today. And other than that, we are just continuing to execute what the plan was and what the financial realities mean for us."
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Originally published by motorsport.com —
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