Mercedes F1 chief delivers terrible upgrade news for Ferrari and McLaren

Mercedes

Mercedes F1 chief delivers terrible news for Ferrari and McLaren

Mercedes are set to get even stronger

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Sunday 20 September 2026 12:27 Updated: 12:55

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Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has confirmed that the team won't have to wait much longer for further upgrades to the W17, with updates coming as soon as Malaysia.

After a strong season so far, Mercedes are on track to win both the drivers' and constructors' championships for the first time in years, with their most recent successes in each having come in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Kimi Antonelli leads team-mate George Russell by 81 points heading to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next time out, for example, while the gap back to Ferrari and McLaren stars Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris stands at 101 and 106, respectively.

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The Silver Arrows' advantage is similarly healthy in the constructors', 145 points clear of Ferrari and 197 clear of McLaren at this stage.

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Mercedes chief shares plan on W17 upgrades

Despite their strong position, and the fact that Toto Wolff insisted they couldn't afford to keep up with their rivals in the development race after the Dutch Grand Prix last month, Shovlin has now revealed that further updates are coming.

Mercedes won't have anything significant introduced in Baku, Shovlin confirmed, but from then on out, they hope they will once again establish themselves as the leading team on the grid after recent challenges from the likes of McLaren and Ferrari.

“We haven't got much new coming to Baku," Shovlin confirmed on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show. "But actually that's a circuit that's more about drag than downforce.

"The car was good in Monza [where Kimi Antonelli won from P19], hopefully it will work well in Baku. But, you need a car that can have a good straight line speed.

“There's other things, though, you need in Baku, like the sort of street circuit nature, almost that Monaco-esque being able to deal with the low speed, keeping all the wheels on the ground."

Shovlin: Upgrades coming from Malaysia

Shovlin continued, outlining Mercedes' plans for upgrades from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia which is set to take place in early October - one week after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"And then the updates, well, they're going to come [from] Malaysia onwards and hopefully we'll make a decent step," Shovlin added.

“I don't think we're going to be out front by miles, but hopefully we'll be back into a position where we can really go into qualifying knowing that we're fighting for pole.”

The exact nature of these upgrades is unconfirmed, but it is likely it will be a mix of aerodynamic and power unit updates.

Despite many in the sport feeling they already have the best power unit, the FIA found that Mercedes were behind the benchmark Red Bull when it came to their internal combustion engine, meaning Mercedes can make one upgrade to their power unit before the season is out through the ADUO system.

Their new spec power unit is reportedly due some time in October, but at what grand prix it remains to be seen.