Mercedes is avoiding the “temptation” of implementing any further upgrades this year in the hope of ensuring a successful 2026 Formula 1 season.
The German marque is currently embroiled in a three-way fight for second place in this year’s Constructors’ Championship, along with Red Bull and Ferrari.
Currently, it leads that battle by 32 points – with Red Bull third and Ferrari fourth, a further four points adrift – after its double-points haul in Brazil last week.
The Brackley-based squad may have reason to feel confident to cement that supremacy, given that next week’s race in Las Vegas was won by George Russell last year.
Like all teams, Mercedes also has one eye on next season, with the new rulebook providing its own unique challenge, with many teams now forgoing developments on its current cars in a bid to plough resources into their 2026 challengers.
And, as its Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin explained, there is a balancing act between the two.
“At the track, we’re completely focused on fighting for second in the Constructors’ Championship,” Shovlin told media, including Motorsport Week.
“We have been all along, as a team, really disciplined in saying we can’t put resources back into this year in order to try and bring a late update to make our lives a bit easier.
“Because ultimately, when you start with a new set of regulations, starting on the front foot is absolutely key, and where we’ve won championships, that’s what we’ve done.
“If you look back to the most recent regulations in 2022, we started on the back foot and it’s been difficult from there onwards, so we were never going to give in to temptation and put the [current] car back in [development].
“Everyone at the track, the drivers, are all focused on delivering, and if you look at Red Bull, I mean, OK, they had a relatively recent upgrade with the floor, but by and large, the teams that we would expect to be fighting with have done similar and put a lot of resource into next year.”
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