Mercedes reveal development trade-off approach - and what they can still learn

Mercedes have outlined their F1 development plan and the trade-off between the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

The Silver Arrows are still getting on top of their W16 challenger and learning lessons that will aid the development of their 2026 challenger when F1’s new wave of regulations are introduced.

F1 teams are having to balance their competitive prospects this season alongside preparing for the sport’s major rules overhaul coming into effect in 2026. For those outside of championship contention, the decision to switch focus fully onto next year is easier than for teams fighting at the sharp-end of the grid.

Mercedes expect teams to bring fewer development items to their respective challengers as the 2025 season progresses.

Speaking at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Mercedes communications chief and team representative Bradley Lord told select media including Crash.net: “Obviously, every team development-wise is looking at 2026 and I think we'll see very little on the Friday declarations in terms of new parts apart from circuit-specific wings and things like that in the second half of the season.

“So that's going to be a much lighter document than maybe it would be in a more normal season without the big change that's coming. And I think that's going to be true for every team and only logical.

“But that doesn't mean we stop learning just because we haven't got aerodynamic performance or upgrades coming to the car. So we'll be aiming to learn as much as we can particularly around tyre management, how we're working the tyres, how we're getting the most from them and getting temperature out of them which has been one of the things that we've struggled with at some races this season.

“So that work will be ongoing also because that learning isn't specific to this generation of car. It's relevant for every racing car that we'll make in the future.”

Mercedes turning attention to 2026

Mercedes currently sit third in the constructors' championship but are just 24 points behind second-placed Ferrari. 

When pressed by Crash.net if Mercedes are done in terms of ‘big’ upgrades for the 2025 season, Lord replied: “It would be surprising to see anyone bringing big upgrades from this point onwards.

“It kind of slightly depends on the semantics of big, whether that means lots of items on the list of declarations or whether it means lap time and things like that.

“But we often see that actually where the development items dry up you can still make a lot of progress in your understanding and learning about the car even with a relatively static configuration performance-wise.

“So we'll be aiming to do that and just race as hard as we can for the second part of the season. We're in a close fight with two other teams for ultimately P2 in the championship and we'll be giving it everything we've got to end up there at the end of the year.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff then confirmed after Sunday’s race in Budapest that the Silver Arrows have now fully switched onto 2026 development.

“There's no more upgrades,” Wolff told media including Crash.net. “I think everything is completely focused and concentrated on next year.

“Now we know that we have a more stable platform that's going to give us some goodness. I think let's see how we can optimise checks and engineering in terms of finding the right set-ups that suit it. And aim to be as competitive as we can.”