Mercedes boss makes shocking revelation about F1 title battle

Toto Wolff has made the extraordinary claim that Mercedes “haven’t got the money” to match the development rate of its Formula 1 rivals. 

Mercedes dominated the start of the season by winning the first six races but Ferrari and McLaren have each claimed two victories in the last six. Both teams have been bringing upgrades to improve their cars and subsequently close the gap to Mercedes at an aggressive rate. 

Lando Norris secured his second consecutive victory either side of the F1 summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix, beating Mercedes pair Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. 

Mercedes has not introduced a major upgrade since the Canadian Grand Prix in May, while McLaren and Ferrari have been bringing new parts at most races since. 

“We haven't got the money to put developments on the car,” Wolff said. 

“I said it before, 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. We just can't do what we can't do.”

Asked why Mercedes does not appear to have the same financial might as its rivals when it comes to car development, Wolff replied: “Did we spend too much at the beginning in the initial development? I don't think so. 

“I just think we're an organisation that has a certain size and infrastructure. And, you know, in that respect, we had a really quick car.

“We left between 50 and 100 points on the table with reliability issues and that would have given us a little bit more of a gap than we have today.

“Other than that, we're just continuing to execute what the plan was and what the financial realities mean for us.” 

Since the start of the 2026 season, Ferrari has introduced a total of 40 new updates, ahead of Red Bull and McLaren on 38. Mercedes, meanwhile, has only added 24 items to its W17. 

“You will see how towards the end of the season if they're going to be able to deploy as much stuff onto the car as they do now,” Wolff added. 

“Someone might have a different strategy in spending more at the beginning and in the middle of the year than towards the end.” 

McLaren doubts Mercedes claim 

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said he “didn’t believe” Wolff’s claim about Mercedes’ finances. 

“I would like to believe you, but I actually don't believe you. I don't believe it, because thanks to the 2027 power unit regulations, all teams will have an allowance in their reporting for the cost-cap,” Stella said. 

“I'm sure that Mercedes, having seen that the rivals are kind of elevating the game, I'm sure they will now cash in on their development. Surely, it's happening on the ground.

“I'm sure the car in the windtunnel is quite a bit faster than the car they have on track, and they will want to now convert some of this potential into upgrades that make it to the real car. 

“I'm pretty sure that they will have upgrades. Obviously, it would be good if not, but I don't even want to think it.” 

Wolff questioned how Ferrari was able to bring so many upgrades earlier this year, and claimed the Italian squad "need to be running out of cost cap money soon”. 

This prompted a spiky response from Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, who hit back at Wolff’s “quite ironic” comments. 

"I found it quite ironic coming from Toto and Mercedes," the Frenchman said. 

"But when Red Bull is developing or when Mercedes is developing they are geniuses; when we are developing we are cheating! 

“I think you have to calm down with this. We didn't bring more parts than Red Bull or another one. I don't know if it was a joke or…"