‘They need to be running out of money soon' – Wolff questions Ferrari upgrade rate

"We're a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do," says Toto Wolff of Mercedes' nearest rivals; watch every session from the British Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One from Friday as the Sprint format returns

>Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

>Mercedes boss Toto Wolff doubts Ferrari will be able to maintain their current scale of car development through the season against the constraints of Formula 1's budget cap, reckoning they should be "running out of money soon".

>The opening months of F1's new regulation era has seen most teams introduce aerodynamic updates to their cars on almost a race-by-race basis, with larger packages regularly proving to have a clear impact on the pecking order.

>Ferrari are second to Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship after eight races with Lewis Hamilton's win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last month the only time the Silver Arrows have been beaten on race day so far.

>Ferrari's strong performance in Barcelona was aided by their introduction of an eight-item aerodynamic upgrade package to their SF-26 car. They brought three circuit-specific updated parts to the previous event in Monaco and then four more revised items, including some practice test items, to last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, where they experienced a more difficult race.

>Mercedes, by contrast, have introduced four car changes in total since their last big update at the Canadian Grand Prix four races ago, although continue to be the team to beat with Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull - who brought the biggest update to Austria and found sizeable gains - all eager to catch up through in-season development.

>Given all teams must adhere to a yearly budget cap - which was raised to $215m for 2026 owing to the scale of the new chassis regulations - or face sanctions, Wolff is hopeful Mercedes have more development spend in hand over their Italian rivals to deploy later in the season.

>"On the chassis, we're always bringing small enhancements here and there, because we're a little bit surprised that Ferrari can throw these huge updates at the car in the way they do," said the Mercedes team principal.

>Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

>"In my opinion they need to be running out of money soon, cost cap money, because we can't do that. We're simply lacking the buffer in cost cap to be able to bring so many parts in the way they do.

>"Hopefully that's going to change towards the end of the season when they won't be able to bring any parts anymore. At least the logic would say that, and we're going to come with more."

>In addition to fresh chassis changes, Ferrari also brought their first revised engine of the year to Austria after being one of three manufacturers granted two upgrade opportunities under the ADUO system. The Scuderia played down the significance of that first upgrade, with a bigger step forward expected later in the year.

>Mercedes have been awarded one engine upgrade opportunity to deploy this season although Wolff has said that "at the moment there's no upgrade planned".

>Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

>On the general rate of development being seen in the fight at the front, Wolff added: "The only ones who are not slowing down is Ferrari. Between McLaren, Red Bull and ourselves, you can see we had one big one [upgrade] that we introduced in Montreal.

>"We have small parts that come in between. I think the same for Red Bull and McLaren. It's just Ferrari seems to be limitless in that way, and then on top they were expecting ADUO and come with a new engine already, so they must have started development six months ago.

>Mercedes restored a one-two in the Drivers' Championship last weekend in Austria as George Russell returned to winning ways for the first time since the season-opening round in Australia back in March.

>Having fallen 68 points behind title-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli when he failed to score points in Monaco, Russell admitted he arrived at the next race in Barcelona a week later at "quite a low point".

>But helped by Antonelli's first DNF of the season in Spain during the race's closing laps when running ahead of his team-mate in second place, Russell's victory last Sunday cut the Italian's advantage to 40 points heading into his home British Grand Prix this week.

>Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

>Reflecting on pre-season title favourite Russell's difficult run after victory in Melbourne, which was followed by five successive Antonelli wins, Wolff said: "It's such a high-pressure environment. You have a young team-mate and that's your year. Then he's so strong, you have a DNF, you're falling behind.

>"Like every top athlete, you can kind of get yourself in a spiral. And it's not a spiral of negativity, it's more a spiral of overthinking. What can I do more? Where do I need to optimise? And sometimes you forget about the co-essence, this is just driving the car.

>"'Just drive' is something that we talk a lot about. It's just being in the moment of driving the car. Don't overthink too much about the strategy, what Kimi's doing. Drive the car as fast as you can, look at the tyre temperatures and don't burn them, so that's the only metrics you need to look at."

>Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

>Thursday July 2 2pm: Drivers' Press Conference 6pm: The F1 Show

>Friday July 3 7.40am: F1 Academy Practice 8.45am: F3 Practice 9.55am: F2 Practice 12pm: British GP Practice (session starts at 12.30pm)* 1.55pm: F3 Qualifying* 2.50pm: F2 Qualifying* 3.35pm: British GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 4.30pm)* 5.55pm: F1 Academy Qualifying

>Saturday July 4 9.30am: F3 Sprint* 11am: British GP Sprint build-up* 12pm: BRITISH GP SPRINT* 1.40pm: F2 Sprint* 2.50pm: British GP Qualifying build-up* 4pm: BRITISH GP QUALIFYING* 6pm: F1 Academy Race 1 6.45pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

>Sunday July 5 8.20am: F3 Feature Race* 9.55am: F1 Academy Race 2* 11.10am: F2 Feature Race* 12.55pm: Grand Prix Sunday: British GP build-up* 3pm: THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX* 5pm: Chequered Flag: British GP reaction 6pm: Ted's Notebook

>Next up in the 2026 Formula 1 season is the big one, a Sprint weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix - live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky One with coverage from Thursday to Sunday's race at 3pm. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime