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Mercedes backs incremental upgrades to hold off resurgent Ferrari and Red Bull

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has outlined the team's strategy of delivering small, consistent W17 updates at every race rather than a single large development package, as Ferrari and Red Bull close in.

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Mercedes backs incremental upgrades to hold off resurgent Ferrari and Red Bull
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Mercedes is betting on a steady drip of incremental upgrades to its W17 rather than a single sweeping development package, with trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin warning that Ferrari and Red Bull are mounting a genuine threat to the Brackley team’s position at the front of the 2026 Formula 1 grid.

Shovlin spoke after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where George Russell salvaged second place and team-mate Kimi Antonelli was hampered by a dislodged wheel shield. His comments came on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show and painted a picture of a team that feels the pressure building from its closest rivals.

“After Austria, we thought Red Bull were going to be really quick. Ferrari definitely looked like they’re quick,” Shovlin said. “But we just need to mainly focus on ourselves, make sure we’re operating well, we’re getting the car to the finish reliably.”

While several competitors have opted to introduce large, concentrated upgrade packages, Mercedes has taken a different path. “We haven’t done a massive kit like some of our competitors,” Shovlin explained. “But every week, we’re trying to bring performance to just keep ourselves ahead at the moment.”

Shovlin credited the team’s engineering approach for producing a car that performs consistently across a wide variety of circuits — a quality he believes has been a key differentiator this season. “We’ve done a good job at engineering a car that works across a full range of tracks,” he said, pointing to recent turnarounds at Monaco and Austria as evidence of that versatility after those venues had historically been difficult for the team.

However, Shovlin flagged the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps as a particular challenge. “Spa is a really weird track, difficult from an energy point of view,” he said. “There’s a lot of work we’ve got to do to make sure we can hit the ground running.”

The Belgian Grand Prix, the tenth round of the 2026 season, takes place at Spa-Francorchamps from 17–19 July.

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