Stella doubts Mercedes has already stopped developing the W17
Toto Wolff says Mercedes cannot afford to keep upgrading the W17. Andrea Stella has heard that argument before, and he is not buying a single word of it.
The McLaren boss has openly questioned Wolff's claim that Mercedes has effectively run out of development budget for this season's car, a claim that landed at a pointed moment in the title fight.
What did Wolff actually say?
The comments came after Lando Norris won back-to-back races for McLaren, with Ferrari and McLaren both closing on the front of the field. Speaking at Zandvoort, Wolff said Mercedes does not have the financial room to match its rivals' upgrade programs.
"We don't have the money to put developments in the car," he said.
Why does Stella not believe it?
Stella's answer was blunt.
"I would like to believe Toto, but I don't really do that," the McLaren team principal said.
He pointed instead to the extra reporting headroom every team gets inside the cost cap.
"All teams receive extra space in their reporting within the cost ceiling," he said. "If I'm right, that's about three million that you can use in the 2026 report for the calculations."
Three million is not a full upgrade program on its own. It is, however, enough to make a flat "no money" line hard to take at face value.
Does Stella expect Mercedes upgrades anyway?
He does, and he thinks the work is already well underway out of sight.
"I am sure that Mercedes, now that they see their rivals are raising the bar, will benefit from the developments that are undoubtedly taking place behind the scenes."
"The car in the wind tunnel is a lot faster"
"I'm sure the car in the wind tunnel is a lot faster than the car they have on the track."
That line matters. Wind tunnel gains that have not yet reached the circuit are exactly the kind of development that does not show up in a race weekend, and exactly the kind Stella expects to appear on the Mercedes soon enough.
"I'm pretty sure they'll have upgrades," the Italian added. "Of course it would be nice if it wasn't, but I don't even dare to think about that."
Is this really about money, or about expectations?
Publicly lowering expectations is one of the oldest tools in a team principal's kit. If Mercedes underperforms, the budget line explains it. If a package arrives and works, the recovery looks all the more impressive. Stella, sitting on top of a car that is currently winning, has every reason to make sure nobody in the paddock accepts the poverty story without asking questions first.
Related: Marko questions how rivals fund F1's upgrade blitz
One F1 fan comment on “Stella doubts Mercedes has already stopped developing the W17”
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I echo with Stella on this matter.