(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes chief engineer Andrew Shovlin has warned the Silver Arrows fans: The team from Brackley is increasingly feeling the hot breath of the revitalized competition from Ferrari and Red Bull on their necks in the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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Following the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, where George Russell limited the damage with second place while teammate Kimi Antonelli struggled with a loose wheel cover, Shovlin took stock. He especially highlighted the performance leaps that the opponents have achieved in recent Grands Prix.
“After Austria, we actually thought that Red Bull would be damn fast. And Ferrari definitely looked strong as well. But we have to focus primarily on ourselves. We need to ensure that our processes are right and that we bring the car reliably to the finish,” Shovlin explains in the latest edition of the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show.
Small updates instead of one big package
In stark contrast to other teams that brought sometimes massive development packages to the track, Mercedes is taking a completely different approach with the current W17. Instead of launching one huge upgrade at once, the team relies on a continuous stream of smaller modifications at every single race weekend.
“We continuously bring performance to the car. We haven’t added one massive package like some of our competitors have. But at the moment, we try to add something every week to stay ahead,” Shovlin continues.
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“We consider ourselves lucky to have a car that works on the most diverse track characteristics. Although, ‘luck’ is probably the wrong word. I think we simply did a good job designing the car to be competitive on every type of circuit.”
Preparation is key
“We put an enormous amount of preparation into each race weekend so that the car is in the right operating window from the first second and we can deliver. Recently, we had Monaco and Austria on the calendar, tracks that have given us real headaches in recent years. Being able to turn things around there was great.”
However, the focus is already shifting forward: “Spa is an extremely special track, especially when it comes to energy management, which is incredibly tricky. There is still a lot of work ahead of us if we want to start sorted on the dot.”
The opportunity for this will come next weekend: From July 17 to 19, the pinnacle of motorsport visits the traditional Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the tenth race of the season, the Belgian Grand Prix.
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