{"id":2437,"date":"2026-09-17T15:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2437"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:20:19","slug":"mercedes-shifts-resources-to-2027-f1-car-but-prepares-final-major-w17-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/mercedes-shifts-resources-to-2027-f1-car-but-prepares-final-major-w17-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes shifts resources to 2027 F1 car but prepares final major W17 upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mercedes began developing its 2027 F1 car before the summer break<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The team has progressively transferred resources away from the championship-leading W17<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A \u201csolid\u201d final upgrade package is scheduled to debut in Malaysia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes has already shifted part of its technical operation towards its 2027 Formula 1 car but will introduce one final substantial upgrade to the championship-leading W17 in Malaysia, Toto Wolff has revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The German manufacturer holds a commanding advantage in both championships after winning 10 of the opening 14 Grands Prix. Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers\u2019 standings, while Mercedes sits 145 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors\u2019 championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That margin has allowed Mercedes to begin reallocating resources towards next season without immediately abandoning development of the W17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c2027 started a while ago, before the summer,\u201d Wolff told <em>Motorsport.com<\/em> and other selected media following the Spanish Grand Prix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the summer, we switched resources into next year, and that continues as per the plan, independent of where we\u2019re standing in the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes has followed a more restrained development programme than Ferrari and McLaren during the season. Its first major W17 package arrived at the Canadian Grand Prix, with only smaller circuit-specific changes introduced since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second and potentially final substantial package is scheduled to reach the car at the relocated Malaysian round in October. Mercedes must first negotiate the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with its current specification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we are bringing a solid upgrade in Malaysia,\u201d Wolff told <em>Sky Sports<\/em>. \u201cSo, we\u2019ve got to survive another one in Baku and let\u2019s see, but sometimes it doesn\u2019t correlate with the road so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope that it does, and hopefully that puts us on par with the others in terms of upgrades, but we never know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision reflects the balancing act facing Mercedes. Its championship position has created room to prioritise the 2027 project, but Wolff remains unwilling to consider either title secure while several rounds remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a mechanical sport. You can DNF, you can crash out,\u201d he said. \u201cIf that happens two times in a row, then suddenly what looked like a nice buffer is not there anymore because you have six races to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes therefore intends to continue approaching the remaining events individually rather than managing the championship solely around its points advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn my opinion, we just need to ignore the points until it is mathematically no longer realistic for them to win,\u201d Wolff added. \u201cUntil then, we just concentrate on each and every week and try to bring our best game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The development of the next Mercedes is expected to follow the team\u2019s established naming sequence, making the 2027 car the W18. Although next year will not introduce another wholesale technical reset, teams will have opportunities to refine the new-generation concepts that debuted under the 2026 regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes\u2019 early advantage has made the <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a> champion the first major team to disclose when it began transferring resources towards 2027. Ferrari has indicated that it remains focused on improving its current car, while McLaren has continued introducing updates in an effort to close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The W17\u2019s final major package is due to debut in Malaysia from October 2-4, one week after the championship visits Baku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the next F1 race after the Spanish Grand Prix?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next race is the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit. The event will take place from September 24-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When is the next F1 race?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next Formula 1 race is the <strong>2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku<\/strong>, with the weekend running from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26. Unlike a conventional F1 weekend, the race takes place on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is the 2026 Azerbaijan GP on Saturday?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Azerbaijan GP takes place on <strong>Saturday, September 26<\/strong>, because Sunday, September 27 is Azerbaijan&#8217;s Remembrance Day. The entire weekend has moved forward: FP1 and FP2 are on Thursday, while FP3 and qualifying take place on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What time does the 2026 Azerbaijan GP start?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Azerbaijan GP starts at <strong>15:00 local time in Baku and 12:00 UK time<\/strong> on Saturday, September 26. Qualifying begins at 16:00 local time and 13:00 UK on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Work on next season\u2019s challenger began before the summer break, while Mercedes plans to introduce a substantial final package in Malaysia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020315341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Mercedes shifts focus to 2027 but confirms major Malaysia upgrade","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Mercedes","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":93,"location":""}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19,324,16,116],"42wp_author":[93],"class_list":["post-2437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-andrea-kimi-antonelli","tag-formula-1","tag-mercedes","tag-toto-wolff","42wp_author-marcos-gil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2438,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437\/revisions\/2438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020315341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2437"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}