Racing Avenue — The money fight, by the numbers

3/3

The development race

Mercedes won the first six races. Since then, Ferrari and McLaren have taken two wins each

2026 cost cap: $215MLast major Mercedes update: Canada2027 engine rules: ~$3M allowanceWolff vs Ferrari fight: June, revived now

Report · via F1.com, Sky Sports F1 and the FIA regulations

Captionselect or hit Copy caption

The numbers behind the money fight between Toto Wolff, Andrea Stella and Ferrari.

Mercedes won the first six races of the new regulation season. Across the next six, Ferrari and McLaren took two wins each. McLaren's bigger step is linked to an upgrade package from around Hungary onwards, and Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix. Mercedes' last major upgrade package was the Canadian Grand Prix in late May, with mainly smaller revisions since.

The 2026 cost cap is $215 million, raised because of the new regulations. The 2027 power unit rules give teams a cost cap reporting allowance of about $3 million that can be used in 2026 calculations, which Stella cited in rejecting Wolff's claim that Mercedes are out of money.

Wolff has separately said Mercedes have "the most powerful power unit" as a complete package, even though the FIA's ADUO system, which measures internal combustion engines only, placed Red Bull first and gave Mercedes one extra homologation for 2026 and one for 2027.

📸📰 via the F1.com classification, the Sky Sports F1 report, and the FIA cost cap and engine regulations

#F1 #TotoWolff #Mercedes #AndreaStella #CostCap