Toto Wolff urged caution when analyzing the big performance jumps of Formula 1 teams in 2026 after the evolution shown by McLaren at the Hungarian GP. The Mercedes boss believes that changes in the category’s balance need to be carefully evaluated.
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McLaren brought its first major upgrade since the Miami GP to Hungaroring, and the package delivered results: Lando Norris secured the first pole position of the year and converted the advantage into his first grand prix win as the current world champion.
In the first half of 2026, teams have shown significant gains after new updates, something Wolff attributes to the immaturity of the current chassis regulations. As each team follows a different schedule to introduce parts, performance can fluctuate greatly throughout the season.
Mercedes, which has not presented a major package since the Canadian GP at the end of May, sees an intense development battle until the end of the championship. For Wolff, it is necessary to avoid quick conclusions about who is or is not competitive: “When you ask artificial intelligence who the favorites for Budapest were, the artificial intelligence will say McLaren,” Wolff told the press. “Because they have been the dominant team at Hungaroring in recent years, I think it was a 1-2 last year.”
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The executive highlighted that the Hungarian circuit favors McLaren, but warned about the variations caused by updates. “So, definitely, it is one of the good tracks for them, not very good for us, so we need to be careful not to swing, you know, from ‘suddenly everyone is competitive’ to ‘suddenly a team is no longer competitive.’”
Despite the caution, Wolff acknowledged the rival’s progress and stated that the development battle will be decisive. “They definitely took a step. They remain in the fight. We haven’t brought an update for some time, and you can see this will be a development battle from now on.”
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