Mercedes has already started developing the car that will compete in the 2027 Formula 1 season, but that does not mean the team has stopped working on the W17. Even with an increasing advantage in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, Toto Wolff still prefers to keep his feet on the ground in the final stretch of 2026.
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Mercedes seems to be heading towards both titles, but Wolff does not consider the battle settled. For the Mercedes boss, it only takes a sequence of problems for an apparently comfortable lead to quickly diminish: “It’s a mechanical sport. You can retire. You can crash and be out,” said the Austrian.
The concern grows when he considers the possibility of two consecutive bad results. “And if that happens twice in a row, suddenly what seemed like a comfortable lead no longer exists, because you have six races remaining.”
For this reason, Wolff avoids following the standings thinking about the titles before they are secured. Mercedes prefers to focus its efforts on each stage and seek the best possible result. “Until then, we just focus on each week and try to do our best,” added the team principal.
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The team also continues working on the 2026 car. An improvement in the power unit is expected to arrive soon, while new updates to the chassis are also anticipated. Even leading both championships, Mercedes has not completely stopped the development of the W17.
At the same time, the project for 2027 has already left the drawing board. Wolff confirmed that the team has started developing the next car, which should be called the W18, following the naming pattern used by Mercedes.
The work, according to the team principal, started some time ago and is not something recent: “It started a while ago, well before summer,” concluded the director.
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