McLaren rubbishes Toto Wolff ‘no money’ claim: ‘I don’t believe it’

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has given short shrift to the idea that Mercedes does not have the ability to develop at the same rate as its rivals for the remainder of 2026.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claimed after the Dutch Grand Prix that the team “haven’t got the money” within the cost cap to allow for further upgrades, beyond what is already in the works for the last portion of the season.

McLaren team boss disputes Mercedes’ ‘don’t have the money’ upgrade claim

McLaren has managed to work its way towards the front of the field as a two-part upgrade in Hungary and Zandvoort helped Lando Norris towards competing for two wins in a row, which the reigning World Champion achieved.

Mercedes had been the runaway package at the start of the season with the W17, but with Ferrari having brought consistent upgrades to the SF-26 and McLaren’s having worked as planned in targeted areas, their development plans have borne fruit through the year so far.

The championship leaders, by comparison, have not brought updates as large as their rivals, with Wolff claiming the team “just can’t do what we can do” due to the $215m [£157.6m] cap on spend through a season.

Stella, though, does not believe this to be true – pointing to potential additional budgetary headroom, owing to 2027 engines moving to a greater internal combustion capacity which, in turn, he believes Mercedes will likely utilise if required.

Put to him by PlanetF1.com and other media in Zandvoort that Mercedes may not update at its rivals’ pace, Stella replied: “I would like to believe you, but I actually don’t believe you, and I don’t believe it because thanks to the 2027 power unit regulations.

“All teams will have an allowance in their reporting for the cost cap, and if I’m not wrong, it’s like 3 million that you can use in the 2026 reporting for cost cap calculations, and I’m sure that Mercedes, having seen that the rivals have kind of elevated the game, I’m sure they will now cash in on their development.

“That, surely, is happening in the background.

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“I’m sure the car in the wind tunnel is quite a bit faster than the car they have on track, and they will want to now convert some of this potential into upgrades that make it to the real car.

“I’m just pretty sure that they will have upgrades. Obviously, it would be good if not, but I don’t even want to think it.”

Norris currently sits fourth in the Drivers’ standings after his Dutch Grand Prix victory, while McLaren is third in the Constructors’ table, 162 points behind Mercedes.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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