Mercedes plans bold W16 development test at Hungarian GP

Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will revert to a previous-specification rear suspension with the W16 car at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The move is part of the Mercedes’ strategy to understand where in its recent development path it may have taken a misstep after a tough recent run.

Mercedes enters potentially season-defining weekend in Hungary

Though Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix, it’s been a rough period for the Brackley operation since the Spanish Grand Prix.

Mercedes sits third in the Constructors’ Championship but lost ground to Ferrari in that competition last weekend in Belgium.

Both Russell and Antonelli endured difficult weekends in Spa with concerns rising that development has taken the W16 down a cul de sac.

The team’s usual post-event review meeting on Monday is understood to have been dominated by efforts to unravel the current predicament, given the lack of updates set to follow F1’s summer break.

New rules for next year mean teams have turned their attentions to the F1 2026 design, with few upgrades expected across the field.

Maximising current performance, therefore, takes on an even greater importance as it has the potential to define the back half of the campaign.

With that in mind, the squad has opted to roll back one of its updates this weekend.

“This weekend we were going back on the old suspension and that hopefully will bring the feeling back,” Antonelli confirmed.

“Since we moved to that suspension, apart from Canada, I’ve been struggling to drive the car and getting the confidence.

“Probably also my side, I didn’t adapt the best because I was always trying to keep my style and to drive the car the way I wanted, but it didn’t really work out.

“George, on the other hand, has been adapting better. Also, he has a different driving style, but he’s been able to adapt a bit better and I think that’s what’s been hurting me in this European season.

“Hopefully, by going back to the old suspension, it will bring back a bit the feeling I had prior to the start of the European season.”

More on the Mercedes W16 performance woes

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Mercedes is attempting to fast track its understanding of its recent dip in form after the drivers complained of a car that has become far less compliant than it was earlier in the year.

“The car isn’t feeling as nice to drive at the moment as it once did, lacking rear stability, whereas at the start of the year it was much better,” Russell explained after the Belgian GP.

“I think Kimi and I are collectively making more mistakes because the car is more challenging to drive.

“It could be as simple as just reverting back to something that we had earlier in the season,” he added.

“Of course, you can’t do that with the front wing, but in terms of the rest of the setup… But I don’t know, it seems quite strange how we’ve gone so far backwards.”

In the context of the battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship, expected to be worth an estimated $10 million in prize money next season, it is a key mystery to solve.

“It’s definitely possible for us to look at changing aspects of the car for Budapest,” said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, in the immediate aftermath of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

“How deep we go will depend on what parts we’ve got around us and, as I said, there’s quite a lot that we’ve changed.”

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