In recent years the FIA\u2019s Friday list of aerodynamic upgrade submissions for each team has given us a useful insight into the pace of development in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
Over the past few weeks it has been packed with information on upgrades up and down the pit lane, with the obvious exception of Aston Martin<\/a>, pending the major package that is due around the summer break<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indeed, on Thursday in Austria, Fernando Alonso<\/a> put a focus on the relentless development race when asked about Aston Martin’s strategy of waiting for one big hit.<\/p>\n \u201cApparently there is no money to bring upgrades, unlimited upgrades like the other teams do,\u201d he said. \u201cWhich is surprising to see the FIA page on Friday every race, because maybe they have the money machine [set] in the minus one in the factory.\u201d<\/p>\n Alonso is not alone in acknowledging that, despite the constraints of the cost cap, this year teams are bringing an unprecedented wave of new parts.<\/p>\n That is something McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella<\/a> emphasised, with the Italian stressing that the pecking order changes on a race-by-race basis as one or another of the top teams plays its latest cards.<\/p>\n \u201cOne general observation I will share is that unlike the regulations in previous years, this year the competitiveness pattern seems to be quite consistent by pretty much every circuit, every condition,\u201d he said after Qualifying in Austria.<\/p>\n \u201cMercedes is the fastest car. Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren follow, and in this group of three cars, then the upgrades are what make the difference.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we have seen that with the upgrades that Ferrari have taken, plus the engine upgrade that they have here, they just made a step forward. Red Bull upgrades here, quite impressive in terms of volume of upgrades, and here they were faster than McLaren.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it’s a race of upgrades, a consistent pattern from a competitiveness point of view, and I think this sets for us the usual requirement and demand in terms of bringing our own upgrades.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn’t have anything too significant for this event, so we slip a little bit behind. We should start having something slightly more consistent for the few races coming, and we will see there if we can give a bit of a turnaround to our season and close the gap.”<\/p>\n F1 at a ‘level that has never been the case before’<\/p>\n Stella also agrees that we\u2019ve never experienced such a concerted push from teams to get new parts to the track.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we see in 2026 is a Formula 1 operating at a level that has never been the case before,” he added. “Cadillac probably at this circuit was the car that was most significantly upgraded. Actually, the lap times were more competitive.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we see the upgrades that Red Bull did, they are quite voluminous, as I said before. So the overall gain, in terms of pure performance development, but also performance delivery to track, is to a higher level than I’ve ever seen before.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the conversations we are having internally and we need to make sure that at McLaren we can, if possible, out develop and out deliver our competitors, and this will allow us to close the gap.\u201d<\/p>\n The big question now is how long can each of the teams continue to bring upgrades, given the cost cap?<\/p>\n With the rules not changing most of the development work for the 2026 car can carry over into 2027. However, there could come a point where teams know they have something that can add performance immediately, but they can\u2019t afford to actually produce it and bring it to the track within this season.<\/p>\n