Stella questions Wolff's assertion of having 'no money'.

      "All teams gain additional flexibility in their financial reporting."

      Andrea Stella has challenged Toto Wolff’s assertion that Mercedes has essentially depleted its development budget for the W17. This comes after Lando Norris achieved consecutive victories for McLaren, heightening the pressure on Mercedes as Ferrari and McLaren close in on their performance levels. Wolff stated at Zandvoort that Mercedes lacks the financial capacity to keep pace with the upgrade efforts of its competitors. "We don’t have the money to implement developments in the car," he remarked. Stella, however, is skeptical. "I would like to trust Toto, but I cannot fully do that," the McLaren team principal expressed. He noted the additional cost-cap flexibility that is accessible to teams. "All teams have extra leeway in their financial reporting within the cost ceiling," he explained. "If I'm correct, that's approximately three million that can be utilized in the 2026 report for calculations." Stella suspects that Mercedes continues to develop its car vigorously behind the scenes. "I'm confident that Mercedes, upon realizing their rivals are raising the competitive standard, will take advantage of the advancements that are certainly occurring behind closed doors." "I’m sure the car in the wind tunnel is significantly quicker than the one they have on the track." He fully anticipates the emergence of new components. "I’m quite certain they’ll have upgrades," the Italian added. "Of course, it would be nice if they didn’t, but I don’t even want to entertain that possibility."