Overview

• The rear suspension upgrade introduced at Imola compromised mid-corner stability and undermined driver confidence across subsequent races.
• George Russell’s win in Montreal masked the upgrade’s instability and postponed its removal until subpar performances at Austria, Britain and Belgium exposed its flaws.
• A spec rollback at the Hungarian Grand Prix restored stability, with Russell securing third place after overtaking Charles Leclerc.
• Toto Wolff and Andrew Shovlin acknowledged that digital simulations failed to predict the upgrade’s on-track behavior, highlighting gaps between virtual testing and real-world performance.
• With no further W16 updates planned, Mercedes has redirected its engineering resources toward the development of its 2026 challenger.