Mercedes brings its first big 2026 upgrade to Montreal

Mercedes’ first major upgrade package of the 2026 Formula 1 season has broken cover ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

While rival frontrunners Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari all introduced a significant package for the last race in Miami, Mercedes made only minor tweaks there.

Instead, it opted to make the most of more development time with the final parts of this update signed off for production as late as possible for what is expected to yield a good gain in performance.

Both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell will run the full upgrade package from the start of practice, which is followed by sprint qualifying meaning there is limited opportunity to optimise the car before heading into the first competitive session of the weekend.

The upgrade comprises changes to the front wing, front wing endplate, front and rear corner assemblies, floorboard, floor corner and floor body.

The most obvious front-end change is to the wing, with Mercedes indicating in the upgrades document published by the FIA that “front wing outboard elements dropped in height and run into the footplate”. There are also revisions to the endplate and footplate, with added footplate strakes and an adjusted diveplane camber.

The objective is to deliver “more robust flow structures”, with the revised front wing elements running into the footplate and the added strakes improving the quality of the flow heading rearwards. This means a gain in downforce and improved conditioning of the airflow to the rest of the car.

The aerodynamically-sensitive front corner has also been modified, with the upper lip camber of the cake tin reduced. This will improve “flow structure robustness throughout the operating envelope”, which should make the aerodynamic platform more consistent and improve the flow to the rear wing. 

There is also a circuit-specific tweak to the cooling with the brake duct inlet and exit increased given the braking demands of Montreal.

The floor updates are significant. Elements of the floorboard have been reprofiled to improve local pressure distribution and “reduce separations at the extremes of the operating envelope” and increase downforce. There are additional slots in the floor corners, with the arrangement of these modified to increase local load while also improving flow into the diffuser and therefore downforce.

At the rear, the floor body has a reprofiled diffuser roof, with Mercedes also making changes to the sidewall. This is aimed at improving surface flow quality through a wider range of conditions and generating more load from the floor in this area.

The rear corner is also modified, with a redistribution of the span and position of the rear cake tin winglets. The chord and position of the winglets has been re-optimised to improve local flow control and the performance of the diffuser.