Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has warned that Mercedes may need to rethink its development strategy, arguing that the Brackley outfit must begin delivering upgrades "quicker" to avoid falling behind in the mid-season development race.
Speaking ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix on F1 TV's Weekend Warm-up show, the seven-time grand prix winner discussed the Toto Wolff-led team's current approach and the upgrades being introduced by Ferrari.
"At some point, Mercedes has got to be looking at, 'When do we start bringing more upgrades quicker?' I think they were comfortable thinking, 'OK, we go to Canada, we bring an upgrade,' and then the next one might be Silverstone or further on. They haven't really said when the next one's coming," the Colombian explained.
"If they are just waiting for big packages and everybody else is bringing little things, it's going to make their life harder. So the big question is, is that enough? Are they going to close that gap completely? And if in Barcelona everybody had gone for a three-stop, would Ferrari still have won the race? I'm not so sure. We don't know. We won't know ever. But they got it done there."
Mercedes has had an incredibly strong start to the 2026 season. After George Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese sprint race, his teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli secured five consecutive grand prix wins in China, Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco.
Antonelli leads the drivers' championship with 156 points, having become the youngest driver to do so after his win in Japan. Lewis Hamilton, who earned his first grand prix victory as a Ferrari driver at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, sits second with 115 points. Russell is currently third with 106 points.
The Austrian Grand Prix will take place at the Red Bull Ring on 28 June at 3pm local time (2pm UK time).
