Lewis Hamilton being hit hard by F1 rules as Mercedes confirm Spanish GP upgrade

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ push to reach the top of F1 is being affected by strict FIA rules, according to Toto Wolff. The Mercedes boss confirmed the team are being forced to shelve new parts to comply with cost cap regulations.

It means the Silver Arrows are unable to introduce some features which they know would help close the gap to Red Bull. He said: “If we were not in cost cap land, we would have introduced another chassis, which we can’t.

“What we did is a fundamental shift in the design direction, the way we generate grip mechanically and aerodynamically. We are very immature in our understanding of the current car, and therefore we expect upgrades to come regularly within the financial parameters that exist – but everybody should be under the same constraints.”

Mercedes introduced sizeable changes in Monaco with a series of aerodynamic tweaks. These included a new floor and front suspension as well as a radical new sidepod concept.

The team’s controversial ‘zero-pod’ system which they have used since the start of 2022 was dropped in exchange for a more traditional format. Despite the budget concerns, Mercedes have confirmed Hamilton and team-mate George Russell will have some new pieces at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The team have now vowed to fit small pieces at each race rather than longer periods of waiting for a major upgrade like earlier in the season. The team’s technical director, James Allison, confirmed the change in development cycles after Monaco.

Speaking on the team’s YouTube debrief video, Allison explained: “Well, we certainly will settle back and look at what the Monaco upgrade package has bought us at a normal track.

“But, we will also push on in parallel with a whole bunch of more things. There will be a little bit we’re bringing to Barcelona and many more things in the races that follow. We can’t afford to just to do everything sequentially. Although, there’s an academic purity to that it’s just too slow a way to go ahead.

“The upgrades will keep coming, Hopefully a decent package to build upon with what we put on the track in Monaco and then we just step forward from here up to the summer break and beyond.”