Allison: Update 18 added downforce but made Mercedes’ W17 harder to handle

James Allison says Mercedes’ Update 18 gave the W17 more downforce but made the car harder to handle. The W17’s advantage over rivals had narrowed late in the 2026 season, although Mercedes had already secured both championships.

Allison made the remarks on the NU Silver Arrows Radio Show. He said Mercedes took Update 18 to Sepang and followed it with a front-wing update in the United States. The package also cost performance unexpectedly in some areas, he said.

The 2026 regulations reduced the minimum chassis weight by 30kg to 768kg. Allison said Mercedes was probably the only car at that limit at the start of the year, while rivals still had weight to shed. Rivals could gain lap time by shedding weight, while Mercedes had no such margin because it was already at the limit, Allison said.