> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # F1 upgrade spend tier list revealed - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-upgrade-spend-tier-list-revealed-surprise-leader/ - Published: 2026-09-02T09:41:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-02T09:41:16.000Z - Description: With help from paddock sources, The Race has been able to examine how much F1 teams have spent on upgrades relative to each other - Author: Jon Noble - Tags: Formula 1, Business, #primary_homepage_feature Formula 1's top teams agreed long ago that this year's title battle was going to be decided by the upgrade war. But few could have predicted how quirky and unpredictable the 2026 development fight would be with teams adopting different strategies to attack the new rules. F1 has ended up with a surprise leader in the update spending battle, and a team that you would have expected to be near the top lingering towards the bottom so far. ## Rapid steps With the 2026 rules in their infancy, a steep development rate has opened the door for big in-season gains. It's why, when we have seen teams bring big update packages, it tends to shake up the competitive order and push those teams forward significantly. With the title fight having closed-up after the summer break, it is patently clear that whichever team does the best job with its upgrades has the chance to push for the ultimate crown. A fascinating secondary element to this 2026 development war has emerged because unlike battles of the past, this is not just a competition about having the best ideas inspiring what gets bolted onto a car. Instead, F1's cost cap is weighing heavy on everyone's shoulders - and teams are having to think carefully about what each development costs and when they bring them. The significance of this aspect became clear after the Dutch Grand Prix when Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff suggested that his squad was [tight on cash](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes-extraordinary-f1-title-fight-claim/) right now. "We haven't got the money to put developments on the car," he said when asked about any extra response to McLaren's growing performance threat. Why Mercedes is in a situation that appears different to others is not easy to understand, because it appears to have been one of the most conservative when it comes to bringing new parts. But what we do know for now - and this is because teams must declare upgrades to the FIA ahead of each weekend - is that different approaches are in play up and down the grid. Some are spreading out developments, some have regular big changes, some have front-loaded, and some are back-loading. The Race has conducted some analysis of all the upgrades introduced so far to try to get an understanding of how each team compares. And having crunched the numbers with some estimates of costs based on how extensive the new parts are, we have been able to come up with some interesting rankings. This covers both developments and an estimate of spending to get an idea of who has been the most aggressive so far - and who has potentially held back. ## The development war rankings In terms of pure numbers of new car parts, it is straightforward to see who has brought the most. Analysis of all the new parts that are declared to the FIA puts Ferrari on top up until and including the Dutch GP, having had 40 new components since the Australian GP season opener. As the ranking below shows, McLaren and Red Bull have brought 38 each - with Aston Martin and Cadillac leading the chasing pack with 34\. Mercedes has brought just 24. ### Total updates so far in 2026 1 Ferrari 40 2= McLaren 38 2= Red Bull 38 4= Aston Martin 34 4= Cadillac 34 6 Racing Bulls 30 7 Alpine 29 8 Haas 28 9 Audi 25 10= Mercedes 24 10= Williams 24 But the number of parts does not directly relate to ultimate upgrade aggression. Red Bull, for example, has had nine reliability tweaks over the first 12 races, while Ferrari has had none. Also, some teams have chased circuit-specific modifications. Williams has had four, while others like Red Bull have introduced none at all. In terms of pure performance upgrades, again it is Ferrari that leads the way with 36, ahead of Aston Martin on 33 and McLaren on 30\. Mercedes lags here, on 19. ### Total performance updates so far in 2026 1 Ferrari 36 2 Aston Martin 33 3 McLaren 30 4 Alpine 29 5= Cadillac 27 5= Haas 27 7= Red Bull 25 7= Racing Bulls 25 9= Mercedes 19 9= Audi 19 11 Williams 16 When it comes to judging development budgets though, there is not necessarily a direct link between the number of declared parts and how much a team has spent. Not all parts cost the same. A new floor, for example, costs a lot more than a minor extra Halo flick or a tailpipe bracket. And as Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur explained earlier this year, after he faced questions from Wolff over Ferrari's spending pattern early on, sometimes what appears to be a big upgrade is in fact just a tweak to a current part. To understand how the actual number of developments fits into spending, we need to look a bit deeper into the details. If we go through the season's development, it is possible to assign some estimates to the level of spending that has been committed to so far - based on the number, timing and kind of components that have been brought. This comes with a caveat that not all parts cost the same for every team, so a definitive cash figure is not possible. What we can work out though is how teams stack up against each other based on a weighted calculation of their upgrades, and that then allows us to create some benchmark estimates of who has really spent the most. Our table, which has been created with insight from paddock sources, splits the grid into seven different tiers as detailed below - with the percentage figures linked to how much it is estimated has been spent relative to the benchmark. And interestingly, it looks like the biggest spender of all, due in part to the scale of its Hungarian GP upgrade that included a new lighter chassis (which doesn't come cheap), is Aston Martin. It was already high up the list of overall updates (34) and performance updates (33), but many of its changes have also been significant. An estimate of the spending tiers of 2026 so far, and each team relative to the others, is below. Aston Martin and three of the top four teams are well in front. **Tier 1**: Aston Martin **Tier 2**:Ferrari, Red Bull @ 90% **Tier 3**: McLaren @ 85% **Tier 4**: Audi, Alpine @ 70% **Tier 5**:Racing Bulls @ 60% **Tier 6**:Mercedes @ 55% **Tier 7**: Haas, Cadillac, Williams @ 50% ## What the figures tell us We have talked already about why Aston Martin has ended up top in our estimates based on the scale of its mid-season overhaul. At the bottom, there is no huge surprise, with Haas clear that it is not throwing money around as it is not going to hit the cost cap this season, and Cadillac having slowed down its upgrade introduction. Williams's figure is skewed by it holding fire on a major update until Azerbaijan (which includes a new chassis) that will certainly push it much further up the spend list. The offset between F1's title contenders, Mercedes and main rivals Ferrari and McLaren, is perhaps the most interesting though when it comes to the title battle. As one of the big-four teams, Mercedes might've been expected to have the same level of upgrade allowance in its budget to the other frontrunners. Based on Wolff’s quotes, there is a sense it does not have the same freedoms as others. But is this the real situation, or is it playing games with the opposition? Mercedes has clearly chosen to space things out, optimising the arrival of upgrades with when components are at the end of their life. But even with that, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin reckoned that Mercedes will not be doing as many upgrades as others. "Over the season, we will probably produce one fewer floor and one fewer bodywork package than those \[other\] teams," he told the Mercedes YouTube channel after Zandvoort. Why Mercedes is doing less numerically is not clear, but it could be a consequence of it having spent more pre-season - which would not be noted in the FIA documents - or that it is saving cash for later. It does have a big upgrade coming around Malaysia (Bahrain GP) time in early October that could be extensive, and would lift it well up the spending rankings if it is a really big one. But we will not be able to judge the different strategies properly until we have seen the entire season play out. Then we will know if Mercedes was more restricted overall as Wolff suggested, or if its spending pattern was just different. ## Unexpected spending Another important element that needs taking into account when it comes to budgets is crash damage - as this comes out of the cost cap. The more money that needs to go on repairs, the less there is for development. So teams need to keep a buffer. According to the latest 'destructors' world championship' that is regularly published on social media, Red Bull currently tops the repair list at around $2.8million, ahead of Alpine on $2.2m and Williams on $1.9m. Mercedes has had an expensive year, judged to be at $1.8m, with both Ferrari and McLaren on $1.4m. This could be another factor in why Red Bull has talked about winding down its development spending over the second half of 2026. Team principal Laurent Mekies said: "We've decided to make the big push as early as we could from an engineering and engineering resource perspective, and we would like to hope that things will slow down for most of the top teams in the second part. But we may have some surprises." ## The $3million question The pattern of spending so far may not fully tell the story of the season run-in though, because we must remember that there is an extra $3m as part of a cost cap allowance [related to rule changes](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/why-top-f1-teams-face-a-big-six-million-dilemma/) for next year. So those who have spent a lot already may have some extra development leeway if they want, while Mercedes' claims about struggling for budget may not be strictly true. McLaren for one is convinced that Mercedes will dig into the extra $3m and up its development aggression late on. This comes against the backdrop of it being understood that the manufacturer was one of those that vocally supported the extra cash when it was discussed in FIA meetings. Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, said: "I'm sure that Mercedes, having seen that the rivals are kind of elevating the game, I'm sure they will now cash in on their development. Surely, it's happening on the ground." All eyes then are on what Mercedes does, and especially if the major upgrade that is expected to arrive in Malaysia changes the game completely and if there is even more coming. F1's 2026 title battle could yet have a twist in its tale - but it's one that may well be decided by the accountants.