Mercedes bring reworked floor and sidepods to Bahrain Grand Prix

Mercedes have introduced a heavily reworked floor and new sidepods for the Bahrain Grand Prix, as the team looks to extend its control of both 2026 Formula 1Formula 1 World ChampionshipInternational championships.

The update centres on two significant areas of the W17, with the floor described as vastly reworked and the sidepods changed as part of the same package. No detail has been given on the exact geometry of either change.

2026

Season 2026

Why the Bahrain update matters

Ank kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0

The W17 has been described as the class of the field through the 2026 season, and that status has not gone unchallenged. Ferrari, McLarenMcLarenUnited Kingdom and Red BullRed Bull RacingAustria4th POS263 PTS have each offered intermittent competition across the year.

The competitive logic, which is analysis rather than anything the team has said, is that a successful upgrade at this stage does two jobs at once. It adds performance to the leading car and pushes rivals into spending development time in response, whether or not they had planned to.

What is not yet known

Ank kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0

No lap-time figure has been attached to the change, and Mercedes have not set out the size of the step they expect from it. Whether both cars will run the full package at the Bahrain Grand Prix has not been confirmed either.

There is also no indication yet of counter-updates from Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull for the same race weekend. Until parts run on track, the value of a floor and sidepod package remains a matter of expectation rather than result.

What happens next

First track running in Bahrain will be the measure. If the car behaves as intended, Mercedes go into the rest of the season with a larger margin and their rivals with a decision to make about where to spend their remaining development. If it does not, the championship picture stays as tight as it has been.