As McLaren claims second successive victory, Toto Wolff admits that budget cap constraints are hurting Mercedes.

The Austrian has already cast doubt on Ferrari's upgrade programme, hinting that the Maranello outfit may be in danger of compromising the budget cap.

However, McLaren and Red Bull have also brought regular upgrades, whilst the Silver Arrows last significant package was introduced in Canada with the next package scheduled for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia (?!?)

To date, the FIA lists Ferrari as having introduced 40 new components, and Red Bull and McLaren 38, while Mercedes has introduced just 24, which possibly explains Kimi Antonelli's fears that the W17 is no longer the best car.

"We haven't got the money to put developments on account," said Wolff at Zandvoort. "We are trying to evenly split that through the season, based on our calculations of when we can bring the biggest updates and optimising the championship points.

"We just do what we can do," he added. "That's why it is a development race. If you bring an upgrade, each of the top teams will have a couple of tenth in it, at least. And that's what you lose. So, yeah, the ride has been a bit tougher than at the beginning of the year."

Of course, before worrying about spotting Mercedes clad 'chuggers' in the high street demanding £5 a week to help little George and Kimi bring the crown back to Brackley, Wolff admits that he has the money it's merely a question of when to spend it and how.

"You will see how towards the end of the season whether they are going to be able to deploy as much stuff on to the car as they do now," he said of his team's rivals. "Someone might have a different strategy in spending more at the beginning and in the middle of the year than towards the end.

"Did we spend too much at the beginning in the initial development? I don't think so," he added. "I just think we're an organisation that has a certain size and infrastructure. And, you know, in that respect, we had a really quick car. We left between 50 and 100 points on the table with reliability issues and that would have given us a little bit more of a gap than we have today.

"Other than that, we're just continuing to execute what the plan was and what the financial realities mean for us."

The 2026 cap stands at $215m (£170m), however, in lieu of the new regulations, two further tranches of $3m have been added to the allowance for 2026/2027 and 2027/2028.

At McLaren, Andrea Stella is not entirely convinced by Wolff's claims.

"I would like to believe it, but I actually don't," smiled the Italian. I don't believe it, because thanks to the 2027 power unit regulations, all teams will have an allowance in their reporting for the cost-cap.

"I'm sure that Mercedes, having seen that their 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.

"I'm sure the car in the windtunnel is quite a bit faster than the car they have on track, and they will want to now convert some of this potential into upgrades that make it to the real car. I'm pretty sure that they will have upgrades. Obviously, it would be good if not, but I don't even want to think it."

In the meantime, Wolff comforts himself in the belief that soon his rivals will need to start cutting back.

"You will see how towards the end of the season if they're going to be able to deploy as much stuff onto the car as they do now," he said. "Someone might have a different strategy in spending more at the beginning and in the middle of the year than towards the end."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.