In Canada, Mercedes finally unveils its first major 2026 upgrade. Our exclusive images reveal the changes made to the front wing, floor, and diffuser of the W17.
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In Canada, Mercedes finally introduces its first major evolution of the 2026 season, an ambitious aerodynamic package designed to improve airflow stability and increase the downforce of the W17.
Mercedes waited for the right moment. While Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari had already brought significant upgrades in Miami, the German team preferred to hold back to maximize development time before unveiling its first major update of the 2026 season in Canada.
The Brackley team finalized certain elements as late as possible before production, convinced of the performance potential of this package introduced at the start of the Montreal weekend on the cars of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
A thoroughly revised front wing
Among the main upgrades are a new front wing and a reworked floor. Mercedes detailed these changes in its traditional technical notes published before the event, mentioning “more robust flow structures” generated by the new geometry of the front section, as well as a redesign of the floor structures aimed at providing more downforce to the W17.
“We still need to better understand this package, as the car’s balance has slightly changed. But overall, it seems to have given us a small advantage back,” Antonelli believes.
The old front wing joined the side fin at about one-third of its height, aiming to use the edge inside it to strengthen airflow in this area. In this way, most of the aerodynamic load was shifted towards the center of the wing, with the outer sections generally having less curvature.
Probably to better control lower flows, Mercedes lowered the outer parts of the front wing (compare the areas indicated by the red arrows on our exclusive image above), creating a flatter profile, perhaps more comparable to that seen on the Red Bull wing.
The side fin can thus connect directly to this assembly. This likely allows a more even distribution of aerodynamic load to improve front-end grip.
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A small fin has been added (blue arrows), intended to channel air as a vortex before diverting it around the front tire using this fin as a guide. This fin helps direct flows to the sides, to move away the turbulence caused by the rotation of the front wheels. A small circular cutout also appears in the upper corner of the side fin (green arrows), likely generating some vorticity in this area as well.
Mercedes cuts its floor
The area around the floor corner also becomes much more complex, with Mercedes having reconfigured the slots present in this part.
These slots help condition and direct air around the rear tire, a particularly useful role to prevent turbulence from excessively disturbing the diffuser.
Previously, this area had two main L-shaped slots, complemented by a horizontal slot at the rear. Now, the whole is more complex, with a series of slots replacing the inner L-shaped slot, as well as a pair of horizontal slots at the rear. The rear corner also receives a vertical lip, effectively acting as an endplate.
Overall, these changes should not only improve the downforce generated locally in this area but also better condition the airflow directed towards the diffuser.
The diffuser loses a lot of efficiency when turbulence enters it, as it can reduce the expansion needed to accelerate airflow under the car, a key mechanism for generating downforce. Exploiting the rear of the car in this way thus better protects the diffuser from mixing turbulence with flows under the floor.
An advantage to maintain for Mercedes
Other upgrades have also been made to the car.
The elements at the level of the side deflectors have also been slightly reworked, as well as the upper part of the diffuser.
This upgrade represents Mercedes’ first real technical gamble in 2026. Unlike Miami, where the team only made minor adjustments, Canada marks a more ambitious attempt to further improve the W17’s performance.
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