Bernie Collins spots Mercedes’ rushed change after Ferrari got upgrade banned at Austrian Grand Prix

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Bernie Collins noticed that Mercedes had to “grind off” their rear diffuser prior to FP1 at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix, as the FIA banned their update after Ferrari’s protest.

F1 has hit the Red Bull Ring this weekend, amid a backdrop of an emerging drivers’ title fight between Mercedes and Ferrari. Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to lead the standings ahead of round eight in Austria, but Lewis Hamilton is now just 41 points adrift of the young Italian.

The Scuderia are also desperate to do all that they can to make the SF-26 a rival for the W17 at every circuit. So, Ferrari have brought an engine upgrade to Austria, as they start their bid to eat into their power deficit to Mercedes after getting two ADUO upgrade tokens for 2026.

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Mercedes had to rush changes to their rear diffuser after Ferrari’s protest to the FIA

Eyes at Ferrari have also been cast on the Mercedes W17 at recent races, including Hamilton looking closely at Mercedes’ rear diffuser in Monaco. And it emerged earlier this week prior to the Austrian GP that Ferrari had asked the FIA questions about Mercedes’ diffuser design.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix on TV, plus the weather forecast

Ted Kravitz even goes as far as noting that Ferrari “protested” Mercedes’ rear diffuser, after the Silver Arrows added additional strakes extending from the rear as part of an upgrade in Canada in May. And the FIA has upheld Ferrari’s protest, forcing Mercedes to make tweaks.

While the Mercedes W17 sat in the pit lane before FP1 at the Austrian GP on Friday, Collins noticed that the Brackley bunch had had to “grind down” the strakes to meet the FIA’s new guidance. She is also sure that Mercedes believed their extended strakes added downforce.

Collins said on Sky Sports F1 (26/06, 12:15): “Just at the very last element of the diffuser, there’s two little tabs on each side, and those tabs extended further previously. And that was in order to produce more downforce off the very, very end of the diffuser.

“And Mercedes, for this event, because they don’t have a lot of time, have just had to grind those off. We can still see the little tabs…

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“Definitely, they’d have thought that those parts on the car were bringing performance. That’s why they’re there, and that’s why we can see that big aero rake on that car as well, in order to try and assess what they’ve lost through having to make that change.”

The FIA’s diffuser clampdown in Austria affected Racing Bulls, as well as Mercedes

The FIA issued a clarification ahead of the first practice session at the Austrian GP this Friday referencing how the trailing edge of the rear diffuser is defined in Article C3.2.6 of the 2026 technical regulations. Mercedes were not the only team to be affected by the ruling, either.

According to PlanetF1, the FIA’s quest to prevent teams from ‘excessively’ adding downforce to their cars with ‘increasingly imaginative’ designs has also forced Racing Bulls to tweak the design of their diffuser. Ferrari had also submitted a new concept of their own for the FIA’s approval, but they did not have to make any changes to their current diffuser on the SF-26.