Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says the German squad's allocation of development resources for 2017 is reviewed on a weekly basis but still dependent on its performance in the current season.
Mercedes' dominant position in F1 appeared somewhat in jeopardy when Ferrari and Red Bull began to make inroads into the team's success, but in the last couple of races the Silver Arrows has pulled away once again from its rivals.
As it enjoys the luxury of its advantage, resources assigned to the design and development of 2017 car are increased accordingly.
"You can see that some cars were lacking pace [at Silverstone] and it’s just about getting the set up right I guess and getting the tyres in the right window," explained Toto Wolff.
"I wish we had those 80 points more which we lost and gave to the competition. But then it would be a bit boring I guess.
"So we evaluate every week how much resources the departments we want to switch over to 2017 and there’s already a lot going into 2017. And that’s a tricky call."
Indeed, the timing of when a team needs to progressively ramp up efforts associated with its 2017 car is crucial as the decision impacts both the present and the future. But for Wolff, the sooner work begins, the better.
"There might be teams who have stopped 2016 development very early, some of them even as early as January or February, once the cars hit the circuit, and that is an advantage.
"Obviously the learning curve is very steep at the beginning, and if you’re lacking two, three, four weeks it can make quite a difference at the end. So that is a key question we ask ourselves every week."
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