The German manufacturer has been encouraged by a recent upgrade package to its W14 that appears to have helped it close the gap to the front.
However, the squad is well aware that wider changes are still needed for next year as elements of its current challenger are still far from perfect.
Such a significant step is not easy in F1’s cost cap era, with teams constantly having to juggle development spending against the strict financial limits.
But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed that his squad has implemented a thorough analysis of its cash flow, and says it is well on track to do what it wants for the W15 without needing to worry about over-spending.
“We have set up a huge organisation in our financial department of 46 people, that monitors the cost cap down to the last screw,” he explained.
“It follows the trend of spending during all of the year and what we've done is basically allocated resource to various projects.
“We stayed below that line all year last year, and we’ve stayed below that line this year. Considering a normal development switch for next year, this is still pretty much on track.
“The good thing is that we are constantly learning about what the car is doing. There are going to be some fundamental design changes for next year, but it's not that we're building stuff. It's more what are we simulating – and that is not measured in money. It’s teraflops or wind tunnel hours.”
Source: Autosport