A mood like at the beginning of the hybrid era? Mercedes believes it is ideally positioned for the new engines from 2026 – a view also confirmed by Russell
After a few difficult years, Mercedes seems to be slowly re-establishing itself at the top of the field. At the Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell took his first podium of the season in a main race, while Lewis Hamilton finished fourth. And the competition was impressed by the speed of the W15
While the team is trying to close the gap to the front, it is also looking ahead to the new regulatory era from 2026. Both Team Principal Toto Wolff and Technical Director James Allison were optimistic about the engine.
“We are ideally positioned for 2026,” said Wolff. Allison even compared the mood at the factory in Brixworth to that in the run-up to 2014, when Mercedes began an unprecedented era of success with the last major rule change in Formula 1.
Asked about the optimism surrounding the new engine, Russell says: “Normally 2026 seems a long way off, but in the world of Formula 1, it’s practically tomorrow and the team is very confident about this era.”
“We all know about the experience of the team, the success in 2014 with the new powertrain, and then of course the time in Formula E, the work that was done with the hypercar. There are a lot of people at HPP who have so much experience with this future technology,” said Russell.
“So I think we’re in a really good position to have a great engine. And also the work that Petronas is doing on the fuel looks very good. So as far as the engines are concerned, we are very confident for this era. “
From 2026, Formula 1 wants to run on completely climate-neutral fuel. Each car manufacturer is working exclusively with a partner. At Mercedes, this is Petronas.
As far as the powertrain is concerned, the current turbo-hybrid units will remain, except that the MGU-H (Motor Generation Unit – Heat) will be removed in 2026 and the electrical output will be increased from the current 120kW to 350kW. In return, the output of the combustion engine will be reduced from around 550kW to 400kW.