2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

All that has to do with the power train, gearbox, clutch, fuels and lubricants, etc. Generally the mechanical side of Formula One.
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bluechris
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Ι saw much less regen in the straights from the MB engine than from Ferrari with this onboard.
I want onboards from the other manufacturers also.

Vappy
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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"Kimi Antonelli Sets The Fastest Lap Of Day 3 | 2026 Bahrain Pre-Season Testing"



A good video demonstrating the difference in engine clipping compared to the previous generation.

Badger
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.

FittingMechanics
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?

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venkyhere
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Found this posted in the Mclaren team thread, this chart might yet be (not sure how accurate the source of the data is, since this can only be a reverse-engineered calculation) one of the most relevant datum point to this thread :

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBImPP2awAA ... =4096x4096

Badger
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Seeing Lando’s onboard I disagree, it was also very smooth. I think it’s just a Merc engine thing, how they bring in the K.

FittingMechanics
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 10:51
FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Seeing Lando’s onboard I disagree, it was also very smooth. I think it’s just a Merc engine thing, how they bring in the K.
Not the onboard, day 3 by Piastri. Maybe he can't manage the rears as well.

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bluechris
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 10:51
FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Seeing Lando’s onboard I disagree, it was also very smooth. I think it’s just a Merc engine thing, how they bring in the K.
Or how they don't push much.

Badger
Badger
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 11:37
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 10:51
FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48


The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Seeing Lando’s onboard I disagree, it was also very smooth. I think it’s just a Merc engine thing, how they bring in the K.
Not the onboard, day 3 by Piastri. Maybe he can't manage the rears as well.
The onboards are from the fast laps of each day which seems more relevant to me. Compare Lando and Kimi vs Hamilton. Look at Lewis in the final corner for example.

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AR3-GP
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Mclaren has much shorter gears than Mercedes, so there is more torque at the wheels at low speeds.
Last edited by AR3-GP on 15 Feb 2026, 16:58, edited 1 time in total.
Beware of T-Rex

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AR3-GP
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Joined: 06 Jul 2021, 01:22

Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 10:51
FittingMechanics wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 09:48
Badger wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 00:15
One thing is for sure, the Merc engine has buttery smooth power delivery in traction zones. The other PU manufacturers have some software tuning to do on the K deployment because they are spinning the rears.
The Race said McLaren spun their rears much more than Mercedes works team. Possibly each team makes their own deployment map?
Seeing Lando’s onboard I disagree, it was also very smooth. I think it’s just a Merc engine thing, how they bring in the K.
I don't think it was smooth. Check his T10 exit on his best lap from Wednesday.

Beware of T-Rex

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FW17
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Why is the race start turbo spool for lag and boost time dependent (revving to 11k rpm for some 10 sec) and not rpm dependent? Under normal, the boost probably is available for the cars at above 5000 rpm, why not the case at the start?

Farnborough
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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FW17 wrote:
15 Feb 2026, 19:05
Why is the race start turbo spool for lag and boost time dependent (revving to 11k rpm for some 10 sec) and not rpm dependent? Under normal, the boost probably is available for the cars at above 5000 rpm, why not the case at the start?
It was artificially spun up by the mgu H component, but no longer there!

It's a big turbine, relative to flow capacity, and takes a lot of volume to spin it.

Hoffman900
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Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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This is also a reminder to all that F1 banned technologies like variable geometry turbos which have been around for 60+ years and have been used in motorsports like Audi’s LeMans efforts.

It’s just constant foot shooting by the rules makers.

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Holm86
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Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: 2025/2026 Hybrid Powerunit speculation

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Why did the FIA prohibit using the MGU-K during race starts?? They're not allowed to use the K for the first 50 meters.
Couldn't it have prevented the stall risks, and them hanging to rev for 10 seconds if they were allowed to use electrical power from the start???