2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[Frank73]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

[OverheatedTurbo]

Well done Mercedes. Good chassis and PU combo. No more tyre munching duds. Its good to see that they still know how to build cars. That 2022-2025 era was just shambolic.

[CjC]

Hopefully George can have a lot of fun this year

[Cassius]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Of course not, it is illegal and something Mercedes-Benz would never risk PR wise.

There is a clear chassis benefit and in these regs there is a bigger multiplier effect given it allows you to deploy less, you can recharge more etc.

You can look at telemetry and as soon as straight mode goes on after turn 8, RB and especially Merc gain more vs Ferrari and McL. Could be related to weight but especially aero-efficiency.

[Frank73]

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Of course not, it is illegal and something Mercedes-Benz would never risk PR wise.

There is a clear chassis benefit and in these regs there is a bigger multiplier effect given it allows you to deploy less, you can recharge more etc.

You can look at telemetry and as soon as straight mode goes on after turn 8, RB and especially Merc gain more vs Ferrari and McL. Could be related to weight but especially aero-efficiency.

Aero efficiency surely not, it makes one gain at the end of a straight, just after a turn it has negligible impact. And engine usage strategy is not something Mercedes is obliged to share with their customers. Also recharge/deployment depends on delta speed before and after of braking, so there is multiplier from ICE to overall power unit performance.

[Vinlarr89]

The comparisons need to be done between the Merc and the McLaren. I struggle to believe that the Merc has that much of an aero advantage to everyone else in the entire field when all the rumours have been surrounding the PU. No smoke without fire

[Frank73]

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Of course not, it is illegal and something Mercedes-Benz would never risk PR wise.

There is a clear chassis benefit and in these regs there is a bigger multiplier effect given it allows you to deploy less, you can recharge more etc.

You can look at telemetry and as soon as straight mode goes on after turn 8, RB and especially Merc gain more vs Ferrari and McL. Could be related to weight but especially aero-efficiency.

Aero efficiency surely not in a direct way, it makes one gain at the end of a straight, just after a turn it has negligible impact. Do they rely on more energy in the acceleration phase due to higher end of straight speed? I haven't seen figures, but I would strongly doubt a bit more of aero efficiency would do all that difference. And engine usage strategy is not something Mercedes is obliged to share with their customers.

[Cassius]

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Of course not, it is illegal and something Mercedes-Benz would never risk PR wise.

There is a clear chassis benefit and in these regs there is a bigger multiplier effect given it allows you to deploy less, you can recharge more etc.

You can look at telemetry and as soon as straight mode goes on after turn 8, RB and especially Merc gain more vs Ferrari and McL. Could be related to weight but especially aero-efficiency.

Aero efficiency surely not, it makes one gain at the end of a straight, just after a turn it has negligible impact. And engine usage strategy is not something Mercedes is obliged to share with their customers. Also recharge/deployment depends on delta speed before and after of braking, so there is multiplier from ICE to overall power unit performance.

The gain when straight mode opens on the straight after 8 is clearly aero efficiency, It doesn't look like a different mapping.

McL has access to same deployment mappings. Maybe they need better tools to decide which deployment settings to use.

Not that McL has had much more aero time vs McL, and have been quite strong on efficiency in the past two years, especially vs McL.

[Frank73]

Of course not, it is illegal and something Mercedes-Benz would never risk PR wise.

There is a clear chassis benefit and in these regs there is a bigger multiplier effect given it allows you to deploy less, you can recharge more etc.

You can look at telemetry and as soon as straight mode goes on after turn 8, RB and especially Merc gain more vs Ferrari and McL. Could be related to weight but especially aero-efficiency.

Aero efficiency surely not, it makes one gain at the end of a straight, just after a turn it has negligible impact. And engine usage strategy is not something Mercedes is obliged to share with their customers. Also recharge/deployment depends on delta speed before and after of braking, so there is multiplier from ICE to overall power unit performance.

The gain when straight mode opens on the straight after 8 is clearly aero efficiency, It doesn't look like a different mapping.

McL has access to same deployment mappings. Maybe they need better tools to decide which deployment settings to use.

Not that McL has had much more aero time vs McL, and have been quite strong on efficiency in the past two years, especially vs McL.

No it has to be deployment of electrical energy. They deploy more after 8 cause they have more speed at end os straigth due to cheat on CR. McL still is not aware of how to do it properly.

[GrizzleBoy]

Yep, if anyone thinks things will get better for Red Bull or Ferrari, just remember that Merc had three full free days to test how to use this new upgraded engine and Macca, Alpine, Williams have only had FP1 and FP2 with it.

By the time theyve all figured out the Merc PU, there's potential that Red Bull and Ferrari will be fighting for a total of 3 points per race in P9 and P10.

Lots of hyperbole, yet completely possible

[nitrotech]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Total nonsense. By regulations, manufacturers are required to provide exact same hardware and software to the customers.

[Frank73]

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

Total nonsense. By regulations, manufacturers are required to provide exact same hardware and software to the customers.

But not exact usage strategy. That is up to customers. And they are not obliged to reveal technicalities of the engine.

[Frank73]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

They are good ar cheating and at politics. 2014 was not a loophole. They put additives into oil and made it leak into chambers. That was a full-blooded cheat, rulebook has always stated that only gasoline can enter. My two cents are on a blatant cheat in present case as well. Merc-shals of FIA will let all other manufacturers align and then they'll wake up and ban it. Exactly as in the case of the oil burning trick.

[f1isgood]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

They are good ar cheating and at politics. 2014 was not a loophole. They put additives into oil and made it leak into chambers. That was a full-blooded cheat. My two cents are on a blatant cheat in present case as well. Merc-shals of FIA will let all other manufacturers align and then they'll wake up and ban it. Exactly as in the case of the oil burning trick.

You can always control the narrative if you just supply enough teams.

[mantikos]

Merc have always built very good ICE units. They aced the 2014 engine. They're good at finding loopholes...I didn't expect this level of dominance but well done to the engineering team. Even with numerous individuals leaving the engine division, they've still manged to build a peach of an engine.

Given how competitive McLaren has been the last 2 years and the strength they have in their organization, it's difficult to say it's just PU that is giving advantage to Mercedes. The chassis seems to be very good and compared to Mclaren, the Mercedes advantage is all coming from chassis. Look at Alpine and Williams.

I would say given McLaren strength shown in the last two years it is difficult to say advantage Mercedes is enjoying is NOT in the PU. Same for Alpine and Williams. They are not using PU so as to fully exploit the cheat it is based on. Maybe Mercedes refised giving them essential informations to avoid exposing the cheat.

1. Not a cheat
2. All engines supplied by a manufacturer are the same with the same maps

Speaking of cheating, tell us what the Ferrari settlement was?