2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[Matt2725]

Is Mercedes using the official standard BBS rims on their F1 cars or do they make their own custom rims in-house ?

From what I read, for many years they also made their own dampers/shocks in house, while teams like Ferrari are using Ohlins and Red Bull were/are using Multimatic DSSV.

If it's true Mercedes makes their rims and shocks in house that is very impressive.

Merc were famous for using their custom rims to control tyre wear by directing airflow through the rim and out the other side.

One thing that Wolff mentioned this weekend that is being overlooked IMO, is that McLaren especially use their own independent cooling, but more importantly, their own gearbox (with their own independent ratios). The suggestion seemed to be, that McLaren's chosen gear ratio setup especially, was likely part of the issue with not being able to make the most of the PU. Gear ratios are set for the year, so this may not be something McLaren can do much about until next season.

[Honda Porsche fan]

Is Mercedes using the official standard BBS rims on their F1 cars or do they make their own custom rims in-house ?

From what I read, for many years they also made their own dampers/shocks in house, while teams like Ferrari are using Ohlins and Red Bull were/are using Multimatic DSSV.

If it's true Mercedes makes their rims and shocks in house that is very impressive.

Merc were famous for using their custom rims to control tyre wear by directing airflow through the rim and out the other side.

One thing that Wolff mentioned this weekend that is being overlooked IMO, is that McLaren especially use their own independent cooling, but more importantly, their own gearbox (with their own independent ratios). The suggestion seemed to be, that McLaren's chosen gear ratio setup especially, was likely part of the issue with not being able to make the most of the PU. Gear ratios are set for the year, so this may not be something McLaren can do much about until next season.

What is the FIA's reasoning and intentions for restricting teams from selecting different gear ratios race by race ?

If a team chose the wrong or less effective gear ratio before the season starts while another team chose a better performing ratio then that doesn't allow fair and close competition, that team's entire season is over before the first race starts...

There's got to be a better solution. Allow a struggling team to make a gear ratio change mid season or allow every team to make one gear change mid season.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Is Mercedes using the official standard BBS rims on their F1 cars or do they make their own custom rims in-house ?

From what I read, for many years they also made their own dampers/shocks in house, while teams like Ferrari are using Ohlins and Red Bull were/are using Multimatic DSSV.

If it's true Mercedes makes their rims and shocks in house that is very impressive.

Merc were famous for using their custom rims to control tyre wear by directing airflow through the rim and out the other side.

One thing that Wolff mentioned this weekend that is being overlooked IMO, is that McLaren especially use their own independent cooling, but more importantly, their own gearbox (with their own independent ratios). The suggestion seemed to be, that McLaren's chosen gear ratio setup especially, was likely part of the issue with not being able to make the most of the PU. Gear ratios are set for the year, so this may not be something McLaren can do much about until next season.

Actually this year teams are allowed to use a joker and re-nominate their gear ratios in season.

[Matt2725]

Is Mercedes using the official standard BBS rims on their F1 cars or do they make their own custom rims in-house ?

From what I read, for many years they also made their own dampers/shocks in house, while teams like Ferrari are using Ohlins and Red Bull were/are using Multimatic DSSV.

If it's true Mercedes makes their rims and shocks in house that is very impressive.

Merc were famous for using their custom rims to control tyre wear by directing airflow through the rim and out the other side.

One thing that Wolff mentioned this weekend that is being overlooked IMO, is that McLaren especially use their own independent cooling, but more importantly, their own gearbox (with their own independent ratios). The suggestion seemed to be, that McLaren's chosen gear ratio setup especially, was likely part of the issue with not being able to make the most of the PU. Gear ratios are set for the year, so this may not be something McLaren can do much about until next season.

Actually this year teams are allowed to use a joker and re-nominate their gear ratios in season.

I stand corrected. In that case, I wonder if McLaren will move more towards a ratio setup similar to Mercedes.

[Lasssept]

[Tonino]

https://i.postimg.cc/T163TvXn/HDngjxo-Ws-AAUJ5B.jpg

Good lord, that's horrendous. Toto, man, what are you doing?

[Honda Porsche fan]

I just asked A.I. about the gear ratio rules for the 2026 season, so, I'm not sure how accurate this is...

It says that for the 2026 season each team is allowed to choose their gear ratios for each race weekend and it's set for the entire weekend. It has to be set in place before they show up to the race track and used for the entire weekend. So, I think they choose the gear ratios back at their factory during simulator testing before they take their cars to the race track ?

But, teams are not allowed to design/develop new gear boxes through out the season unless it's only for "safety", to make the gear boxes safer.

[Mattchu]

9.8 Gear ratios
9.8.1 The number of forward gear ratios must be 8. Continuously variable transmission systems are
not permitted.
9.8.2 Each Competitor must nominate the forward gear ratios (calculated from engine crankshaft
to drive shafts) to be employed within their gearbox. These nominations must be declared to
the FIA technical delegate at or before the first Competition of the Championship.
In the event the Competitor obtains the Gearbox from another Competitor as a TRC, the gear
ratios used must be the same between those two Competitors unless the customer
competitor opts to continue with the ratios used in the previous Championship Season.
During 2026 only, the nominated set of forward gear ratios may be changed once during the
Championship Season.
Changes to the forward gear ratios under the provisions of this Article may involve changes to
either the gear ratio pairs defined in Article 9.8.3, or to the final drive, but not both at the
same time.

Shows you how much slop AI sometimes outputs!

[johnnycesup]

Shows you how much slop AI sometimes outputs!

I mean, the regulations available publically and easy to read, you shouldn't need to ask AI.

Also, the regulations are publically available, AI shouldn't --- up so completely if it was worth anything