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.

A.I. on my computer when asked gets things correct sometimes and other times it does not.

[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

[MB_Racer]

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

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

Made by a very famous Japanese designer: Mr. Yohji Yamamoto…

Not sure Toto has anything to do with the design … only Addidas could be a little guilty maybe

[MB_Racer]

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.

Extremely interesting thanks for the info guys I didn’t know Ferrari used Ohlins and RB used Multimatic!

BTW interesting that MB / AMG used the same suspension company (Multimatic) as RB to make the One AMG the road version of their hypercar.

[Tonino]

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

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

Made by a very famous Japanese designer: Mr. Yohji Yamamoto…

Not sure Toto has anything to do with the design … only Addidas could be a little guilty maybe

Toto of old would have laughed in their faces if they’d suggested he model this “fashion,” but Toto of the new is all about the mooooney and fame, so of course he said yes. He should just be careful not to fly too close to the sun and get burned, you know like Horner.

Anyway, as long as the car is fast and we're winning races, I don’t really care he can do as he pleases.

[Lasssept]

Autoracer

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬’ 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭.

- Mercedes’ advantage in Shanghai starts right at the corner exit — telemetry shows stronger acceleration as soon as the throttle is applied

- Ferrari is competitive mid-corner, but loses time immediately after the apex, where Mercedes builds more speed within ~100m

- Acceleration data shows early positive spikes for Mercedes, pointing to better initial energy deployment — not just top speed

- The gap is systematic across the lap: Ferrari holds in the corners, Mercedes pulls away on every exit

- Ferrari’s stronger mid-corner comes at a cost — higher tyre stress, leading to more degradation and a bigger drop-off in race pace

link

[basti313]

Toto of old would have laughed in their faces if they’d suggested he model this “fashion,” but Toto of the new is all about the mooooney and fame, so of course he said yes.

I wonder if he shows up at VLN this weekend. If he is a racer....this might be the only interesting races for AMG this year. And he can celebrate with a good driver

[CjC]

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.

With their joker, can the teams re-nominate all 8 ratios or just one of the 8?