Mercedes: Similar feelings to 2014 with the brand-new power units

Mercedes technical director James Allison revealed that the Brackley-based outfit has similar feelings to 2014 as the team continues to develop the brand-new power unit that will be introduced in 2026 and will represent the biggest change since the old V8s were dumped in favour of the 1.6L V6 turbo hybrids.

Formula One is set to introduce a heavily-revised power unit regulation in 2026. The current season is the 11th year running of the actual formula that was introduced in 2024. The current power units are powered by V6 1.6-litre hybrid turbo internal combustion engines.

The sport revealed in August 2022 that the turbocharged, 1.6-litre V6 internal combustion engine element of the power unit will be reduced from 550-560kW down to 400kW (535bhp), and that the battery element will jump from 150kW up to 350kW (470bhp) to replace that power loss – despite the eradication of the MGU-H.

The latter was decided in order to make the power units less complicated which is thought to potentially lure other engine manufacturers into the sport.

Moreover, the new F1 power units will run on fully sustainable fuels, meaning that no new fossil carbon will be burned, with carbon instead to be derived from non-food sources, genuine municipal waste, or even out of the atmosphere.

Although Mercedes is yet to find the sweet spot with its car since the introduction of the brand-new ground-effect cars, George Russell believes that his team might excel in the new engine formula.

"I mean ordinarily 2026 seems like a long time away but in the world of Formula 1 it's going to be here tomorrow and the team are feeling really confident for this era.

"I think you know the experience of the team have had, the success in 2014 with the new powertrain, and then obviously the time in Formula E, the work that was done with the Hypercar.

"There are a lot of individuals within HPP who have got so much experience with this future technology. So I think that leaves us in a really great place to have a great engine.

"And the work Petronas are doing on the fuel as well is looking really strong. So on the engine side, I think we're feeling very confident for that era."

Mercedes technical director James Allison worked at Ferrari when the sport introduced the all-new hybrid power units in 2014. The Briton revealed that the team told him that they had very similar feelings back then to how they approach the new technical era.

"I wasn't in the team in the run-up to 2014 when the new generation of power units were being concocted and the enormous push to make them a reality was taking place.

"But those of us in the team who were, tell me that the feeling is very similar. There is a massive shove going on in HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] to make a success of that because it will set the course of anyone who's lucky enough to have that in the back of their car for some seasons to come.

"We're lucky that we will be on the receiving end of all the good investment they are making on our joint behalf," Allison is quited as saying by Sky Sports.

Despite three tough years of setback, team boss Toto Wolff believes in the strength of Mercedes' engine department as preparations continue for F1's next big engine overhaul in 2026.

"We have an engine department that is good as it can be with a top leadership. There is not a millimetre in HPP that I wish would be different in terms of organisational set-up, in terms of the people that work there that I am lucky to interact with, it's just a perfect organisation.

"They have are just delivering and have delivered for a long time. Since 2014 we have been pretty much the benchmark or with maybe another engine the benchmark, so that hasn't changed.

"I really can't wait for 2026 to come and see the different levels of performance of the power units."