Mercedes reveal key technical target for the 2025 F1 season
Having unveiled their 2025 F1 car, the W16 on Monday, Mercedes' technical director James Allison has revealed that the Brackley-based outfit has been focused "on making improvements in the areas that held us back last year."
Mercedes became the latest team to pull the cover off their 2025 F1 car on Monday, the W16 that will be piloted by George Russell and 18-year-old Italian racer, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes have already revealed their livery for the upcoming 2025 F1 season, but they elected to show off their new challenger ahead of its on-track debut at the Bahrain International Circuit, just two days before the start of pre-season testing.
The 2025 season marks the fourth season of the current chassis regulations, and the 12th of the existing Power Unit regulations. For 2026, a major opportunity shines on the horizon.
“Being the fourth year of these regulations on the chassis side, the cars are in the more mature phase. Big gains in lap time are harder to come by but we’ve been focused on making improvements in the areas that held us back last year,” explains Mercedes' technical director, James Allison.
“Our primary focus has been on dialling out the W15’s slight reluctance to turn in slow corners, along with the imbalance in tyre temperatures that made the car inconsistent from session to session.
“That focus has led to changes to nearly every visible aerodynamic surface, new front suspension, and further changes under the skin of the W16 to remedy some of the more challenging characteristics of its predecessor. We are pleased with our progress over the winter and we’re looking forward to finding out where we stack up against everyone else.”
Reliability updates to the power unit
Power Unit development meanwhile remains frozen, but this doesn’t mean that work stops, as power unit boss Hywel Thomas, Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains explains: “We have been looking at reliability updates, and some calibration upgrades, to deliver robustness, squeeze the last little bits of performance out of the Power Unit and give ourselves the best opportunity this season. We’ve made good progress and hopefully that can add performance on track.”
With a major reset in the regulations for next year, 2025 acts as the swansong for the current generation of Power Units.
“It’s definitely the end of an era. The success we have achieved since 2014 was only possible through the hard work of a huge group of talented people.
"It makes you proud to have been a part of that team. We would love to end such an incredible chapter by adding to our success as the Mercedes works team, and everyone is focused on doing that.”
The size of the rules change for 2026 means that work on the next generation Power Unit has been ongoing at Brixworth for several years. Whilst at Brackley, the team is now free to begin work on developing next year’s car. That means that 2025 will be a fine balancing act.
“It’s one of the largest regulation changes in the sport’s history,” says James Allison. “Every team must decide where to spend their resource to both compete on track this year and set themselves up for 2026 and beyond. We’re excited for that challenge and working hand-in-hand between Brackley and Brixworth to be as competitive as we can be this year and build for success next year.”
Hywel Thomas adds: “The 2026 regulation change is a big challenge but one that we’re enjoying. It’s an exciting evolution, particularly the work on sustainable fuels.
"Our partnership with PETRONAS, and their expertise, is key for that area. It’s a huge project and we’re working hard to maximise the opportunity in front of us.”
