2026 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

[SB15]

Kimi was brilliant during Monaco GP and deserved the win. But was George affected by Mercedes decisions?

He was... yes he was also not quick but the team didn't "help" his situation.

[Emag]

I read the interviews today and I am going to be honest, I don't like the way George is responding to this. He basically tried to boil it down to just "poor luck". He was unlucky only in Canada with the PU problem, but everything else? Way off the pace in Miami. Like way way off. And his only excuse was that the track did not suit him. The problem is that the gap was too big for that to hold any water. Then you can argue the safety car in Japan, but he wasn't on Antonelli's pace anyway. Even in Canada, props for getting pole but he was not the faster Mercedes driver in either Sprint or Feature Race. Too many mistakes in the race itself where it was actually hard to distinguish who was the rookie and who was the veteran between the two.
In Monaco? No excuses at all. Your teammate puts it on pole, at the very least you need to be on the second row. Track position basically takes care of most of these "unlucky" situations George refers to.

Lando talked sh*t as well, which damaged his PR almost irreversibly, but at least the guy is humble enough to accept when he doesn't deliver.

George needs to stop focusing on the missfortune, but rather focus on what he can control. And what he can control is his pace, which coincidentally has been his biggest problem since China really.

[SB15]

I read the interviews today and I am going to be honest, I don't like the way George is responding to this. He basically tried to boil it down to just "poor luck". He was unlucky only in Canada with the PU problem, but everything else? Way off the pace in Miami. Like way way off. And his only excuse was that the track did not suit him. The problem is that the gap was too big for that to hold any water. Then you can argue the safety car in Japan, but he wasn't on Antonelli's pace anyway. Even in Canada, props for getting pole but he was not the faster Mercedes driver in either Sprint or Feature Race. Too many mistakes in the race itself where it was actually hard to distinguish who was the rookie and who was the veteran between the two.
In Monaco? No excuses at all. Your teammate puts it on pole, at the very least you need to be on the second row. Track position basically takes care of most of these "unlucky" situations George refers to.

Lando talked sh*t as well, which damaged his PR almost irreversibly, but at least the guy is humble enough to accept when he doesn't deliver.

George needs to stop focusing on the missfortune, but rather focus on what he can control. And what he can control is his pace, which coincidentally has been his biggest problem since China really.

Actually I'll play devil's advocate and say that his pace was, especially in the races... I don't know what it is but he always struggles for some odd reason? Very Good Qualifier, but his race pace was never "other worldly" vs the likes of Lewis, Max, Lando, and now coincidentally Kimi.

Now I know Russell fans don't like me saying this and frankly you guys have every right to defend him, but the moment I seen Kimi was catching up to George at a rate of knot in his first race, made me be extremely worried for him in the future!

[gearboxtrouble]

Russell has always been overrated imo. He narrowly beat an unhappy and past his peak Hamilton, talked up his "rivalry" with Max and suddenly the predominantly British media was falling over themselves to crown him the 2026 WDC before the season had even started. He's a solid driver who's the same age as Max and Charles and accomplished far less than either of them. He can win a title but it would need a dominant car and a weaker teammate, the latter of which he really does not have this season. Kimi makes mistakes but he clearly has a higher ceiling in only his 2nd full season. He made the difference at Monaco in a way we've seen Max and Lewis do in the past. It's really similar to what happened at Red Bull with Riccardo who everyone was convinced was the next big thing because he saw off a past his peak Seb but then Max came along and took control of the team within a season.

[zibby43]

My understanding is that the electric side is not frozen. So as it stands, everyone can make changes between seasons as long as they stick to the cap. IMHO, it is extremely unlikely that the peak capability of anyone's hybrid system is that far ahead of anyone else from a hardware perspective. This is mature technology that has been raced in F1 and beyond for years.

The difference is likely coming from perfecting harvesting and deployment maps. This is software. It can constantly be updated by any team. Hence the focus on ICE for ADUO and why I do trust the FIA and am willing to see how this pans out.

If the hybrid element is reduced in favor of the ICE in 2027, I imagine RBPT will stand the most to gain.

Thank you very much, very informative. Makes sense then that ADUO only pertains ICE.

I do wonder how Mercedes ICE is weaker than RB Ford. Do we know if the measurements are based of the CR updated ICE?

You’re very welcome. Glad it was helpful.

The FIA are constantly analyzing telemetry across all live sessions over a given period where they’re establishing their ICE Performance Index.

I know they’re measuring things such as engine speed, input shaft torque, and MGU-K power output, etc.

[Badger]

My understanding is that the electric side is not frozen. So as it stands, everyone can make changes between seasons as long as they stick to the cap. IMHO, it is extremely unlikely that the peak capability of anyone's hybrid system is that far ahead of anyone else from a hardware perspective. This is mature technology that has been raced in F1 and beyond for years.

The difference is likely coming from perfecting harvesting and deployment maps. This is software. It can constantly be updated by any team. Hence the focus on ICE for ADUO and why I do trust the FIA and am willing to see how this pans out.

If the hybrid element is reduced in favor of the ICE in 2027, I imagine RBPT will stand the most to gain.

Thank you very much, very informative. Makes sense then that ADUO only pertains ICE.

I do wonder how Mercedes ICE is weaker than RB Ford. Do we know if the measurements are based of the CR updated ICE?

You’re very welcome. Glad it was helpful.

The FIA are constantly analyzing telemetry across all live sessions over a given period where they’re establishing their ICE Performance Index.

I know they’re measuring things such as engine speed, input shaft torque, and MGU-K power output, etc.

What you said is incorrect though. For anyone without ADUO the electrical side cannot be changed before 2028.

[Gillian]

My understanding is that the electric side is not frozen. So as it stands, everyone can make changes between seasons as long as they stick to the cap. IMHO, it is extremely unlikely that the peak capability of anyone's hybrid system is that far ahead of anyone else from a hardware perspective. This is mature technology that has been raced in F1 and beyond for years.

The difference is likely coming from perfecting harvesting and deployment maps. This is software. It can constantly be updated by any team. Hence the focus on ICE for ADUO and why I do trust the FIA and am willing to see how this pans out.

If the hybrid element is reduced in favor of the ICE in 2027, I imagine RBPT will stand the most to gain.

Thank you very much, very informative. Makes sense then that ADUO only pertains ICE.

I do wonder how Mercedes ICE is weaker than RB Ford. Do we know if the measurements are based of the CR updated ICE?

You’re very welcome. Glad it was helpful.

The FIA are constantly analyzing telemetry across all live sessions over a given period where they’re establishing their ICE Performance Index.

I know they’re measuring things such as engine speed, input shaft torque, and MGU-K power output, etc.

It's a bit more complicated apparently, AR3-GP posted this:

It's the chart below. I outlined the relevant columns in black. Look at the "2027" column. It's full of red X mark so that means Red Bull cannot update it. The ADUO column has green check mark which means they can bring an upgrade in 2026 and 2027 each.

The MGU-K, Energy Store, and control electronics are frozen. It's a colossal oversight considering the 50/50 power split and the big development area that is inside the hybrid systems. The only hope is that Ferrari and the other PU manufacturers raise hell in Barcelona over Merc's ADUO tokens. It nullifies what Ferrari has been granted and puts Red Bull at a severe disadvantage for next year.

https://i.postimg.cc/ryvg39xb/image.png

https://i.postimg.cc/fRWdr3qm/image.png

[basti313]

I read the interviews today and I am going to be honest, I don't like the way George is responding to this. He basically tried to boil it down to just "poor luck". He was unlucky only in Canada with the PU problem, but everything else?

I would even say he was very lucky before the strategic/penalty meltdown. He was gifted positions by two failing RedBulls and a Ferrari.
The penalty was his own doing and honestly...this also needs discussion by the driver. Same as the wrong tires for the McLarens, the driver needs to say "this is my tire to finish, no matter what". Drivers like Ham, Ver or Vet would have strongly questioned the decisions made to box. Without the stupid stop, that would have been an easy podium.

It's a bit more complicated apparently, AR3-GP posted this:

......

https://i.postimg.cc/ryvg39xb/image.png

https://i.postimg.cc/fRWdr3qm/image.png

That looks like only structural elements. I do not see them as major performance defining components to be honest.
The question is if there are restrictions on the internals of for example the battery?

Generally, I always said in the CR discussion, that Merc will not use anything on peak power, but everything on efficiency. Obviously they did exactly this: Whatever they have in the pocket on the ICE, they use it to generate energy when off peak power.
So I would not overrate the ERS issue at all. I still think the car is only generating power on the ICE. The ICE is the issue and especially RedBull fell for it. Beginners...

[Matt2725]

Russell has always been overrated imo. He narrowly beat an unhappy and past his peak Hamilton, talked up his "rivalry" with Max and suddenly the predominantly British media was falling over themselves to crown him the 2026 WDC before the season had even started. He's a solid driver who's the same age as Max and Charles and accomplished far less than either of them. He can win a title but it would need a dominant car and a weaker teammate, the latter of which he really does not have this season. Kimi makes mistakes but he clearly has a higher ceiling in only his 2nd full season. He made the difference at Monaco in a way we've seen Max and Lewis do in the past. It's really similar to what happened at Red Bull with Riccardo who everyone was convinced was the next big thing because he saw off a past his peak Seb but then Max came along and took control of the team within a season.

How has he achieved less than Charles? They're both back to back F3/GP3 and F2 champs. Charles hasn't done anything Russell hasn't done in F1. And to talk about a past his peak Hamilton who has beaten Charles handily now twice. Adjusting for luck and reliability, Kimi has at best 2 wins this season.

[zibby43]

Thank you very much, very informative. Makes sense then that ADUO only pertains ICE.

I do wonder how Mercedes ICE is weaker than RB Ford. Do we know if the measurements are based of the CR updated ICE?

You’re very welcome. Glad it was helpful.

The FIA are constantly analyzing telemetry across all live sessions over a given period where they’re establishing their ICE Performance Index.

I know they’re measuring things such as engine speed, input shaft torque, and MGU-K power output, etc.

It's a bit more complicated apparently, AR3-GP posted this:

It's the chart below. I outlined the relevant columns in black. Look at the "2027" column. It's full of red X mark so that means Red Bull cannot update it. The ADUO column has green check mark which means they can bring an upgrade in 2026 and 2027 each.

The MGU-K, Energy Store, and control electronics are frozen. It's a colossal oversight considering the 50/50 power split and the big development area that is inside the hybrid systems. The only hope is that Ferrari and the other PU manufacturers raise hell in Barcelona over Merc's ADUO tokens. It nullifies what Ferrari has been granted and puts Red Bull at a severe disadvantage for next year.

https://i.postimg.cc/ryvg39xb/image.png

https://i.postimg.cc/fRWdr3qm/image.png

My interpretation/understanding was that only pertained to the overall structural components/elements and as I pointed out earlier, there’s not really low-hanging fruit there anyway.