If the 2025 championship has not yet started, the 2026 season is already on everyone's minds and on everyone's lips. Next year, Formula 1 will experience brand new technical regulations, concerning both aerodynamics and the powertrain with brand new power units, which will use more electrical energy (from 120kW today to 350kW in 2026 ).
For several months – even years – engine manufacturers have been developing this brand new power unit and filing the test bench to test and improve their new creation. And on the Mercedes side, we are rather confident about the performance of this 2026 version engine. Toto Wolff confided that certain objectives had been achieved at the Brixworth factory, but that he remains cautious about the lack of points comparison with other engine manufacturers. “Some expectations are being met, that’s a good thing, says Austrian leader, Team Principal of Mercedes. For others, we continue to strive to achieve our goals. This is not trivial. But the question is whether you have set your expectations in the right way. So the answer is that we don't know where we are. »
With Mercedes, Alpine thinks it has “the best engine” in 2026
A relative and cautious confidence despite the rumors in the corridor which announce that the Silver Arrows have, at present, the 2026 engine most advanced in its development, information which is difficult to verify, obviously. However, this was enough to convince Alpine to move towards Mercedes engines in 2026, after the announcement of the end of the F1 program at Viry-Châtillon last September. Oliver Oakes, Team Principal of A arrow in Formula 1, returned to this decision in the Beyond the Grid podcast and evokes a pragmatic choice.
“Times are changing and we must not rest on our laurels. We have to be honest, the decision to become a customer team was in the best interest of the team, assures the British manager, in post at Alpine since the summer of 2024. I know it was a difficult decision to make. I know there is a lot of emotion because we are proud to be a factory team and we still have another year to spend together [en 2025]but I think it was also a big statement of intent about where we want to go. »
“We are not here just to make numbers. We want to move forward, he adds, on Alpine's ambitions in 2026 and beyond, convinced that the Mercedes engine will be the best next year. I think I was quite open, maybe too honest, when I said, being selfish, that I just wanted the best engine in the car. At the end of the day, for me, we're here to race. I want to be at the front of the grid, I don't want to be at the back. The choice we made was to put the best engine in the car and help the team continue to move up the grid. »
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