Mercedes Chief Communications Officer Bradley Lord has named the biggest “challenge” the team is gearing up to face with the 2026 Formula 1 engine regulations.

The latest power unit rule-set is set to completely overhaul the engine formula – with the removal of the MGU-H and a 50-50 hybrid propulsion system.

Naturally, one of the biggest factors in deciding which engine manufacturer has the legs over its rivals is the reliability and performance it can derive from its power unit.

In the past, this has boiled down to how quickly a team can extract data and convert it into solutions.

For Mercedes, who are tipped to lead the engine race from the start, Lord believes that its position as an engine supplier in the paddock is one of the biggest advantages.

“I think supplying multiple teams as a power unit manufacturer, the reason you do it is because it gives you exactly that [an advantage], particularly on reliability and proving our technology,” he said.

This season, the German marque supplies engines to Williams, Aston Martin and reigning Constructors’ champions McLaren.

From 2026 onwards, Aston Martin will be replaced by Alpine. And while having three teams feeding back essential data to boost Mercedes’ engine development, Lord also envisaged a logistical hurdle that could pose a “challenge”.

“There’s an advantage to that. It also comes at a… cost is the wrong word, but it brings with it the challenge of needing to have more parts ready, more power units ready, more products ready sooner, in order to enable those four teams to go testing and go racing and things like that,” he continued.

“So it’s not without challenge, but one of the upsides is certainly that you get more extensive prove-out mileage, and you’re learning at a faster rate thanks to the mileage that all eight power units will be doing at the first race weekend.

“That will certainly be positive. Equally, if you find challenges, you have eight sets of solutions that you need to deliver, not just two or four or six.

“So there are sort of upsides and downsides to it, but we believe that the upside of that learning outweighs the downsides.”

What Mercedes expects with 2026 regulations

The 50-50 split between the internal cumbstion unit and electric output has raised a few concerns in the paddock about the drivability of the 2026 cars.

Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll have been vocal about how they feel that the technical regulations will impede drivers in fast, flowing circuits like Suzuka or Spa Francorchamps.

However, Lord relayed the initial feelings the team’s reserve driver Valtteri Bottas had to deliver after testing a prototype of the 2026 F1 car on the simulator.

“He said that, by the time we get to the start of next season, actually, it won’t be the same as it has been this year, but we’ll be in a situation where it will be something that feels very familiar,” revealed Lord.

“The focus is on how to extract more performance. How can we overtake here? How can we optimise lap time rather than anything else?

“So I think we will all be going on a journey as stakeholders in and fans of Formula 1, to understand the racing and to explain that to the fans as well, what’s changing and why it’s changing.

“But Melbourne 2026, it will be Formula 1 as we know it, and when the lights go out, it will be racing as we know it, and we will see people fighting tooth and nail to win the grand prix.”

READ MORE – FIA keen to avoid ‘overburdening’ F1 drivers with 2026 regulations

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Esteban Ocon has outlined how his time with Haas in Formula 1 has “incredibly surprised” him so far after spending a stint at Alpine that ultimately ended in disarray.

The Frenchman spent five years at the Enstone-based team between 2020 and 2024, famously taking his maiden race victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2021.

But despite his dependable results, his time with long-time karting rival Pierre Gasly last year meant he was unceremoniously ousted from the team at the end of 2024.

Following contact with Gasly in Monaco, then Team Principal Bruno Famin had threatened Ocon with “consequences”. A month later, it was announced he would be leaving.

However, he quickly signed with Haas for 2025 and beyond, partnering rookie Oliver Bearman in a brand-new line-up at the team.

And looking back at the 14 races he has raced to date with the Kannapolis-based squad, Ocon was quick to draw a contrasting parallel between the two outfits.

“Compared to my previous experience, it’s a healthy environment,” Ocon told Motorsport.com.

“As I said, no one’s hiding behind anything. If we don’t do something right, we talk about it and hope not to do it again. And we talk about it straight away at the end of the race.

“And that’s good, because if you don’t talk about it – which is what I’ve experienced before – then you [are] going to do it again. That’s the main thing.

“This team is incredibly motivated. It can sound crazy, but I’ve seen some people not motivated in the past, even working in the Formula 1 paddock. That’s probably the worst thing.

“As a driver like me – who puts his heart and sweat into the work, to do everything perfect before I get to the track – when you turn up and you see somebody looking at his check-in on Monday, it’s quite tough. And I’ve seen that in the past.”

Ocon Hails Haas’ fighting mentality

Since the team’s debut on the grid in 2016, Haas has been one of the smallest outfits in the paddock in terms of budget.

Yet, Ocon, who has only been with the team since December last year, and has worked with teams like Mercedes in the past, was surprised by how innovative and steadfast the team is.

“Now, I’m not going to say everything’s perfect. There are things that we need to improve, obviously. But we have a very solid base to work on since I joined, and we are moving forward. And I’m glad with the way it’s going,” Ocon continued.

“Designing a steering wheel with a double clutch, it took them a month, which was ridiculous.

“I was incredibly surprised with that, and I’ve never seen any other team do that, even the big ones that I worked with. Normally it takes a lot of time for that to come.

“We were claimed to be the smallest team. We are. But, you know, some of these reactions are top class.”

READ MORE – FIA releases statement in response to ‘baseless and untrue’ allegations made by GPDA chairman

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Cadillac board member and former Formula 1 champion Mario Andretti has broken his silence regarding the team’s 2026 driver line-up.

With the 2026 season just months away, all eyes are on the 11th team on the grid for the upcoming season: Cadillac.

The General Motors-backed project will begin life on the grid as a Ferrari customer team, with the understanding that it will start producing its own engines from 2028 onwards.

And while the team has already sorted out stuff on the chassis and powertrain side, it is yet to announce arguably the most important piece of the puzzle: its driver line-up.

The likes of Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, and Mick Schumacher had all been in the running, as per reports.

That said, earlier this week, it seems that the duo of Bottas and Perez have agreed a deal, at least in principle, to race for the American outfit.

Andretti breaks silence on Cadillac reports

Andretti has been keen to get back into the sport, this time in an owner role.

His bid to introduce the Andretti brand into the paddock failed, but he has clawed his way back onto the grid with Cadillac.

The 1978 F1 World Champion was signed up by Cadillac as an advisor and board member.

And despite all the signals pointing towards the duo of Perez and Bottas to kick off Cadillac’s venture, the 85-year-old urged fans to only believe what the team officially puts out.

While speaking to German publication BILD, Andretti kept his cards close to his chest as he did not divulge any expected date or time period for the team’s driver announcement.

“Just believe what we communicate,” he said.

Perez’s former boss, Otmar Szafnauer, is confident that Cadillac has rightly placed its faith in experience over youth as the team begins life at the pinnacle of single-seaters.

“If he [Perez] finds the right environment, with all of his experience at both smaller teams with less budget [than] Red Bull, he definitely has something to offer,” he told PlanetF1.

“Especially perhaps, a new team coming in that needs an experienced driver for the first couple of years, Checo would be a good addition.”

READ MORE – Why Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez is the sensible debut F1 driver line-up for Cadillac

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Gabriel Bortoleto empathised with fellow rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli amid a frustrating spell for the Italian with Mercedes in Formula 1 this season.

The 18-year-old came into the paddock with lofty expectations. Having skipped Formula 3, the Italian was directly promoted to Formula 2 after winning the FRECA title in his rookie season in 2023.

After Lewis Hamilton’s announcement that he was leaving the German marque for Ferrari, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was quick to hand Antonelli a promotion to F1.

Antonelli began his career in the sport on a strong note, securing a maiden Sprint pole position at Miami and backing it up with a career-first podium finish in Canada.

However, since then, the European leg of the season has seen the Italian struggle massively with the W16. Since that breakthrough result in Montreal, the 18-year-old has only managed to score a solitary point for the Silver Arrows in Hungary. Bortoleto, who raced against Antonelli in F2 last year, empathised with his plight.

“I don’t want to talk about anyone’s performance or confidence because you never know what is going on inside the team,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“You know, so many rumours around everything. I feel like Kimi is a very good driver, he’s talented.

“I raced him in F2 last year and he’s in a good car, you know, very good car and he has a very strong teammate as well, so it’s not easy to be in that position. 

“Obviously, I think there was a lot of expectations into this season for him and, yeah, I just… hopefully, he can get some of this confidence back and then perform well because it’s always good to see other rookies doing well. It shows that our generation is strong, so, yeah.”

Russell clarifies Mercedes stance on Antonelli

Antonelli’s struggles with the W16 essentially started from Imola onwards. The team had fitted an upgraded rear suspension that exacerbated the car’s inherent imbalance and promiscuously small operating window.

His team-mate Russell was also vocal about how the car had become a difficult beast to tame in terms of driveability, adding further credence to Antonelli’s analysis.

Russell explained how Antonelli needs to put his entire season into perspective while evaluating his recent struggles.

“I think as a young driver, you’ve got to look at it objectively, which is in terms of his own personal performance,” he assessed.

“You can argue he’s probably actually performing better than he did at the start of the year when you look at the deficit in terms of lap time. It’s just the differences.

“In Canada, when we were on pole, he was in fourth place, over half a second behind. In Spa, he was only three tenths behind me. But that was the difference between out in Q1 or getting through to Q3.”

Mercedes decided to revert to the pre-Imola spec rear suspension at the Hungarian Grand Prix and hopes that this could bring the team back in contention for wins.

But Russell clarified that there is no pressure on Antonelli to mend his ways immediately post the summer break, with a clear understanding that the side is willing to back his team-mate.

“The team have made it very clear he shouldn’t worry about those results,” Russell asserted.

“He’s still done a very good job considering his experience. It’s the car that has brought us both backwards.

“That’s, of course, very difficult to accept when you’re in that position. But it’s never easy when the car is not performing as you expect.”

READ MORE – Why Mercedes is unconcerned by Kimi Antonelli’s debut F1 struggles

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McLaren CEO Zak Brown has outlined three reasons why Formula 1 struggled to find a foothold in the United States before Liberty Media’s takeover.

F1 was a flying circus, and Bernie Ecclestone was the ringmaster until Liberty Media acquired the commercial rights of the sport from the Briton in 2017.

And since then, F1 has seen a stark rise in popularity in the US.

But before this, the sport struggled to capture the American market, despite having somewhat of a lukewarm reputation in the States.

Brown reflected on that period and broke down the three main reasons why F1 struggled.

“One, we never really found a permanent location, dating back to the ’70s,” he explained on David Novak’s podcast.

“You were Long Beach, then you were Watkins Glen, then you were Dallas, then you were a parking lot in Vegas for two years, then you were Phoenix.”

This meant that the paddock could never really call a single place within the US home.

That said, while circuits like Spa-Francorchamps and Monza became a staple in F1, US tracks were quick to lose their appeal owing to how sporadically they appeared on the calendar.

“Then you took five, six, seven, eight years off,” continued the American.

“Then we came back to Indianapolis. Then we had this ‘tiregate,’ as we called it, so we didn’t put on a good show. Then we disappeared again.

“You’re not going to have any sport be popular in North America if you’re not there or you have no date or location equity.”

How Liberty Media changed F1’s narrative in the US

Since 2012, the Circuit of the Americas in Texas has become the focal point of F1’s operations in the US.

With Liberty Media, the calendar now hosts three Grands Prix in the Country with the addition of Miami in 2022 and Las Vegas a year later.

“We also were a sport that was very exclusive, or perceived to be very exclusive and not very inclusive,” Brown admitted.

“That’s where, when Liberty came in and acquired the sport, they went, ‘Wow, the sport’s huge, but it doesn’t really engage with its fan base like the NBA’s, the NFL’s, the MLBs, even the Premier Leagues.

“I think that was fine for a long time, but now we’re in an era of engagement, not awareness. We weren’t engaging with our fans. We weren’t letting them inside. We were ‘look, don’t touch.'”

The American mass media conglomerate brought all the elements to F1 that the sport had been lacking, compared to the likes of global franchises such as the NFL and NBA.

Netflix was quick to latch onto the sport’s rising star and, in the end, only propelled it to further heights.

“When Liberty bought it and you had Netflix come in, we started kind of letting people see behind the curtains, people went, ‘Wow, this sport’s awesome. I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never been close to it before.

“Then over time, we got three races, starting with Austin, which is one of the best grands prix on our calendar.

“So you went from being not here and exclusive to being here, inclusive, and very focused on engagement.

“I think what Formula 1 has learned, and is continuing to learn, is that sport is entertainment.

“You’ll hear sometimes in Formula 1 where we go, ‘No, we’re not entertainment.’ It’s like, well, as far as I’m concerned, if you buy a ticket to sit in a seat to watch a movie, a motor race, a baseball game, a rock concert, a fireworks show, you’re going to be entertained.

“I think the sport has now embraced that there’s an entertainment aspect to what we do, and the fans are responding accordingly.”

READ MORE – Why the FIA isn’t worried about lap times with the 2026 F1 regulation overhaul

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has conceded that the team failed to get a complete grasp on Formula 1‘s ground effects regulations from the very start.

After a dominant run of eight consecutive Constructors’ titles between 2014 and 2021, the German marque has drastically underdelivered since the last rules change.

The Brackley-based squad kicked off the regulations in 2022 with a brave but ultimately doomed ‘zero-pods’ concept. And despite trying to rectify the inherent gremlins of its design philosophy, the team has been lagging behind the likes of Red Bull and now customer outfit McLaren in terms of out-and-out performance and consistency.

Wolff was quite candid in admitting that Mercedes has failed to crack the regulations, citing that the initial disadvantage has continued to plague the team.

“I think we never excelled at managing those regulations,” he told Formula.hu.

“From the beginning, and I think we started on quite a back foot. And then catching up to great competitors is very difficult.”

Wolff optimistic about 2025’s second half

Next season will see an extensive overhaul to the chassis and engine rules – an area that Mercedes has been tipped to ace due to its track record in the turbo-hybrid era.

Yet, Wolff is banking on the sparks of brilliance the team has shown in the past to ensure that it at least finishes this era of the sport on a high.

One of the biggest issues that the team has faced with the W16 is its temperature sensitivity and a very short operating window. This was exacerbated by a revised rear suspension upgrade fitted at Imola – a decision that was reversed in Hungary, leading to George Russell securing his sixth podium finish of the campaign.

“But I will also be looking back at many highlights,” Wolff continued.

“You know how we literally killed it last year in Silverstone, last victory for Lewis [Hamilton] at the British Grand Prix. Dominant in Spa, absolutely dominant in Las Vegas.

“They were great highlights – and this year in Montreal. We had, at times, a winning car.

“And now for the second part of this year, we need to come back to have a winning car.”

READ MORE – George Russell reveals psychological help upon becoming F1 team-mate to Lewis Hamilton

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Sauber boss Jonathan Wheatley is confident that the new generation of team principals will act in the “best interest” of Formula 1.

2026 will not only see a completely revamped technical rule-set and new additions to the grid, such as Cadillac and Audi, but also the first full-time seasons for the likes of Alan Permane at Racing Bulls, Steve Nielsen at Alpine, and Wheatley at Sauber.

After Laurent Mekies’ promotion to Team Principal and CEO at Red Bull, former Renault (now Alpine) man Permane took over the reins at Racing Bulls.

Nielsen, who has worked within the upper echelons of the FIA and F1, has been made Managing Director of Alpine.

And Wheatley, who was critical to the Milton Keynes-based squad’s success as its Sporting Director, will lead the rebranded Audi works outfit from next season onwards.

Looking back at his time in the sport, the Briton reflected on the journey of the trio.

“I’m fortunate that I met some incredible people on my journey through Formula 1,” he told Motorsport.com.

“And if I make friends, I tend to keep friends for a very, very long time. So we’ve known each other a long time and it’s just nice to have this group of people around you that you trust absolutely and you’ve been on this journey with, because you share so much experience.

“We all ended up in the sporting [director] group, and now we’ve all ended up in the team principals group, and they’re a great group of people, incredibly talented. We know each other inside out.”

Permane and Wheatley go back a long way, since their time together at Benetton.

“Alan is an established professional who knows what he’s doing, years and years of trackside experience, still with a love and a passion for Formula 1 that we all talk about, shares many of the same values I do,” he continued.

“So, I think it’s a really good move for them, and I’m very, very pleased for him, and very pleased for Laurent Mekies [at Red Bull].

“I’m looking forward to working with Steve Nielsen again as well.”

Wheatley expects support to promote the sport

As team principals, the trio will not only have to represent their respective teams before the F1 Commission and the FIA, but also ensure that they uphold the very fabric of the sport.

To this end, despite the inherent tendency to see other team bosses as rivals, Wheatley is confident that the likes of Permane and Nielsen will keep these notions aside and work in the best interest of the sport.

“We know how to separate our personal relationships from our professional relationships,” he asserted.

“We’ve all worked together on achieving a common goal. In fact, I would say 99 per cent in the best interest of the sport in the sporting group, and I’m absolutely certain that at team principal level we will have the same philosophies, which is, overarchingly, to do the best thing for Formula 1.

“We’ve been together at other FIA groups along the way, and FOTA even back in the day as well, so we understand what’s needed. 

“We represent our teams in the best way possible. But if a decision is for the best interest in the sport generally we come around to that, so I’m looking forward to those discussions.”

READ MORE – Ex-F1 chief urges Ferrari to sign rookie as long-term successor to Lewis Hamilton

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McLaren boss Andrea Stella has detailed how branching out leadership roles within the team’s technical setup has paid dividends in the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.

Since 2023, the Woking-based squad has been rapidly adding performance to its ground effects cars.

Last season, it hit a breakthrough with the MCL38 at the Miami Grand Prix – helping Lando Norris to his maiden win.

Not only did McLaren clinch a first Constructors’ title since 1998, but this season, the duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri have won 11 races between themselves, which sees the team comfortably en route to a championship double.

Stella, who has overseen the team’s meteoric rise alongside CEO Zak Brown, revealed how all of this started from a crucial decision about the team’s structure.

“The first step was to look at the team with a map, and understand what is world championship material and what is not,” he told Motorsport.com.

“But also, to identify who are the key leaders that will have to lead their own areas. And the final bit was believing in a model based on collaboration.”

The idea was to promote collaboration within the technical setup back at the factory. This meant the Technical Director role was split three ways.

“I still remember when we announced that we were going from one to three technical directors, there were so many questions about who makes the decisions,” Stella continued.

“For me, who makes the decisions has never been a problem, because my normal way of looking at things is so collaborative that who doesn’t have those kinds of attributes is just not, simply, at the table in the first place.”

Human collaboration at the heart of McLaren’s success

Both Brown and Stella also went on a shopping spree in terms of making key hires across the board at McLaren.

One of the biggest acquisitions they made was that of Rob Marshall, the man who was critical to Red Bull’s success, winning four titles with Sebastian Vettel and two with Max Verstappen, effectively as Adrian Newey’s right-hand man.

Since he arrived at Woking, he has been seamlessly inducted into McLaren’s technical setup.

“Decisions normally tend to be just a critical mass of information accumulated, rather than having a dictator that at some stage will make a decision,” Stella asserted.

“Zak and I believed that this is possible. And since then we have added Rob Marshall, which is then a fourth TD, and the dynamics have not changed.

“So, it requires a lot of presence, a lot of understanding of what’s going on in the business to protect this way of working.

“It’s the human interactions that give real meaning to what we achieve.”

READ MORE – Motorsport Week’s F1 2025 Mid-Season Team Ratings

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Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he is “not entirely convinced” about Formula 1‘s new 2026 power unit regulations.

After over a decade of the sport employing turbo-hybrid power units, F1 will introduce a revamped engine rule set from 2026 onwards.

The engine rules will ditch the MGU-H and transform into a pure hybrid, delivering 50 per cent output from an electric motor and 50 per cent from the internal combustion unit.

This comes amid the FIA’s push for sustainability and efforts from the FOM to make the series a more lucrative prospect for manufacturers.

And while this has already started paying dividends with the likes of Audi, Ford, and General Motors signing up to the regulations reset, Vettel was quick to raise concerns over how it could destroy the very essence of motorsport as we know it.

“Innovative solutions from the previous engine regulations are being dispensed with in order to make it less expensive,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

“This is intended to attract new manufacturers.

“The electric component is generally good and is also needed in mobility. However, 100 per cent electric mobility is already further advanced on the road due to its unbeatable efficiency.

“I’m not entirely convinced by the new regulations yet. Recovering energy is great, but doing it only on the rear axle and ignoring the front axle doesn’t make sense to me.”

Vettel issues warning with sustainable fuel idea

Another area of change that the 2026 regulations aim to propagate is the use of biofuels.

With the latest engines, the FIA has imposed a mandate of using 100% sustainable biofuels.

But while this idea seems to look good on paper, Vettel remains unconvinced.

Vettel believes that the methodology of extracting maximum performance, which is integral to F1, will dilute any applicability this technology would have in the real world – something that Vettel emphasised should be the reason to innovate.

“I think climate-neutral fuels are good because there is a need for them in the world outside motorsport,” he continued.

“For the many vehicles that are already on the road. For shipping and aircraft.

“What you have to be careful about is the origin of these fuels. If you unleash the typical Formula 1 development race on them, things can quickly go in the wrong direction, as was the case in 2014.

“When it comes to fuels, we should close the door by limiting the origin of the molecules and establishing a certain degree of relevance for series production.

“It always comes down to: What are you trying to achieve? How do you achieve it? Where do the resources come from?”

2026 regulations could end motorsport as we know it

The 2026 rule set will also change a considerable amount on the chassis side of things. Active aerodynamics and 30KG lighter cars are all billed to promote closer, more intense racing.

But Vettel has apprehensions that bad habits and mistakes from the turbo-hybrid era will come back to haunt the sport.

“There will be a move away from this transfer and more towards entertainment,” asserted the 38-year-old.

“We should stick with what we know, but it needs to be done better in terms of the environment. The shoes I buy must be manufactured in a way that does not harm the environment and that production meets fair working conditions.

“The same applies to cars and motorsport events. It would be a shame if motorsport as we know it ceased to exist. It’s perfectly normal for it to change.

“From a sporting perspective, the competition must be as close as possible without damaging the spirit of Formula 1. And people must still be able to afford to watch the sport.”

READ MORE – Ferrari makes concession over Lewis Hamilton F1 struggles

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Alex Albon has candidly opened up about his time at Red Bull and where he failed against four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen.

The 2019 season turned out to be a breakthrough season for rookie Albon as his results with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) earned him a surprise promotion to Red Bull.

A decision was made to replace the misfiring Pierre Gasly midway through the campaign to install the Anglo-Thai driver alongside Verstappen.

And while he fared decently well against the Dutchman that year, all eyes were on him in his sophomore year against Verstappen.

Despite two podium finishes, Albon could only finish seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, lagging behind his team-mate by a whopping 109 points.

He was let go by the Milton Keynes-based squad at the end of the season in favour of the more experienced Sergio Perez.

Looking back, Albon conceded that he might have been pushed into the limelight a tad too soon.

“So when I was with Max, I was so consumed in just myself trying to improve,” he told RacingNews365.

“And a lot of that was kind of just digging myself into data and understanding, ‘Okay, why… How can Max do this?’ And ‘How do I drive around these issues, and how does he feel there?’

“But I was inexperienced, so I didn’t really know the right questions to ask in many ways, and I never really got on top of it.”

How Red Bull axe saved Albon’s F1 career

After getting the boot by Red Bull, Albon was forced to sit out the 2021 season on the sidelines.

But Williams gave him a second chance when it signed him to partner with Nicholas Latifi for 2022.

Since then, the 29-year-old has not finished behind his team-mate in overall standings – a trend he seems to be keeping up even with Carlos Sainz this season.

14 rounds into the season so far, Albon is comfortably ahead of the Spanish driver by a margin of 38 points, leading the Grove-based team’s charge to lead the midfield.

Albon went on to explain how his time off from the sport benefited him. Today, he is confident that he can go toe-to-toe against a proven Grand Prix winner in Sainz.

“I talk a lot about my year out,” he continued.

“[It] kind of allowed me a bit more time to get on top of it before I got back in, and then with Carlos, it’s more: I do have the bandwidth, I do have the mental space, and I do have the knowledge to understand.”

READ MORE – How Carlos Sainz has already made a ‘big impact’ at Williams

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