Mercedes HPP director says they have an F1 engine ‘advantage’ over McLaren in 2026

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McLaren have somewhat upstaged engine suppliers Mercedes in the last two seasons by winning back-to-back titles. But this year more than ever, the Silver Arrows’ works status may give them an edge.

When McLaren resumed their Mercedes partnership in 2021, they were still a midfield team. It wasn’t until the second half of the 2023 season that they started scoring regular podiums.

But since the start of 2024, a resurgent McLaren have outscored Mercedes by over 500 points (1499-937). They have also scored nearly four times as many wins (20-6).

There are apparently some insiders who want Mercedes to ‘get rid’ of McLaren as an engine customer, which would weaken a direct rival. Martin Brundle suspects Toto Wolff is ‘desperate’ to beat Zak Brown this year and reassert his team’s superiority.

Hywel Thomas says there’s a clear ‘benefit’ to Mercedes’ works status

Speaking to The Times, Mercedes HPP managing director Hywel Thomas explained that they have a ‘natural’ advantage over McLaren, Williams and Alpine this year.

There was talk that Williams could become a dark horse this season with the highly-rated Mercedes PU, but they appear to have dropped into the lower midfield. McLaren remain the only genuine threat to Wolff’s squad.

If Mercedes and McLaren have different views on the relationship between the chassis and the engine, then it will always be the former who take precedence. Counterparts at Woking will be forced to compromise.

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Under the regulations, Mercedes are obliged to provide their customers with an identical power unit.

“As a works team, 45 minutes down the road, there are just more links. There’s more links between the engineering groups, there’s more links between the hierarchy of the organisations. You would naturally think that there’s a benefit and there’s more advantage.

“On most things, the chassis teams agree, so it isn’t a big deal. But when there’s something where perhaps the works team will be going in one slight direction, and the customer says, ‘Oh, can’t we go in a different direction?’ it will always be the works team that you follow.”

McLaren to enjoy 20 horsepower jump over Ferrari and Red Bull?

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Mercedes and Ferrari, two works’ teams, are widely seen as the frontrunners at the start of the ruleset. Even Andrea Stella agrees that McLaren are behind them.

For 2026, Red Bull have ended their relationship with Honda and introduced their own engine. Zak Brown is stunned by the performance of Red Bull’s power unit, which has exceeded expectations.

While they were running with an older version in testing, which may have impacted perceptions, McLaren will move to the latest Mercedes engine for the Australian Grand Prix.

They will also race with Petronas’ homologated sustainable fuel for the first time. One outlet has estimated that Mercedes-powered teams could gain 20 horsepower as a result.