James Vowles lauds Mercedes for “exceptional job” with 2026 F1 engine

James Vowles has hailed Mercedes for doing an “exceptional job” with their 2026 F1 power unit.

F1 will see entirely new technical regulations introduced for the 2026 F1 season.

Not only are there significant changes on the chassis side, the engines for 2026 are going to be substantially different with the focus on sustainability and electrical power.

All engines will be run on sustainable fuels, while there will be an almost 50-50 split between ICE and electrical power.

Mercedes famously started 2014 as the top team when it came to engines, dominating the early part of the hybrid era.

It wasn’t until 2018, with Ferrari, who were able to get on level terms with Mercedes with their engine.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Vowles looked ahead to 2026.

“I think Mercedes have done an exceptional job which is why I was very happy to re-sign back up for an extension to it,” he said.

“And I think you’re going to see differences in power units that don’t exist. Today, pretty much all power units are much of a muchness.

“I think that will all change in 2026 and you will see a difference between the power units.

“I don’t think it will be the levels you saw in 2014 where there was such a wide spread between the field.”

Vowles believes Mercedes have potentially stolen a march with “very clever” investing.

“It’s true that if you’ve simplified it, it’s more of what we’re already doing but it’s a completely re-design of what you’re doing in an electrical world and how you’re extracting the most performance from your ICE is different,” he explained.

“It’s an opportunity. In the case of Mercedes, they were very clever in investing earlier than others and investing in other areas.”

For 2026, F1 will see Red Bull and Audi make their own engines for the first time.

Honda are returning with Aston Martin, while Mercedes and Ferrari remain a key player in terms of F1 engines.

Renault have recently abandoned their engine project.