According to Williams team boss James Vowles, all rumors about the dominance of the Mercedes engine for 2026 are premature. The Briton heads one of the Silver Arrows’ customer teams and will also have access to the Mercedes power unit next season. However, Vowles believes that stories about the engine have been spread by rivals: ‘One engine manufacturer tried to bring about regulatory changes in this way.’
The 2026 Mercedes engine has been in the spotlight recently. Rumors circulated that the Silver Arrows had applied a trick for the compression ratio, which would yield three-tenths of a second time gain. Prior to these rumors, many experts had already predicted that the Mercedes engine could become the strongest on the 2026 grid.
‘No one knows yet’
According to James Vowles, the latter was mainly due to the rivals of the German engine manufacturer. “No one knows yet, no engine manufacturer knows where they will end up,” the Williams team boss tells the media. “Part of the speculation that appeared was because one team and engine manufacturer tried to create a story to bring about some changes (in the regulations).”
The rumors of a more powerful Mercedes engine are therefore unfounded, according to Vowles. “No one really knows yet. I highly doubt that Ferrari has done a poor job; they are very good at delivering a strong engine every year. Honda has set the benchmark for engines this year. So, I don’t think it will be like in 2014, when there was such a large lead (for Mercedes).”
The Silver Arrows started the new regulation cycle in 2014 with the strongest engine on the grid, and were subsequently able to secure the constructors’ title eight times.
