Mercedes wary of in-house 'enemy' during 2026 F1 season

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has stated his squad could have an enemy “in the house” next year if it produces the benchmark power unit.

A major regulation change next year will see significant changes to both the chassis and engine side of the rules.

With such a dramatic change coming to the power units, it has been theorised that the manufacturer that produces the most efficient engine will have an advantage in the pecking order.

As well as supplying its own team, Mercedes will provide engines to McLaren, Williams and Alpine - all of whom Wolff sees as a credible threat to his team.

“Clearly, if it were our power unit - again, I don’t know - then it’s four teams,” Wolff told Sky F1.

“Alpine started very early with a lot of aerodynamic time because they weren’t great in the championship.

“Williams has a similar advantage. So you have the enemy in the house.”

With a major increase in electrical power from next year, it is set to change how the drivers approach racing by how and where they deploy energy from the battery.

Wolff highlighted his eagerness to see how the drivers tackle the updated method to extract lap time.

“The simulator is going to be the main tool to unlock [pace],” he said.

“The way you harvest and deploy the energy is going to be key to lap time. But it’s also going to be super important for racing.

“You might see overtakes in areas where they haven’t been before, simply because the driver is being clever over where to deploy [energy].

“I like this concept that the drivers start to say ‘This is new, this is interesting’.”