“Not a huge fan,” Mercedes Technical Director expresses concern over F1’s latest regulations

Mercedes have lost their spot as the top team due to the new regulations.

“Not a huge fan,” Mercedes Technical Director expresses concern over F1’s latest regulations

George Russell celebrating on top of his Mercedes

Mercedes has been the most successful team in Formula One’s Turbo Hybrid era. The German marque has won 8 Constructor’s Titles and 7 driver’s titles in the 9 years since the commencement of the Turbo Hybrid era. The team returned to Formula One after an absence of several decades in 2010 with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg behind the wheels of their cars.

After 4 seasons of mediocre performances with the odd podium every now and then, Mercedes stepped up to the challenge in 2014. They were instantly a class apart. They won both the Constructor’s as well as the Driver’s World Championship with Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes carried this momentum forward and became indomitable.

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Their reign at the top lasted until the introduction of the new set of regulations in 2022. The new regulations implemented the ‘ground effect’ philosophy of aerodynamics in an attempt to bring the teams closer in terms of performance and make over-taking and following much easier. Since this regulation switch-up, Mercedes have been on the back foot. Notably, Mercedes finished 3rd in the standings in 2022 and only managed to win 1 race over the course of the year, highly unusual for a team of their stature.

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Mercedes Tech Boss reveals his apprehension about new regulations

Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott
Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott

In a recent interview with Autosport.com, Mercedes Technical Director, Mike Elliott expressed his disdain over the new regulations. “Personally, whether it’s because we’ve not had the greatest car, I’ve not been a huge fan of them, If you look at what they were intended to do with improving overtaking, they’ve definitely allowed the cars to get closer in the corners. But I’m not sure that we’ve not then lost out on the straights in terms of the wake and the drag reduction you get as a result of it. So, it doesn’t feel to me like we’ve seen significantly closer racing” he said.

Elliott then spoke about the next set of regulation changes which are set to be put into place in 2026. “There are definitely technologies out there that could give you cars that could follow closely in the corners and still give you a drag benefit down the straights. Formula 1 and the FIA are working towards what will be the 2026 regulations and, if you look at what’s already been released for the power unit for 2026, we’re going to need very different chassis regulations to go with them.” he concluded.

Even though Mercedes are coming off their worst performance in nearly a decade, fans are optimistic that the German manufacturer can turn it around. Mercedes certainly have all the tools at their disposal to once again compete with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari. With an outstanding driver line-up and a rejuvenated team, it will be interesting to see if Mercedes are able to return to form in 2023.

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