Brundle outlines how he would counter McLaren as Mercedes boss

Losing the Constructors’ title to McLaren the last two years running, Martin Brundle says if he were in charge at Mercedes, he would give McLaren the information regarding this year’s engine “as late as they can get away with”.

Mercedes powered McLaren to back-to-back Constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025, the Woking team winning 14 of 24 races last season, with Lando Norris adding the Drivers’ title to his team’s list of accolades. Brundle suggests Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff would not have enjoyed that.

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This season, the two Formula 1 powerhouses are back on level footing in Formula 1’s new era, the sport having moved away from ground-effect aerodynamics to back to over-body aerodynamics, similar to pre-2022 designs.

The cars also incorporate active aerodynamics with moveable front and rear wings.

It has erased McLaren’s car advantage from 2025 as all 11 teams are back on a level playing field and may the best design team win.

But in the midst of the chassis development race, there is another element in play – the power unit.

And there, Mercedes has the advantage over McLaren.

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Although both the W17 and the MCL40 will be powered by the same Mercedes power unit, the Brackley team has the advantage of being the team that has designed the engine and the car in conjunction.

McLaren has had to wait for Mercedes’ PU information to then find a way to make the layout work with the chassis. If he were in charge at Mercedes, Brundle suggests he’d have made that point as late as the regulations allow.

“Can you imagine when Toto goes into a board meeting at Mercedes HQ, and they mention that McLaren, their customer team, has won the last two world championships,” he said on Sky during the Barcelona shakedown. “In 2025, they absolutely dominated it with nearly twice as many points as the next runner.

“I don’t think Toto enjoys that a whole lot. He’s a supremely competitive man, and he’ll be looking to put one over on McLaren.

“Now, the regulations control how they can’t just be the works team and then give the customer teams a substandard product. It’s very tightly controlled in that respect.

“They’ve had advanced knowledge of pretty much everything on that power unit, as it’s been developed and used in the simulator for months and months now. I’m sure they only tell McLaren what they have to tell them as late as they can get away with.

“I would if I was them,” he added.

“Mercedes will be desperate to beat McLaren this year, and McLaren, of course, vice versa. So, that could get pretty feisty.”

“But then, if Mercedes can’t win with their car, they’d rather it be another team with their power unit.”

Formula 1’s power unit regulations Appendix 4 1.4 state that “each power unit manufacturer must submit one homologation dossier which applies to all competitors it intends to supply. Only the fuel specification, the engine oil specification and power unit wirings may differ between Competitors.”

It goes on to specify that “all power units supplied by a single power unit manufacturer must also be operated in the same way, they must therefore be:
“a. Identical according to the dossier for each Competitor.
“b. Run with identical software for PU control.
“c. Capable of being operated in precisely the same way.”

But while McLaren needs to incorporate the engine layout and design into the MCL40, Mercedes has the advantage of designing the power unit and the chassis together.

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