In the round-up: George Russell is confident about Mercedes’ chances of producing a competitive power unit for the new rules coming in 2026.
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In brief
Mercedes “very confident” for 2026 – Russell
Although Mercedes have only won a single grand prix since the introduction of new ground effect technical regulations in 2022, Russell believes his team are in a good position for the introduction of revised power units in two years’ time, as they did the last time the rules were changed.
“Ordinarily, 2026 seems like a long time away but in the world of Formula 1 it’s going to be here tomorrow and the team are feeling really confident for this era,” he said.
“I think you know the experience the team have had, the success in 2014 with the new powertrain, and then obviously the time in Formula E, the work that was done with the hypercar. There are a lot of individuals within [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] who have got so much experience with this future technology, so I think that leaves us in a really great place to have a great engine – and the work Petronas are doing on the fuel as well is looking really strong. So on the engine side, I think we’re feeling very confident for that era.”
Newgarden “thankful” to O’Ward
Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden heaped praise on Pato O’Ward after passing his rival to win the race halfway around the final lap. “It was hard to know if it’s going to work,” Newgarden said. “I don’t think it works unless you’re racing someone like Pato.
“It’s not that Pato didn’t race me hard, he just raced me clean. That move doesn’t work unless you’re racing someone like that. It just doesn’t. It’s very easy that that doesn’t work out.”
O’Ward finished second in the race, as he also did in 2022. “I think he’s a tremendous champion,” said Newgarden. “He could have easily won the race himself. He was very capable of that with his team.
“For us, it worked out. He drove me excellently. I’m very thankful for him and the way that he drove.”
“From our side, we left it all on the track. There was nothing that we were going to come home and regret. I definitely felt that way in the final. I’m like, we’re going to put it all on the line. You have to if you want to win Indy. That’s just the way it’s got to…
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