The original plan was that an electric motor will come to the front axle. This was rejected by the others because Audi already had experience with it through Le Mans.
@@tatumjohnson855 Source: common sense. F1 dropping an engine part that is only used in F1 and not in regular street engines so that Audi doesn't have to design it from scratch should say enough
They caught up to Merc at an astonishing speed under the current ruleset. So they obviously have really smart engineers that can develop amazing engines. If they get the new rules right from the get-go, Aston Martin will be dangerously competitive for sure.
Honda engineeres we’re already at Aston Martin a whole 2 years ahead seems like they have learned a lot and will be competitive as they originally were working for the 2025 regulations. Plus they haven’t even added much to the redbull power train except support to redbull so all their focus is in Aston and them coming in hot for 2026
@@TheBotanist19 Nope, in 2020 there was no such thing as an engine freeze. The 2021 engine was o par with the Mercedes and Ferrari. The engine freeze was completed after 2022.
Not only the fuel provider the oil lubrication is key in high powered racing engines. I've always said the anectdote of 2014 when Mercedes recommended Castrol for Oil engine, and Mclaren with Mercedes engines used Mobil-1 and as a result they were making around 30 to 40 hp less than the works team. So every detail is important.
Well, don't forget what Honda demanded from Red Bull, when they arrived there.. one of the cars must be driven by a Japanese pilot.. and why they should not ask that again (main reason why Tsunoda is still in not the RB main team, even he beated every teammates.. because even RB don't know how long will be there, if Honda demands the same from Aston, they will probably lose Tsunoda, instead of a newbie driver...)
Yup, saying Aramco, Shell and Petronas are big and Mobil1 kinda an unknown quantity... Sure Aramco is the 4th largest of any company on the planet by revenue, but ExxonMobil is bigger than Shell (though not by a lot) and Petronas only has revenue of ⅕ compared to ExxonMobil
@Scronx-mc3uj Bottas himself said that the engine is looking good and that it's the chassis he'd be concerned about. Some reputable German sources have made positive remarks about Audi's F1 engine development as well.
@@jsade bottas isn’t with the audi project plus matia knows much more into the project than bottas. Audi has a development lag and they expect it to haunt them till 2029
I would put Ferrari at 3rd, and Mercedes and Honda at the top. The reason I would lower Ferrari is because of the 50/50 engine split. Ferrari make great engines, but their Electric deficiencies would be on display, and Honda have the best in this case.
It'll be 2014-2021 all over again Where engine performance is the biggest factor when it comes to your car's overall pace. Whichever brand that can nail electric side of the new power unit (energy harvesting & motor efficiency) would have a massive advantage over the others
My guess is that the Ferrari engine will be powerful but fragile, Merc and Honda will been quick and reliable but maybe lacking peak power to Ferrari. RBPT I think will be competitive but reliability will be an unknown and Audi not a clue. Either Audi are trolling everyone and have a powerhouse in the works or it will be a "GP2" engine.
I don't expect a repeat of 2014, with one team or mfgr having a huge advantage, especially on the ICE side, considering the power units will be energy flow restricted (vs mass flow restricted in current pu), and based off the well known, existing ICE tech. The bigger advantages will likely be found on the active aero side, and energy stores technology. Who can charge the batteries the fastest? I'd be looking at which manufacturer is bringing in the best electric tech.
Some information about RB Ford powertrains that's been missed out. -They have also hired over 200 people from Mercedes HPP. People like to act like RB is about to fall off because of 6-7 big names leaving, but never question Merc' engine division. -Mobil1 is part of ExxonMobil the 7th largest company in America by revenue, only Aramco is bigger than them. So, it is not right to put them a tier below Shell or Petronas. -RBPT is collaborating with Ford at a deeper level than initially expected, which was just the electrical part. So, the engine will have substantial knowledge from Mercedes, Honda and Ford. -RB Ford PT is completely new that also means access to the latest and best machinery for testing/designing. -Newbie status for RB Ford PT also means more testing time/money compared to established teams. That said it's still a herculean effort that will be needed to be competitive from the off but they definitely have the tools.
All you said is absolutely right. I think they'll start a bit behind Mercedes and Ferrari because of how great of an experienced engine manufacturers these two are, but RBPT surely has the facilities and personnel to make a great PU in the end
Well, and i only say that, the reason why Apple laptops kill every other laptops on the market, because others are separated, like Samsung made the hardware, but Qualcomm made the chip, and Microsoft made the software.. meanwhile Apple can solve everything inhouse (hardware+software+chip design too.. and nobody can beat them in efficiency, and because of that efficiency their single core performance is also in lead..) Multiple company on the same project isn't a big advantage, all company had a different aproaching, so hard to make a compromise how the should do the final version (because all of them still sticking for their aproach, like they have the most experience in that..) so in reality the multiple company projects are usually way behind like when the company solve everything inhouse (and because Mercedes method worked fine in Mercedes engines, doesn't mean that it's ideal for Ford engines too...)
I think you also need to consider both the move to bio/sythentic fuels and the increase use of electric power. Which fuel companies are leading the development of bio and sythentic fuels? Which manufacturers are leading the charge in battery and electric engines. Both of these elements will help shake things up.
Very interesting point, you are the first in any video of the 50+ content creators I follow who mentions that. The different fuel providers, never talked about. As a geologist having worked for and done my MSc. at the longest sponsor of F1 great to hear this! We should record a podcast on that, I just released Mr. V., Cameron CC and many others shredding Lil Mo Salami...
on one hand, they are the new guys and the team itself says the engine probably wont be good at start. on second hand, its audi. hope they underestimate and overdeliver.
I agree with your in-depth explanation of the individual factors. But definitely not your ranking. Since Andy Cowell left Merc HPP, they have not been the class leaders that they were from 2014 - 2020. I also feel Audi are not the circus that everyone makes them out to be. Watch out for Audi
Audi is coming out as a fresh designer, with not that much experience in making the f1 engines, and those are completely different beast in comparison to endurance, or sport cars. Also, they are coming to Sauber, that is so far behind the rest of the field, that even if the engine isn't much worse that f.e hondas their chassis might be.
I think it’s Ferrari who are currently ahead of Mercedes but only slightly. The standard Turbo that Ferrari has run through the hybrid era is an advantage of of sort as Mercedes have always and still do run a split turbo for cooling and packaging reasons. Moving to a standard turbo will be a whole new issue for Mercedes to deal with in terms of heat generated, cooling and reliability. Although they will overcome it it’s extra issues that Ferrari don’t have to contend or worry about which given them more time on pure PU development. I think Redbull are behind the curve giving how vocal they’ve been over the 2026 Monza simulations where they kept having electrical power running out on the main straight and were crying about how it’s dangerous to have the car suddenly D-rate and have to change down decal gears to even try to keep some momentum. Ferrari just said it’s not an issue for us and Mercedes admitted it was for them but they solved it at sim level in February. From this alone Redbull estimated they are at least 6 months behind the development of Mercedes & possibly more behind Ferrari. Honda could be either side of Redbull power trains depending on how much Redbull beg, steal and borrow from the current Honda organisation. It’s rumoured the Redbull PU is essentially based on current Honda technology and they are poaching any Honda PU engineers who wish to move over to Redbull for the challenge. Audi will be at the back initially but we need to remember Audi are great at hybrid power in other racing series especially WEC. It seems they Will be free from homologation and have a more relaxed financial cap until they are deemed to have caught up. So depending on what they find in the free 18 months before they need to abide by the cap and homologate they could pop up a surprise package by 2027 as let’s be honest Audi are not totally new to hybrid power and were the class leaders in other series
I'm hoping that the removal of mgu-h will help a bit but its also limited by the fuel flow so they can't rev them as high to get some of the higher pitched sound back
It frustrates me that there is a lot of speculation about everything, yet one of the few things that are facts don't get mentioned. You explained that fuel is important, which is true. But you haven't said anything about F1 switching to 100% sustainable fuel - which is why fuel is going to be such a big thing. F2 has already been running on sustainable fuel, which was provided by Aramco, therefore Aramco has an actual proper edge because they have been busy already with developing fuel and putting it to practice.
I don't believe fuel is going to make the biggest difference, because the ICE is going to be heavily restricted. I think the electrical part will determine the success for the teams, especially the battery. So I think Audi and Ferrari will have the advantage in the motor department.
Great vid. You have become one of my favorite F1 follows. While I am already a subscriber, if you started pointing your race geekery towards Le Mans Hypercar, I would become a supersubscriber. Either way, great work.
I didn't watch the video yet and i'm already beting on Mercedes, they have the best engine since the Turbo Era begun, Redbull might achieve what they want with Ford but i don't think they will be the best
I daubt the red bull engine being good, they don't really have experience making engines, and Ford will be more of a Alfa Romeo-sauber type of situation, or aston martin-red bull one
@DT-7727 so who will have? Honda list some of their engineers to red bull, but they still make the red bull engines that let red bull be so quick on the straight. Red bull is big question, but they still have some experience taking a lot of personnel from honda and mercedes, and they are still a top team with high budget. Ferrari and Mercedes are engine suppliers for years, and both of them will have additional data from their consumer teams. Audi is in the worst situation in both engine and chassis departments. They might not be the worst team on the 2026 grid (it will probably be andretti tbh, i am very happy they come but i don't think they will be anywhere close to top 5 teams for first 2-3 years in the least (things might change when they get their engines in 2028)
@@superkubus-nk8lbI like Cady/Andretti in general because of the LMDH car and i'd really love to see them competitive, building a brand new f1 engine by 2028 is no small feat. My money will still go for Mercedes since they pretty much owned the turbo era and even Horner admiting and calling the engines "Frankenstein", they will still have to solve the cooling problems.Ford and Redbull will probably be right there if you remember what a monster of an engine Ford and Cosworth build in the late 80's for f1. I don't know about Ferrari tough since i don't have any info about that but i know their engines were slightly faster than Mercedes and Honda but worse in terms of reliability. Audi will be probably at the back of the pack having the weakest engine and probably the worst car too
I dk this engine sounds like a nightmare on paper. All of the engineers have to be sweating bullets. The ammount of heat these engines will create to try and create the power needed is gonna be crazy.
You have to take into account teams that do a lot of racing other than Formula 1 to be well prepared. The best brand that comes to your mind then is, Ferrari. And they've been winning races with different types of V6 engines. They have race ready sports cars they can bolt their new 2026 Engine to and get data. I bet you they're planning to bolt that power unit on the Ferrari 499 P modificata and doing laps around Fiorano. I know the Le Mans winning V6 hybrid isn't quite the Formula 1 power unit, but surely it's a testament to their technology and know how. They can build good engines. Engines that put them on the history books.
Not sure why people keep saying Merc will be ahead. Based on what? Bullshit from Wolff and Russell? Two people publicly know to lie as often as they breath
I really don't have high hopes for ford, but Red bull power trains do have a bunch of Honda and Mercedes employees, so who knows, maybe they will produce a very good engine.
when we are talking about 2026 engine, there is plenty of time to change literally most of the engine. It takes one idiot to spread the news of this engine is far better than ____ and everyone run with it
I don't know why, but I feel like we are about to enter into either another period of Mercedes dominance, or a complete revival of Ferrari. I would love both, as Antonelli might be able to win a championship in year 2 with a Mercedes that can win, or Leclerc could take his first with the right car. Going to be interesting!
is it confirmed Aston Martin is supplied by Aramco and it's not just a sponsor? would be weird since their Mercedes engine is designed to work with Petronas fuel
What does the fuel provider have to do with anything engine related? Fuel is specced and these guys are just producing and delivering it to the teams. There is no "competitive advantage" in fuel providers.
I hope all teams got their sh-t together and give us an exciting season. I'm tired of 1 team being obviously dominant and only losing due to driver error.
In my opinion that is completely talking from my ass, I feel like merc and Ferrari will be on top, they have developed there engines for years. Redbull have never made an engine, there engine is just a rebadged Honda engine that they brought the license too if I’m not mistaken. Even if they have been buying in engineers from merc, they are not the original team that knows the engine inside and out so i think they will suffer. Audi will either be semi competitive and blow up all the time or be super slow and probably still blow up all the time. Aston martin Honda, honestly no idea, I’m guessing they still have access to their engine they sold to Redbull and will obviously know how to do a better job then Redbull themselves. I am wondering that I do believe that the new bio fuels are gonna be one of the most important factors in how well theses engines run.
I mean there isn’t really any way of knowing who will be where. This is just on vibes coming out of teams. Some keep their cards close to their chest some speak out positivety and some speak negativety to lower the expectations. I wouldn’t bet on anything right now.
My insights are - Merc winning championships made toto forget worth of engineers which he let go to red bull in 2020 and in 2021 we saw how redbull was and even after that -Past succes still kept them overconfident and made them go with wrong concept. -Still loosing engineers to competitors - Loosing top management which can direct new engineers.. most evident when Loic serra left .merc wasn't able to understand what's happening with car. -Whenever merc got successful as a team they always had World champs now they have two incredible drivers but they can't stand against team to redirect. -In this current regulations toto has gassed team to keep sponsors. -Directing team and bringing in of people was done by Niki Lauda who had sporting essence in managerial department as well! Advantage - They made Amg one which wud have given them lot of experience about active aero
@ except I’m not. These engines will not be part of competition for another year, which is such an enormous amount of time for development of anything. The Merc engine could have 100 more horsepower than all the others right now, in a year’s time, they could be behind everyone. There is no reason to compare things that are still in development and will not see competition for another year
I believe McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston will have the best engines developed by then. McLaren Technical is ofcourse one of the strongest power tools at mclaren, plus their new engineers. Ferrari is starting from scratch 2025 so if they make a good car, i believe they won't have much issues in 2026. Mercedes as a PU provider is kind of forced to make it work, not only for partners but ofc for themselves And finally we all know honda engines are the peak of F1 so i think aston will deffo have a chance here.
You beat me too it, didn't have the heart to tell him the fuel is all the same standard in F1 no matter who supplies it , Euro 95 standard, basically what you get at the pump in Europe.
@@limitedmarknot exactly true, the FIA regulates the “ingredients” to the fuel but the fuel suppliers work with their teams on creating a specific blend to their ICE based on its design. Different concentrations of approved compounds within the 110kg of fuel for example will change engine performance. So, putting Ferrari Shell fuel into a Mercedes engine designed with guidance from Petronas won’t run as efficiently. Thought I’d have the heart to correct your mistake. F1 Jesus knows his content
The 2026 engine will be an evolution of the current 1.6 V6, but produce less power. This does not seem to be the mountain that teams were challenged with for 2014. Fuel? You can provide the standardized energy flow rate or you can't. More important is going to be the reliability and packaging of the higher output MGU-K. Then we have aero, and with the shuffling of top aerodynamicists, this will likely be the make or break for team success. Newey+Honda(-Stroll) = success?
I wonder how at Audi is using the Porsche motorsport department, probably FIA has some strict control over them, I have a hunch because of the whole VAG umbrella thing, but regarding the technology of the whole power unit, I think VAG has a strong set of subsidiaries, maybe they can achieve through coop or some "sponsorship" deal to get porsche and subsequently even part of Rimac in it... But it's problem with integration, ICE by itself - Audi strong, EV by itself - Audi strong... Hybrid F1 powerplant.... That's gonna be interesting story...
This might explain why Lewis has gone to Ferrari, because they are the only team who are using a normal turbo charger, so they are likely to be the most powerful in 2026, jumping ship a year early, just like he did in 2013.
ther merc being fastest is a joke Andy Cowell key person in making engines in the early v6 hybrid era has left to join aston and in recent times the ERS and Deployment cases have been struggling especially in high temperatures circuits
How is fuel supposed to make a huge difference? They all have to conform to the specifications, and I'm pretty sure they're all perfectly able to do that.
been a fan of yours for quite sometime now especially your prediction videos like the race in silverstone this year. But videos like this are basically useless, respectfully. It doesnt do anything, no infomation, everything just maybe maybe without any basis. It is different in a race where we can at least make calculated prediction. I know it is a down time for f1 right now and you need an upload, better to cover the f1 sim race, flashbacks on f1 etc. than videos like this
I want the fastest engine
Me too. I would like for the HP to be 1100. Just 100 HP more or 50HP more if so. So it would be 1050HP
@@casspark-i9i bruh
Real
You might need to leave Red Bull then
@@F1Unchainedgo to aston then we don't need stroll
The irony of Audi potentially being last is that the engine regs were literally made for them.
A German in a Audi adds 300 HP
Was it actually? What’s the source
The original plan was that an electric motor will come to the front axle. This was rejected by the others because Audi already had experience with it through Le Mans.
@@tatumjohnson855 Source: common sense. F1 dropping an engine part that is only used in F1 and not in regular street engines so that Audi doesn't have to design it from scratch should say enough
@@DoorTechnicianRickso you have no evidence...
Ferrari definitely have some sort of headstart considering they never used the split-turbo concept which along with the MGU-H is gone for 2026.
All i ask is Hondas engine to be really good because i cant deal with another alonso honda bad engine situation. Please give alonso a 3WDC
They caught up to Merc at an astonishing speed under the current ruleset. So they obviously have really smart engineers that can develop amazing engines. If they get the new rules right from the get-go, Aston Martin will be dangerously competitive for sure.
@@petouser They only caught up because of the engine freeze.
Honda engineeres we’re already at Aston Martin a whole 2 years ahead seems like they have learned a lot and will be competitive as they originally were working for the 2025 regulations. Plus they haven’t even added much to the redbull power train except support to redbull so all their focus is in Aston and them coming in hot for 2026
@@TheBotanist19
Nope, in 2020 there was no such thing as an engine freeze. The 2021 engine was o par with the Mercedes and Ferrari. The engine freeze was completed after 2022.
With Newey stepping in, they have everything in place for Alonso to win it.
Aston Martin with Honda, Cowell, and Newey is going to be a killer combo. At least on paper. Whether it translates to the track we will soon see.
Not only the fuel provider the oil lubrication is key in high powered racing engines. I've always said the anectdote of 2014 when Mercedes recommended Castrol for Oil engine, and Mclaren with Mercedes engines used Mobil-1 and as a result they were making around 30 to 40 hp less than the works team. So every detail is important.
Even if Aston Martin have the best car, they still have only one driver.
Well, don't forget what Honda demanded from Red Bull, when they arrived there.. one of the cars must be driven by a Japanese pilot.. and why they should not ask that again (main reason why Tsunoda is still in not the RB main team, even he beated every teammates.. because even RB don't know how long will be there, if Honda demands the same from Aston, they will probably lose Tsunoda, instead of a newbie driver...)
Mobile 1 is Exxon, one the largest oil companies in the world
Yup, saying Aramco, Shell and Petronas are big and Mobil1 kinda an unknown quantity... Sure Aramco is the 4th largest of any company on the planet by revenue, but ExxonMobil is bigger than Shell (though not by a lot) and Petronas only has revenue of ⅕ compared to ExxonMobil
Mobil not mobile
I came here for this comment
Audi has done crazy well with engines in the past. Do not underestimate their engineers.
This is f1, they are almost half a year behind development. Matia said they will have the slowest engine
I’m not I hope the others are wrong
Yeah, but they haven't made one for f1, toyota also did win everything they were in, but when they came they were nowhere close to competitive
@Scronx-mc3uj Bottas himself said that the engine is looking good and that it's the chassis he'd be concerned about. Some reputable German sources have made positive remarks about Audi's F1 engine development as well.
@@jsade bottas isn’t with the audi project plus matia knows much more into the project than bottas. Audi has a development lag and they expect it to haunt them till 2029
Luigi Hamster is definitely going to win his 8th title...
Noop
as a McLaren fan, it would be excellent for the sport, not so much for the racist haters of a guy that really is more than a F1 driver smh
I would put Ferrari at 3rd, and Mercedes and Honda at the top. The reason I would lower Ferrari is because of the 50/50 engine split. Ferrari make great engines, but their Electric deficiencies would be on display, and Honda have the best in this case.
It'll be 2014-2021 all over again
Where engine performance is the biggest factor when it comes to your car's overall pace.
Whichever brand that can nail electric side of the new power unit (energy harvesting & motor efficiency) would have a massive advantage over the others
mario did a shit weld here lmaooooooo
Not sure many people saw it. What a funny easter egg, lol
My guess is that the Ferrari engine will be powerful but fragile, Merc and Honda will been quick and reliable but maybe lacking peak power to Ferrari. RBPT I think will be competitive but reliability will be an unknown and Audi not a clue. Either Audi are trolling everyone and have a powerhouse in the works or it will be a "GP2" engine.
My guess is that one of the engines will be the most powerful and another will be the least powerful. Only a guess though
@@Matnrach2-mf9qr WOAH WOAH calm down brother such a controversial opinion in this day and age?
Wtf is that max saying "I want the fastest engine " 😮😂
It's fake max
@@ChiockenPlayzC What is it???? No one knew that!
@@ChiockenPlayzCit’s actually max. I know that because I am NOT max
@@mrrj44 it's not me
@@ChiockenPlayzC nah thats crazy. sherlock over here
I don't expect a repeat of 2014, with one team or mfgr having a huge advantage, especially on the ICE side, considering the power units will be energy flow restricted (vs mass flow restricted in current pu), and based off the well known, existing ICE tech.
The bigger advantages will likely be found on the active aero side, and energy stores technology. Who can charge the batteries the fastest? I'd be looking at which manufacturer is bringing in the best electric tech.
Exactly.
Some information about RB Ford powertrains that's been missed out.
-They have also hired over 200 people from Mercedes HPP. People like to act like RB is about to fall off because of 6-7 big names leaving, but never question Merc' engine division.
-Mobil1 is part of ExxonMobil the 7th largest company in America by revenue, only Aramco is bigger than them. So, it is not right to put them a tier below Shell or Petronas.
-RBPT is collaborating with Ford at a deeper level than initially expected, which was just the electrical part. So, the engine will have substantial knowledge from Mercedes, Honda and Ford.
-RB Ford PT is completely new that also means access to the latest and best machinery for testing/designing.
-Newbie status for RB Ford PT also means more testing time/money compared to established teams.
That said it's still a herculean effort that will be needed to be competitive from the off but they definitely have the tools.
All you said is absolutely right. I think they'll start a bit behind Mercedes and Ferrari because of how great of an experienced engine manufacturers these two are, but RBPT surely has the facilities and personnel to make a great PU in the end
Great comment, this guy is just speculating without even knowing the facts.
Well, and i only say that, the reason why Apple laptops kill every other laptops on the market, because others are separated, like Samsung made the hardware, but Qualcomm made the chip, and Microsoft made the software.. meanwhile Apple can solve everything inhouse (hardware+software+chip design too.. and nobody can beat them in efficiency, and because of that efficiency their single core performance is also in lead..)
Multiple company on the same project isn't a big advantage, all company had a different aproaching, so hard to make a compromise how the should do the final version (because all of them still sticking for their aproach, like they have the most experience in that..) so in reality the multiple company projects are usually way behind like when the company solve everything inhouse (and because Mercedes method worked fine in Mercedes engines, doesn't mean that it's ideal for Ford engines too...)
I thought RBPT acquired most of the Honda PT staff before Honda decided to stay in F1?
How did that shake out?
I have heard a lot that it is FERRARI vs MERCEDES but i would also like to say that Ferrari have WOLF ZIMMERMAN in the engine department!
Never heard of him, is he good or bad?
@dinonuggie1908 well Zimmerman also created the 22 Ferrari engine and has created engines in other sports or in general that are very powerful
@speedzyx wasn't that engine unreliable
@@dinonuggie1908 it's the same engine U see today
Always a good day when F1Unchained uploads
❤️❤️❤️
I think you also need to consider both the move to bio/sythentic fuels and the increase use of electric power. Which fuel companies are leading the development of bio and sythentic fuels? Which manufacturers are leading the charge in battery and electric engines. Both of these elements will help shake things up.
I like how you cover everything in detail❤❤❤❤
Alpine are definitely the best
At setting ridiculously high expectations for their team
Very interesting point, you are the first in any video of the 50+ content creators I follow who mentions that.
The different fuel providers, never talked about.
As a geologist having worked for and done my MSc. at the longest sponsor of F1 great to hear this!
We should record a podcast on that, I just released Mr. V., Cameron CC and many others shredding Lil Mo Salami...
Audi has built very good Le Mans engines. Her DTM 4 cylinder was also fantastic and also passed in the Dakar. I would not underestimate Audi.
on one hand, they are the new guys and the team itself says the engine probably wont be good at start. on second hand, its audi. hope they underestimate and overdeliver.
I agree with your in-depth explanation of the individual factors. But definitely not your ranking. Since Andy Cowell left Merc HPP, they have not been the class leaders that they were from 2014 - 2020. I also feel Audi are not the circus that everyone makes them out to be. Watch out for Audi
Audi is coming out as a fresh designer, with not that much experience in making the f1 engines, and those are completely different beast in comparison to endurance, or sport cars. Also, they are coming to Sauber, that is so far behind the rest of the field, that even if the engine isn't much worse that f.e hondas their chassis might be.
I think it’s Ferrari who are currently ahead of Mercedes but only slightly.
The standard Turbo that Ferrari has run through the hybrid era is an advantage of of sort as Mercedes have always and still do run a split turbo for cooling and packaging reasons. Moving to a standard turbo will be a whole new issue for Mercedes to deal with in terms of heat generated, cooling and reliability. Although they will overcome it it’s extra issues that Ferrari don’t have to contend or worry about which given them more time on pure PU development.
I think Redbull are behind the curve giving how vocal they’ve been over the 2026 Monza simulations where they kept having electrical power running out on the main straight and were crying about how it’s dangerous to have the car suddenly D-rate and have to change down decal gears to even try to keep some momentum. Ferrari just said it’s not an issue for us and Mercedes admitted it was for them but they solved it at sim level in February.
From this alone Redbull estimated they are at least 6 months behind the development of Mercedes & possibly more behind Ferrari.
Honda could be either side of Redbull power trains depending on how much Redbull beg, steal and borrow from the current Honda organisation. It’s rumoured the Redbull PU is essentially based on current Honda technology and they are poaching any Honda PU engineers who wish to move over to Redbull for the challenge.
Audi will be at the back initially but we need to remember Audi are great at hybrid power in other racing series especially WEC.
It seems they Will be free from homologation and have a more relaxed financial cap until they are deemed to have caught up. So depending on what they find in the free 18 months before they need to abide by the cap and homologate they could pop up a surprise package by 2027 as let’s be honest Audi are not totally new to hybrid power and were the class leaders in other series
I just want f1 engines to sound good again :(
I feel you, but we might have to wait a bit longer for that :(
Apparently we have to wait till 2028 for that
I'm hoping that the removal of mgu-h will help a bit but its also limited by the fuel flow so they can't rev them as high to get some of the higher pitched sound back
Turbocharged V10's without hybrid system is my dream ❤
It frustrates me that there is a lot of speculation about everything, yet one of the few things that are facts don't get mentioned. You explained that fuel is important, which is true. But you haven't said anything about F1 switching to 100% sustainable fuel - which is why fuel is going to be such a big thing. F2 has already been running on sustainable fuel, which was provided by Aramco, therefore Aramco has an actual proper edge because they have been busy already with developing fuel and putting it to practice.
I don't believe fuel is going to make the biggest difference, because the ICE is going to be heavily restricted.
I think the electrical part will determine the success for the teams, especially the battery. So I think Audi and Ferrari will have the advantage in the motor department.
Great vid. You have become one of my favorite F1 follows. While I am already a subscriber, if you started pointing your race geekery towards Le Mans Hypercar, I would become a supersubscriber.
Either way, great work.
It’s hard to see max anywhere else than Aston in a year or two in my opinion.
I see what you did with the cap and wall neon sign!!!🎉🎉🎉
I didn't watch the video yet and i'm already beting on Mercedes, they have the best engine since the Turbo Era begun, Redbull might achieve what they want with Ford but i don't think they will be the best
I daubt the red bull engine being good, they don't really have experience making engines, and Ford will be more of a Alfa Romeo-sauber type of situation, or aston martin-red bull one
@superkubus-nk8lb That would be for sure but my point was that they won't have the weakest engine
@DT-7727 so who will have? Honda list some of their engineers to red bull, but they still make the red bull engines that let red bull be so quick on the straight. Red bull is big question, but they still have some experience taking a lot of personnel from honda and mercedes, and they are still a top team with high budget. Ferrari and Mercedes are engine suppliers for years, and both of them will have additional data from their consumer teams. Audi is in the worst situation in both engine and chassis departments. They might not be the worst team on the 2026 grid (it will probably be andretti tbh, i am very happy they come but i don't think they will be anywhere close to top 5 teams for first 2-3 years in the least (things might change when they get their engines in 2028)
@@superkubus-nk8lbI like Cady/Andretti in general because of the LMDH car and i'd really love to see them competitive, building a brand new f1 engine by 2028 is no small feat. My money will still go for Mercedes since they pretty much owned the turbo era and even Horner admiting and calling the engines "Frankenstein", they will still have to solve the cooling problems.Ford and Redbull will probably be right there if you remember what a monster of an engine Ford and Cosworth build in the late 80's for f1. I don't know about Ferrari tough since i don't have any info about that but i know their engines were slightly faster than Mercedes and Honda but worse in terms of reliability. Audi will be probably at the back of the pack having the weakest engine and probably the worst car too
I’m just pissed off at Renault. Would of been so cool to see all the engines duke it out
Its best too wait until 2026 comes too see what happens since it be same for 2028 when cadillac make there own as well.
2028, what are you talking about?
Cadillac is making there own F1 Engine in 2028 after they join in 2026 using ferrari Engines.
I dk this engine sounds like a nightmare on paper. All of the engineers have to be sweating bullets. The ammount of heat these engines will create to try and create the power needed is gonna be crazy.
Not sure that I am following. Still a 1.6 turbo V6 but power output will be less than the current engine.
I don’t imagine Audi being top in 26, but give it a few years they’ll catch up.
I hope Honda doesn’t build a GP2 engine. I want Nando to get a few wins
You have to take into account teams that do a lot of racing other than Formula 1 to be well prepared. The best brand that comes to your mind then is, Ferrari. And they've been winning races with different types of V6 engines. They have race ready sports cars they can bolt their new 2026 Engine to and get data. I bet you they're planning to bolt that power unit on the Ferrari 499 P modificata and doing laps around Fiorano. I know the Le Mans winning V6 hybrid isn't quite the Formula 1 power unit, but surely it's a testament to their technology and know how. They can build good engines. Engines that put them on the history books.
Obviously you don't follow imsa/wec endurance racing. Audi are pretty competitive
Great video dude... actually when you referenced Mobil 1 and NASCAR, Mobil 1 provides the engine oil, not the fuel... all the teams use Sunoco Fuel.
Thanks for catching that, I'll be sure to make a note of it in the next video!
@@F1Unchainedand ExxonMobil is the second biggest oil company in the world worth around $700B so it’s not like it’s just some little startup.
Not sure why people keep saying Merc will be ahead.
Based on what?
Bullshit from Wolff and Russell?
Two people publicly know to lie as often as they breath
Exactly,all their top engineers that created the engine that won 8w.c have left.
The guy who was in charge of those monster hybrids was just announced as Aston's team principal.
You just described RB
I really don't have high hopes for ford, but Red bull power trains do have a bunch of Honda and Mercedes employees, so who knows, maybe they will produce a very good engine.
It's not a Ford engine. It's a redbull engine with a Ford badge
Tbh, I don't think any team knows for sure where they are in comparison to the others ...
Yep, Andy Cowell is definitely pronounced IndyCar. Threw me off for a moment!
when we are talking about 2026 engine, there is plenty of time to change literally most of the engine. It takes one idiot to spread the news of this engine is far better than ____ and everyone run with it
Yo damn. As soon as I thought I would go to study. Your video comes . Cant you be little late.
😁❤️
My guess is Honda or Mercedes and Ferrari will catchup
I don't know why, but I feel like we are about to enter into either another period of Mercedes dominance, or a complete revival of Ferrari. I would love both, as Antonelli might be able to win a championship in year 2 with a Mercedes that can win, or Leclerc could take his first with the right car. Going to be interesting!
is it confirmed Aston Martin is supplied by Aramco and it's not just a sponsor? would be weird since their Mercedes engine is designed to work with Petronas fuel
Yes it’s confirmed to be working with Honda
Interesting point. Is the current Merc engine they use powered by Aramco?
What does the fuel provider have to do with anything engine related? Fuel is specced and these guys are just producing and delivering it to the teams. There is no "competitive advantage" in fuel providers.
I will personally miss Renault powertrains,,,Has been the best sounding,,my personal favourite 😢
So stupid. We had a chance to have so many engines competing against each other. Renault left too early
I hope all teams got their sh-t together and give us an exciting season.
I'm tired of 1 team being obviously dominant and only losing due to driver error.
either Mercedes or Ferrari. one of them is going to dominate.
You are wrong
In my opinion that is completely talking from my ass, I feel like merc and Ferrari will be on top, they have developed there engines for years.
Redbull have never made an engine, there engine is just a rebadged Honda engine that they brought the license too if I’m not mistaken.
Even if they have been buying in engineers from merc, they are not the original team that knows the engine inside and out so i think they will suffer.
Audi will either be semi competitive and blow up all the time or be super slow and probably still blow up all the time.
Aston martin Honda, honestly no idea, I’m guessing they still have access to their engine they sold to Redbull and will obviously know how to do a better job then Redbull themselves.
I am wondering that I do believe that the new bio fuels are gonna be one of the most important factors in how well theses engines run.
My dream engine is twin turbo v8-12 making 1400hp on rear and 100 hp electric on front axle
I mean there isn’t really any way of knowing who will be where. This is just on vibes coming out of teams. Some keep their cards close to their chest some speak out positivety and some speak negativety to lower the expectations. I wouldn’t bet on anything right now.
Not sure about all that. I guess they will be very close.
It will be close between ferrari n mercedes but u never know
Are the Mercs built by Ilmore?
6:43 Is Mario responsible for early retirement?
😹
Can you do a video sometime about the fuel providers? I thought they all used the same fuel. Do they put custom additives in the fuel?
My insights are
- Merc winning championships made toto forget worth of engineers which he let go to red bull in 2020 and in 2021 we saw how redbull was and even after that
-Past succes still kept them overconfident and made them go with wrong concept.
-Still loosing engineers to competitors
- Loosing top management which can direct new engineers.. most evident when Loic serra left .merc wasn't able to understand what's happening with car.
-Whenever merc got successful as a team they always had World champs now they have two incredible drivers but they can't stand against team to redirect.
-In this current regulations toto has gassed team to keep sponsors.
-Directing team and bringing in of people was done by Niki Lauda who had sporting essence in managerial department as well!
Advantage
- They made Amg one which wud have given them lot of experience about active aero
Who the hell is Matio Benaddo 😂😂😂
Mush mouthery
No one’s ahead, it’s 2025. The engines aren’t out yet. Therefore, there’s no reason to compare
You are so wrong
@ except I’m not. These engines will not be part of competition for another year, which is such an enormous amount of time for development of anything. The Merc engine could have 100 more horsepower than all the others right now, in a year’s time, they could be behind everyone.
There is no reason to compare things that are still in development and will not see competition for another year
Alright!
I think that with a reduced grip on the 2026 cars that with the dominant Mercedes engine Williams will be P1.
No
I believe McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston will have the best engines developed by then.
McLaren Technical is ofcourse one of the strongest power tools at mclaren, plus their new engineers.
Ferrari is starting from scratch 2025 so if they make a good car, i believe they won't have much issues in 2026.
Mercedes as a PU provider is kind of forced to make it work, not only for partners but ofc for themselves
And finally we all know honda engines are the peak of F1 so i think aston will deffo have a chance here.
7:54 if we talking about fuel supplier, the Petronas company is under crisis here
I have a gut feeling redbull ford will be a good surprise
Nope
Gunning for Honda, with adrian newey's design.
Whoever say's the least is ahead. Confident of teams stay quiet
I think Mercedes has to talk big to attract customers like s
Alpine. Instead like ferrai can keep it quiter
Why would you do a 10min video about something you have absolutely no idea about?
He must be the first speculative F1 youtuber. 😅😂.
Money
You beat me too it, didn't have the heart to tell him the fuel is all the same standard in F1 no matter who supplies it , Euro 95 standard, basically what you get at the pump in Europe.
@@limitedmarknot exactly true, the FIA regulates the “ingredients” to the fuel but the fuel suppliers work with their teams on creating a specific blend to their ICE based on its design. Different concentrations of approved compounds within the 110kg of fuel for example will change engine performance. So, putting Ferrari Shell fuel into a Mercedes engine designed with guidance from Petronas won’t run as efficiently. Thought I’d have the heart to correct your mistake.
F1 Jesus knows his content
@@hornt5746 exactly true , the octane and power is exactly the same, the different additives provide no advantage to performance
The 2026 engine will be an evolution of the current 1.6 V6, but produce less power. This does not seem to be the mountain that teams were challenged with for 2014.
Fuel? You can provide the standardized energy flow rate or you can't.
More important is going to be the reliability and packaging of the higher output MGU-K.
Then we have aero, and with the shuffling of top aerodynamicists, this will likely be the make or break for team success.
Newey+Honda(-Stroll) = success?
I wonder how at Audi is using the Porsche motorsport department, probably FIA has some strict control over them, I have a hunch because of the whole VAG umbrella thing, but regarding the technology of the whole power unit, I think VAG has a strong set of subsidiaries, maybe they can achieve through coop or some "sponsorship" deal to get porsche and subsequently even part of Rimac in it... But it's problem with integration, ICE by itself - Audi strong, EV by itself - Audi strong... Hybrid F1 powerplant.... That's gonna be interesting story...
If audi doesn’t use LiquiMolly for sponsor it will be a missed opportunity😭
petition to call audi/sauber "Saudi"
Porsche would have the tough time as they are taking over last minute.
This might explain why Lewis has gone to Ferrari, because they are the only team who are using a normal turbo charger, so they are likely to be the most powerful in 2026, jumping ship a year early, just like he did in 2013.
Shout out to Mario🙌🏻
5:04 ohhhh boy poor fernando is going to get ptsd from mclaren honda !🤦
Not looking forward to the 2026 season cause i perfer the 80s and season
ther merc being fastest is a joke Andy Cowell key person in making engines in the early v6 hybrid era has left to join aston and in recent times the ERS and Deployment cases have been struggling especially in high temperatures circuits
How is fuel supposed to make a huge difference? They all have to conform to the specifications, and I'm pretty sure they're all perfectly able to do that.
all these guys talking about the new engine data and pecking order...... but no proof of said data, sounds like buuuullshit for the views to me
Who is the fuel provider for audi?
So is the fuel manufacturing going to be a little bit like the tire wars? Trying to get the HIGHEST octane rating squeezed out of the fuel?
Very light on technical info... "key changes"?
been a fan of yours for quite sometime now especially your prediction videos like the race in silverstone this year. But videos like this are basically useless, respectfully. It doesnt do anything, no infomation, everything just maybe maybe without any basis. It is different in a race where we can at least make calculated prediction.
I know it is a down time for f1 right now and you need an upload, better to cover the f1 sim race, flashbacks on f1 etc. than videos like this
Honestly this purely based on speculation and none of us have any evidence to back anything at this point!
Aston Martin needs to make a team of Max Verstappen and Alonso to win the championship
Hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha hahaha
I just wanna ask, are the likes of customers like Aston and Williams on the race to developmejt or just waiting what Mercedes will bring? 😂😂
I would be not surprised Audi has a great engine but the rest of a F1 car.?Just watch Le Mans.
I have a feeling it’s Mercedes
No
@ Yes
1 - AMG
2 - Ferrari
3 - Honda
4 - RBPT
5 - Audi
Ferrari 1 amg2
And my friend how you doing?
Good brotha how are you?
@F1Unchained fine my friend.
I want Mercedes to make the worst engine cause that would be so funny
Red bull power trains is looking bright as they've taken the top engineers from the people who created the mercedes hybrid,Honda and other teams.
Engines are locked. Nothing is going to change engine wise 🤷♂️
I have a feeling these regs aren’t going to make for great racing.