Mercedes W16: A deep dive into the Silver Arrows' 2025 contender

Mercedes’ engineers at Brackley and Brixton have been burning the midnight oil to produce a car for the 2025 F1 season that’s both a refined warrior for today and a stepping stone to tomorrow’s radical reset.

This year’s campaign marks the culmination of the current chassis regulations and the twilight of the existing Power Unit era. Teams therefore face a delicate balancing act: maximizing performance in the present while preparing for the future.

Mercedes' W16 embodies this challenge, featuring refinements to address past weaknesses and a continued push for marginal gains.

Technical Director James Allison and Power Unit boss Hywel Thomas have spilled the details on how they’ve sharpened Mercedes’ beast to tackle last year’s woes, squeeze every last drop of performance, and set the stage for 2026’s game-changer.

Buckle up – here’s the tech deep dive on the W16 and what it’s bringing to the fight.

Chassis Evolution: Taming the Beast

The W16 isn’t just a facelift – it’s a full-on rethink of what held Mercedes back with its predecessor, the W15.

“Being the fourth year of these regulations on the chassis side, the cars are in the more mature phase,” James Allison explained. “Big gains in lap time are harder to come by but we've been concentrating on making improvements in the areas that held us back last year.”

“Our primary focus has been on dialling out the W15's slight reluctance to turn in slow corners, along with the imbalance in tyre temperatures that made the car inconsistent from session to session,” he continued.

How’d they do it? Every aerodynamic curve got a makeover, the front suspension’s been reworked, and there’s a slew of under-the-hood tweaks to smooth out the rough edges.

“We are pleased with our progress over the winter and we're looking forward to finding out where we stack up against everyone else,” Allison adds, his optimism tinged with a racer’s curiosity.

With the regs maturing, the grid’s tightening up, and Mercedes is betting these fixes will keep them in the hunt.

Power Unit: Reliability and Refinement

While Power Unit development remains frozen, Mercedes HPP hasn’t been standing still

"We have been looking at reliability updates, and some calibration upgrades, to deliver robustness, squeeze the last little bits of performance out of the Power Unit and give ourselves the best opportunity this season,” commented Thomas.

"We've made good progress and hopefully that can add performance on track."

With 2025 marking the end of this Power Unit era, Mercedes’ engine man reflected on the team's achievements.

"It's definitely the end of an era. The success we have achieved since 2014 was only possible through the hard work of a huge group of talented people.

“It makes you proud to have been a part of that team. We would love to end such an incredible chapter by adding to our success as the Mercedes works team, and everyone is focused on doing that."

The 2026 Challenge: A Balancing Act

The significant rule changes for 2026 present a major challenge for all teams. Allison emphasized the scale of the task.

"It's one of the largest regulation changes in the sport's history. Every team must decide where to spend their resource to both compete on track this year and set themselves up for 2026 and beyond,” he said.

“We're excited for that challenge and working hand-in-hand between Brackley and Brixworth to be as competitive as we can be this year and build for success next year."

Thomas also highlighted the excitement surrounding the 2026 Power Unit development.

"The 2026 regulation change is a big challenge but one that we're enjoying. It's an exciting evolution, particularly the work on sustainable fuels.

Our partnership with Petronas, and their expertise, is key for that area. It's a huge project and we're working hard to maximise the opportunity in front of us."

Expectations: A Fiercely Fought Championship

Unsurprisingly, Allison anticipates a highly competitive 2025 season up and down the field, but especially among F1’s – McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes – quartet of frontrunners.

"It will be a fiercely fought championship from the off. At this stage of the regulations, the cars are converging in terms of performance,” predicted the British engineer.

“There will be multiple winners, and it's possible that we will see even more teams than the four that scored victories last year taking to the top step of the podium."

Thomas echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of even small gains.

"Given where we are in this set of regulations, lap time gains are small,” he said. “There is still the opportunity to find little bits and that can be the difference come Saturday and Sunday.

“You could see last year, particularly in qualifying, just how close some of the teams were at the front. Finding those 10 or 20 milliseconds is crucial; it can be the difference between pole or the second or third row.

We will continue chasing those gains and hopefully be in the fight for the championships come Abu Dhabi."

The W16, therefore, represents not just a step forward for Mercedes, but also a crucial part of their strategy for both the present and the future of Formula 1.

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