According to Toto Wolff, Sergio Perez won’t take Lewis Hamilton’s position at Mercedes, which has given the seven-time champion a deadline to retire. Perez or any other driver, according to Wolff, has “never been talked to” by Mercedes as a substitute for Hamilton. According to the Austrian team manager, the British driver might compete in Formula One for up to ten years. When questioned about the rumours that Mercedes was looking for a replacement for Hamilton at the start of the season, Wolff gave their opinion. The Mercedes boss said in an interview that he respects Sergio Perez but has not been in any type of contact with him or any other rider.

FIA NEW RULE

The FIA, the motorsports governing body, approved a new regulation for power units Wednesday, effective with the F1 season of 2026. The FIA is a motorsports body that oversees motorsports and has been responsible for the development of motorsports regulations for more than 50 years. The 2026 season of Formula One will see a new power unit formula introduced for the first time. FIA introduced new power unit formulas in 2014 when it introduced the current hybrid V6 Turbo engines, which are still used today. The power units introduced for the 2026 season will still use the current V6 1.6-litre combustion engines but will have reduced fuel flow restrictions, generating about 400kW of power.

The FIA set four critical pillars at the heart of the new regulations package. The outline of the new rules package, which would eliminate MGU-H and switch to an utterly fuel-efficient version of the MGU-H, has been agreed upon over several weeks but is still awaiting final confirmation. The new rules would have increased electricity capacity, not just the 100% sustainable fuels, the two critical aspects of the recently approved rules. The current motor generator unit heat element (MGU-H) will be removed, which is said to be a prerequisite for entry into the VW Group brands. At about 350kW, there will be less fuel flowing into the new F1s power unit, with overall lower fuel usage, but the teams will still deliver more than 1000hp and may also be noisier.

In 2023, floor edges are set to rise 15mm, a compromise agreed upon between teams after the governing body for Formula One had initially proposed raising them by 25mm. Formula Ones governing body chairman Mohammed Ben Sulayem said considerable time and resources were spent analysing and solving vertical swing issues for the new generation of cars introduced this year.