Adrian Newey fears 2026 F1 regulations could trigger Mercedes-style power unit dominance

Aston Martin's latest signing Adrian Newey admits that there are concerns about whether the new regulations could trigger a Mercedes-style power unit dominance in 2026. In 2026, there are going to be wholesale changes when it comes to both the power unit and the chassis.

On the chassis side, there would be the introduction of active aerodynamics, a technology that was last used in the 1990s and pioneered by Williams (with Adrian Newey as a key part of the team). It was banned in 1994, and since then the technology has not been a part of the sport.

For 2026, however, it would make a return to the cars. The other aspect is a change in the power unit where, unlike the current regulation where only 20% of the power is electric, it would be 50% of the power produced by the power unit that is electric, making it the biggest change since 2014, where Mercedes ended up dominating the sport.

Talking to AMuS, Adrian Newey shared his expectations with the new regulations and felt that it would not come as a surprise if one of the manufacturers nails the power unit regulations and gains an early advantage. He said:

"There has to be a big chance that it's an engine formula at the start. "The reality is I can't remember another time in Formula 1 when both the chassis regulations and the regulations have changed simultaneously. And in this case the chassis regulations have been very much written to try to compensate, let's say, for the power unit regulations."

He added:

"So, it's an extra dimension. I think engine manufacturers will have learnt to an extent on the lack of preparation that the rivals to Mercedes did prior to that change [for 2014] but there has to be a chance that one manufacturer will come out well on top and it'll become a power unit-dominated regulation, at least to start with.

Adrian Newey is yet to start work at Aston Martin as he's still on gardening leave. The aero wizard would join the squad in March and only then would begin his work with the squad.

---

What happened to the Mercedes-style dominance that Adrian Newey is referring to?

The Mercedes style dominance that Adrian Newey is referring to happened in 2014, when the German squad built a power unit that was in a different league to everyone else. Be it Ferrari or Renault at the time, neither of the two were even remotely close to what the German squad had accomplished.

As a result, this led to teams like Red Bull and Ferrari being on the back foot as the power unit performance gap was just massive. Mercedes, on the other hand, just went on a rampage and dominated the sport from 2014 to 2020, as it took other teams such a long time to close the gap to the top.

For the 2026 F1 season, it's still not clear whether any manufacturer can replicate what Mercedes did, but if they were able to accomplish that, the gap would be massive for the rest of the field.