A few weeks ago, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff caused a stir when he said that Formula 1 cars could reach speeds of up to 400 km/h in 2026 – what he meant by that
Next year, new regulations will come into force in Formula 1, with revised drive units that are divided almost equally between combustion and electric motor power. In addition, the cars will have less downforce and lower air resistance.
In combination with active aerodynamics, this means that extremely high speeds can still be achieved. A few weeks ago, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff even claimed that next year’s cars could “scratch the 400 km/h mark.”
The Austrian’s statement caused some surprise, which is why he responded to it once again. “Well, I felt we needed to give this engine a little marketing upgrade because people are talking it down, and it’s an incredibly impressive piece of technology,” Wolff said on the Formula 1 podcast Beyond The Grid.
The Mercedes team boss explained: “If you add everything up, we could reach 400 km/h or maybe even exceed it, but of course then you run out of energy on the next straight and you’re not fast enough.”
New Formula 1 cars will be “pretty epic”
Hywel Thomas, managing director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, analyzes the new power units in more detail. The Brit explains that the cars will be even faster than the previous generation early on the straights, but that energy management will limit their maximum speed.
“I think the performance at the start of the straights will be very, very similar to today,” Thomas emphasizes. “We have the turbocharger, which no longer has an electric motor, so there could be a small turbo lag. We may compensate for this turbo lag with the electrics.”
“So I think the performance at the start of the straights will be pretty epic compared to today. But we know we’ll have to throttle back earlier on the straights because we don’t have enough electrical energy to use it all the time.” In plain language, this means that speeds of 400 km/h are unlikely to be achieved in the future either.
