Mercedes Engine Chief Questions Honda’s Exclusive F1 Strategy for 2026

As Formula 1 prepares for a major power unit overhaul in 2026, a strategic divide is emerging among engine manufacturers, with Mercedes’ engine chief questioning the exclusive approach favored by rivals like Honda.

The 2026 season will mark the second phase of F1’s hybrid era, which began in 2014 under Mercedes’ dominance. With development frozen since 2022, the sport’s engine builders are now engaged in a new technological race. The grid will feature five power unit suppliers: incumbents Mercedes and Ferrari, the official return of Honda, and newcomers Red Bull Ford and Audi.

Hywel Thomas, CEO of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, argues that supplying multiple customer teams is the correct strategy, a direct contrast to Honda’s exclusive partnership with Aston Martin.

“We’ve shown in the past that having more than one team is an advantage: more data, more information, more mileage,” Thomas said on the Beyond The Grid podcast. “You have four times as many engineers telling you how to do things better. It’s extremely useful for creating a great product.”

For the new era, Mercedes will supply McLaren, Williams, and Alpine. Ferrari will power Haas and the incoming Cadillac team, while Red Bull Ford will provide engines for Racing Bulls. In contrast, Audi will focus on its works team, and Honda will concentrate solely on Aston Martin.

Thomas acknowledged the logistical challenges, such as the need to “produce many more parts and make some decisions earlier,” but suggested that early decision-making can be a positive. “I’m not even sure if the sweet spot is one, two, three, or four teams. But there is a balance point, and I think it’s closer to four than one,” he added.

Amid paddock speculation that Mercedes holds an early advantage for 2026, echoing its 2014 dominance, Thomas offered a stark reminder of how precarious its position was at the start of the first hybrid era.

“I think something that wasn’t particularly obvious in 2014 was how close we were to disaster,” he recalled. “I remember at Christmas we couldn’t get an engine to last more than a few hundred kilometers on the dyno.”

The Mercedes engine division faced “huge reliability problems, of all kinds,” creating intense pressure ahead of the season opener. “Even when we went to the first test, I remember sitting in the airport with a beer in my hand, thinking: ‘We got through it, but what about the next one? What about the first race?’ It was all getting very real, and we weren’t in a good place,” Thomas said.

He explained that this sense of uncertainty is common. “Honestly, there has never been a season where in December you don’t think: we don’t have enough power, we don’t have enough reliability, the integration isn’t good enough,” he stated. “Thinking that you are always a little behind pushes you to improve, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

With the new F1 regulations looming, whether Honda will pay a price for its single-team approach remains to be seen. As Thomas suggests, only the track will deliver the final verdict.