Mercedes enter this weekend’s Japanese GP as favourites, having secured 1-2 finishes in the first two races of the year. Only Ferrari have proven a significant threat to Mercedes in 2026 so far. Even then, the W17 has always enjoyed an advantage.
The Suzuka circuit offers a different challenge for drivers and teams, both in terms of aerodynamic demands and power unit deployment.
From a technical perspective, Suzuka’s tricky medium-speed sections could give the SF-26 a chance to put Mercedes under pressure. However, the Mercedes engine and it’s electrical efficiency could be brought into play.
McLaren outline importance of Mercedes engine optimisation
One of the biggest talking points in Australia and China was the Mercedes power unit. For obvious reasons, the German engine’s supremacy over rivals has generated extensive coverage.
Alongside the power unit itself, another key topic is how effectively Mercedes customer teams can optimise its performance.
Simply put, customer teams like McLaren and Williams still lack the necessary understanding to capitalise on the Mercedes engine to the same extent as Mercedes themselves.
As engine suppliers, Toto Wolff’s team know their power unit better than anyone else.
Whilst they offer their customers the exact same engines, Mercedes are not obliged to proactively give McLaren and Williams all the fine details and tricks to fully exploit the engine.
Over time, these teams will learn how to better utilise their engine. Both McLaren and Williams are in constant dialogue to close the gap in this area.
For the time being, however, Mercedes understand their power units more intimately than their customers.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has voiced some frustrations with this discrepancy in understanding. The Italian claims, that for the very first time, his personnel feel at a disadvantage as a customer team.
Mark Temple, McLaren Technical Director, has discussed this area ahead of this weekend’s action:
“Even though we are only in the early stages of this new generation of Formula 1, we have already experienced two different power unit challenges and requirements in terms of deployment…
“Therefore, looking ahead to this weekend in Japan, we expect to see something a little more like Melbourne.
“As Suzuka is a more energy-starved track, we foresee there to be more artefacts of energy recovery throughout a number of areas of the circuit. Such as going into Turn 1, Degner, the hairpin and Spoon.
“Meaning it is vital that we continue to work hard to optimise this throughout every session across the weekend…
“This will ultimately allow us to make sure that we are in the best position, to maximise chassis performance and power unit exploitation, a key area of determining competitiveness.”
Relevance of engine performance for ADUO
One of the most defining aspects of the 2026 regulations is ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities).
To summarise, this is the mechanism that determines whether engine manufacturers are allowed to bring upgrades.
If a manufacturer is 2-4% slower than the fastest engine, they are allowed one major engine upgrade. Meanwhile, if a manufacturer’s deficit is more than 4%, they are allowed two major upgrades during the season.
This criteria is partly why rivals are so suspicious of Mercedes not running their engine on maximum power. If the Silver Arrows can win by the smallest margin possible, they can limit the chances of their rivals to implement mid-season updates.
Although nobody outside the team can definitively determine how much Mercedes are pushing their engine, this talking point speaks to the political intensity and complexity brought by these 2026 regulations.
Returning to this weekend, teams will be eager to learn more about this new generation of cars. The early forecast is that engine efficiency and harvesting – areas where Mercedes thrive – could be more prominent than the last race in China.