Alpine will have more power from Mercedes in Australia
The star brand will deliver to its customers the latest version of the power unit that the German integral team used in the Bahrain tests.
Alpine, McLaren and Williams, the three customer teams that Mercedes has for its power units, will be able to have the latest specification for the Australian GP, which will mark the start of the 77th F1 season on March 8.
The new technical regulations that came into force in 2026 came with the implementation of a radical change in the engines and Mercedes has to manufacture the elements for four teams. The challenge was great, but at the same time beneficial because he had the opportunity to carry out tests with different specifications before the final homologation that will be done this Sunday.
For the pre-season tests in Bahrain, Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains determined to provide its customers with a more reliable version so that they could turn without any setbacks.. On the other hand, for his integral team he carried the M17 E Performance specification, the last one developed. In fact, during testing, the Silver Arrows suffered two power unit breaks, while Alpine, Williams and McLaren had no problems. After turning in Sakhir, Mercedes worked on the flaws to optimize the final version that will be the one that its customers will take in Melbourne.
The rules force power unit suppliers to deliver a version similar to the one used by the factory team. Article 1.4 of Annex C5 of the 2026 Technical Regulations specifies: “Each engine manufacturer must submit a homologation file that applies to all F1 teams to which it intends to supply. Only the specifications relating to fuel, engine oil and parts that have undergone a minimum ancillary modification in accordance with the provisions of Article 3.5 below may differ from one F1 team to another.”
Although a substantial difference is not expected from the specification they used in Bahrain, Yes, it will be a leap for Alpine, McLaren and Williams.
