Luigi Mazzola: “Mercedes good at charging the battery, the experience in Formula E may have helped them”

Mercedes mission statement

Toto Wolff’s look during the final minutes of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix removed all doubts: Mercedes is back and he did in style occupying the entire front row on Saturday and then taking a double on Sunday. At some moments during the weekend the Silver Arrows seemed clearly ahead of everyone, but in the opening stages of the race Ferrari was able to keep up with them.
he asked Luigi Mazzola (present on Instagram at this address) – for 21 years at Maranello in various roles, including that of technical manager of the test area in the Schumacher era – an opinion on Mercedes’ victory in Melbourne in the first race of the 2026 world championship.

Mercedes, there’s more than just the engine

Engineer Mazzola, Mercedes scored a double in qualifying and in the race, giving the impression of being a step forward in terms of power unit and energy management. But is it right to describe the superiority of the Silver Arrows as a pure question of engine?
“I would say that the Mercedes gave one clear impression of being at the front as a total package. So not only as a power unit, but also on the rest. on the balance of the car, on the aerodynamics, on the downforce. Let’s say it’s a bit of everything together. The drivers said it’s a nice car to drive, so that means the car looks good. Clearly the power unit lends a good hand. It seems to me that they are quite good, compared to the others – and they demonstrated it in qualifying – in knowing how to charge the battery and obtain maximum electrical power where it is needed.
I don’t know, and it is my guess, if this can also derive from the experience they have had in Formula E, where they won two championships. Maybe there may have been some decanting. But it is clear that it is not just a power unit, because McLaren has the same one, but it was inferior in its ability to recharge the batteries and manage the power unit, as also stated by Andrea Stella.”

How much does the compression ratio issue weigh on Mercedes’ current PU advantage? Marginally or significantly?
“On the compression ratio it is clear that everything that gives you more power is all free power which you then also need to charge the battery. And so perhaps that surplus power can certainly help to avoid losing or not having electrical power available.”