Q&A:

The Journey So Far

Toto, we once again find ourselves working towards a set of regulation changes. These periodic shifts in design fundamentals are unparalleled in the sport. What makes Formula One so different that it changes so frequently?

Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team: Formula One is all about Innovation. It’s a test bed that puts technological and engineering expertise at the forefront; all measured against a stopwatch.

Ever since the earliest days of our sport, it has been the same – Mercedes lays claim to some of the most important achievements in mobility and many have been shaped by the racetrack.

These advancements do not come about on their own, of course, it takes a group of likeminded people working hand-in-hand, setting lofty goals against what at the time seems unscalable ambitions.

With PETRONAS being a partner with the team since 2010, how did the collaboration take place?

Faiz Sulaiman, Head, Strategy, Finance & Risk, Downstream for PETRONAS: PETRONAS has been a title and technical partner to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team for 15 years now. Together we have achieved great heights in delivering fluid technology solutions from the time of the V8 engines to this turbo hybrid era.

Bradley Lord, Team Representative and Chief Communications Officer for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team: Looking back it’s remarkable how quickly that integration happened. Even before the hybrid era began, we were building a relationship that would allow us to tackle the next phase of the sport together.

Mercedes returned to Formula One as a works team in 2010, building on its role as an engine manufacturer that had achieved great success through the 1990s and 2000s.

Hywel Thomas, Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains: We were in the heart of the V8 era, but change was on the horizon. Once Mercedes returned as a works team we were beginning to play around with electrical energy. The Kinetic Energy Recovery System, or KERS, had arrived on the scene in 2009 and was implemented across the grid in 2011. This provided an insight into the future of the sport from a powertrain perspective.

That 2014 move to hybrid power was clearly the most seismic shift of regulations during this partnership, but also the most successful. What was it like building towards that era?

Bradley Lord: The move to hybrid wasn’t just a technical milestone it was a philosophical one. Efficiency became performance. That was a fundamental shift in thinking for us and something that we focused on across the entire team.

Hywel Thomas: The challenge was complex. Thermal efficiency, energy recovery, battery integration, all had to work as one. We needed a partner like PETRONAS to help us build that system right at the core of development.

Faiz Sulaiman: The challenge for us was to keep pace with an evolving engine concept. Our fluids had to deal with higher power density, increasingly challenging conditions and still deliver peak performance; all while preparing for the sustainability demands ahead.

As you allude to, there has been a significant benefit to road car users following those regulation changes?

Faiz Sulaiman: The learnings from developing fluids in this era also became the basis for PETRONAS’ range of battery coolant fluids and engine oils for electric and hybrid road vehicles.

Our partnership has led to significant milestones on the racetrack and helps us deliver world class performance, reliability, and efficiency for millions of road users. This wouldn’t be possible without mutual collaboration.

Hywel Thomas: We couldn’t have predicted some of the benefits that the development of this generation of power units would have in terms of road relevance. At the time of their introduction, we didn’t know that hybrid cars would become such a common sight on roads around the world.

At Mercedes, our technology has fed into almost all levels of the brand’s road car offering. We’ve even put a road car legal car out there using an F1 V6 hybrid power unit, in the AMG One.

Looking ahead to the next era in 2026, what are some the key changes coming?

Bradley Lord: A brand-new power unit utilising greater electric power and advanced sustainable fuels, showcasing the possible future of mobility. New chassis regulations, providing smaller, lighter cars, with active aerodynamics.

Hywel Thomas: We have to package an all-new power unit within a tighter, more compact chassis whilst still managing cooling, energy flow, and mass distribution. Nothing is carried over. Every component – hardware, software, fuel - must be reevaluated.

Faiz Sulaiman: This level of change is not just evolution; it’s reinvention for motorsports. Our partnership becomes increasingly valuable, with shared R&D, innovation, and a commitment to lead the sport into a new era.