McLaren Signs Multi-Year Collaboration Deal With Mercedes Ahead Of Season's Last Race
F1Saturday, 25 November 2023 at 02:00
McLaren F1 team's CEO Zak Brown announced his team has signed a new multi-year deal with Mercedes ahead of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
McLaren Formula One team does not belong to the teams that produce their own engines (works teams) like Mercedes, Ferrari, or Alpine.
As a consequence, the F1 team has to purchase an engine from one of the engine suppliers. McLaren worked with suppliers like Honda or Renault in the past but switched to Mercedes in 2021.
Going into the last race of the season at Yas Marina Circuit, McLaren's CEO announced his team will continue collaboration with Mercedes which will supply them with power units until at least 2030. As quoted by RacingNews365, Brown said:
"Mercedes-Benz have been a brilliant and reliable partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team. The extension signifies the confidence that our shareholders and the wider team have in their powertrains and the direction we’re taking with them into the new era of regulations ahead.
McLaren had its most successful seasons in history when the team was working with Mercedes, and Brown said he looks forward to extending the partnership.
"We have been successful together, both in the last three seasons and when they previously powered the team, so we look forward to the success to come as we continue our journey to fight consistently at the front of the grid."
Mercedes team showed they can supply quality and reliable engines to other teams with McLaren becoming one of its biggest competitors nearing the end of 2023.
The German team is also said to have the strongest engines on the grid in 2023. McLaren's new collaboration with Mercedes might bring fruit mainly after the 2025 season.
The change in regulations for season 2026 prescribes a new type of power unit. These new power units will consist of 50% of internal combustion engines running on sustainable fuel.
The other 50% will be electrical power. Mercedes was the most successful team when it came to building engines when the hybrid era was introduced in 2014.
Consequently, there is a very high likelihood that Mercedes will deliver one of the best engines come 2026 regulations. That might give McLaren a competitive advantage over the rest of the teams on the grid that will not be supplied by Mercedes.
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