Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Mercedes’ dominance within the 2026 Formulation 1 rules will not be like 2014.
The Brackley outfit dominated the championship from 2014 to 2021, profitable seven drivers’ championships with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and eight constructors’ titles.
Whereas Mercedes has received each race of the season to this point, together with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Chinese language dash race and the Chinese language Grand Prix, Villeneuve believes that the opposite groups will “determine a strategy to handle their vitality higher”.
“Nicely, it is a dominance, but it surely’s not enormous. It is not like 2014 the place there was greater than a second and so they nonetheless had increase to pump up. And different automobiles have the Mercedes engine as effectively,” the 1997 F1 champion informed Sky Sports activities Germany.
“It is simply that they appear to have designed a automotive that’s straightforward to drive, that’s well-balanced. If you happen to have a look at Russell, he isn’t even breaking a sweat. It is similar to a drive within the park.
“He nonetheless has just a little hole to go and that is what permits him to be simply hit, to not destroy his tyres. The opposite groups will determine a strategy to handle their vitality higher. However when you have a look at the races, the 2 Ferrari drivers have had higher racecraft.
“Take a look at the primary few laps. They discovered within the second methods to use their vitality and so they deliver the combat to Russell. That is been enjoyable and spectacular.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Picture by: Lintao Zhang / LAT Photographs through Getty Photographs
Fellow F1 driver and Sky Sports activities Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher added: “Nicely, I’ve to say in Melbourne, there was a giant distinction. Saying that, Melbourne is a unique observe anyway. It would not depend for the remainder of the yr.
“It is one thing very distinctive on a grip stage and every part. Going right here, Ferrari shocked me a bit. And speaking concerning the electrical administration, the battery administration, if you examine it to earlier than on the primary within the dash, even Ferrari appeared a bit higher than Mercedes, to be truthful, as a result of they appeared to have extra battery in some areas.”
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