Tag: Mercedes F1

McLaren F1 to use Mercedes engines until 2030

The new deal will go through Formula 1’s new engine regulations in 2026.

McLaren’s Formula 1 team is sticking with what works for the near future.

The team announced on Friday that it intends to continue to use engines from Mercedes as a customer team, extending its agreement with the Silver Arrows until 2030. That agreement will bleed into the new upcoming engine regulations for F1, which will take effect in 2026.

McLaren returned to its use of Mercedes engines in 2021 after previously being a customer of Renault. The initial deal extended until the 2024 season, but McLaren will continue to use Mercedes from 2026 to 2030. Regulations are set to change for engines in 2026, which features zero-carbon fuel emissions and a greatly expanded hybrid usage through the engine’s MGU-K, among other new regulations.

The Mercedes era has been kind to McLaren over the last few years. The team got a race win in 2021 with Daniel Ricciardo at Monza and has finished in the top half of the constructors’ standings every year with the engine. As it stands in 2023, there’s a decent argument that McLaren is fielding a top-three car, as the team has come alive in the back half of the year.

Right now, Mercedes currently boasts the most customers on the grid, giving engines to McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams.

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Lewis Hamilton dominated the Spanish GP and broke F1’s record for most podium finishes

Lewis Hamilton could become F1’s winningest driver by the end of the season.

Lewis Hamilton is undeniably one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, and every victory or strong finish pushes him closer to being in a category of his own. And Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was no exception.

The six-time F1 world champion absolutely dominated, leading every single lap after starting from the pole position to win his fourth race of the season and his fifth Spanish Grand Prix overall. And with the checkered flag, Hamilton now has a record-breaking 156 career podiums finishes, surpassing Michael Schumacher’s 155 for the most in F1 history.

To put that in perspective among Hamilton’s peers, Sebastian Vettel, who finished seventh Sunday, is third with 120 podium finishes.

Afterward, Hamilton said, via the BBC:

“I was in a daze out there,” he says. “It felt really good. It was a fantastic effort from the team.

“It was a surprise because we had that problem with the tyres last weekend, but we seem to have understood it.

“I didn’t even know it was the last lap I was so zoned in. I thought for a little bit about going for a one-stop strategy.”

Now with 88 career wins, Hamilton is just three away from tying and four away from breaking Schumacher’s all-time record of 91. That means the 35-year-old Mercedes driver could become the winningest F1 racer by the end of September — though that would require him to win the next four races in a challenging but not impossible idea considering he’s won four of the last five.

And should Hamliton — who extended his lead in the F1 standings to 37 points over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on Sunday — win his seventh career F1 world championship, he’ll tie Schumacher at the top of that list as well.

Formula 1 has next weekend off before picking back up at the end of the month with the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 30.

Here’s are some fantastic photos of Hamilton’s post-race celebration from Sunday:

ALBERT GEA / POOL / AFP
Albert Gea/Pool via Getty Images

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