Toto Wolff says Mercedes will agree to the removal of MGU-H in the forthcoming power unit regulations to facilitate Volkswagen Group’s arrival, but they need to adhere to compromises.
MGU-H aka Motor Generator Unit Heat is the device which can recover or store energy to or from the turbo in a Grand Prix car. The year 2025 and or 2026 will see the next set of rules and regulations on the power unit and significantly, it appears that Volkswagen are to join the fraternity and quite likely with Red Bull.
The team has been very much pro simplifying engines in the past and they step into creating their own powertrain arena for new power units, they would not be akin to developing the MGU-H – a more complex part of the whole power unit. There were talks before of removing it, but they stuck on, with no compromise.
The talk of removing is back on, with a meeting taking place at Monza. Wolff has suggested that Mercedes will agree to remove the MGU-H in future power unit if Volkswagen wishes to enter the sport, but to do so, the sport will have to agree upon the compromises in order to facilitate the removal. What those compromises are, has not been disclosed thus far.
If the manufacturers do agree among themselves, it will then be on the FIA and F1 to dictate terms and possibly tell everyone whats to be done, come 2025 and or 2026. The big ploy here is the arrival of Volkswagen in the sport – as noted, most likely with Red Bull.
“The MGU-H is going to be dropped if we can find alignment on many other points,” said Wolff to written media. “I think it’s a compromise that – at least we, I cannot speak for anybody else – but at Mercedes we are prepared to enter in order to facilitate the Volkswagen Group.
“But there are several other topics where components need to be found. And if compromise cannot be found then we will probably revert to Governance and have 2026 regulations that the FIA and FOM are going to come up with,” summed up Wolff.
With the meeting at Monza on, it mostly involves the manufacturer and a customer F1 outfit like McLaren isn’t. However, as per Andreas Seidl, they are kept in loop about everything and he reckons it is fine, the job done by the FIA and F1, regarding the communication.
“We feel very comfortable with how FIA and F1 is handling this, they keep us up to date with all the discussions they are having with power unit manufacturers and with potential new power unit manufactures,” said Seidl to media including FormulaRapida.net. “We always have the possibility to give our input, which we do, and I am very happy with the process on how it is.”
UPDATE: Joint statement from F1 and FIA after the Monza meet –
“Today a meeting took place involving the FIA, Formula 1, and existing and prospective Power Unit suppliers on the potential new Power Unit. The discussion was positive, and progress was made – some details remain to be addressed, however we expect these to be resolved in the coming weeks.”
The story was co-written by Neil Farell
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