Jacques Villeneuve has argued that Mercedes’ dominance in the 2026 Formula 1 regulations is not like 2014.
The Brackley outfit dominated the championship from 2014 to 2021, winning seven drivers’ championships with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and eight constructors’ titles.
While Mercedes has won every race of the season so far, including the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Chinese sprint race and the Chinese Grand Prix, Villeneuve believes that the other teams will “figure a way to manage their energy better”.
“Well, it’s a dominance, but it’s not huge. It’s not like 2014 where there was more than a second and they still had boost to pump up. And other cars have the Mercedes engine as well,” the 1997 F1 champion told Sky Sports Germany.
“It’s just that they seem to have designed a car that is easy to drive, that is well-balanced. If you look at Russell, he’s not even breaking a sweat. It’s just like a drive in the park.
“He still has a little gap to go and that’s what allows him to be easily hit, to not destroy his tyres. The other teams will figure a way to manage their energy better. But if you look at the races, the two Ferrari drivers have had better racecraft.
“Look at the first few laps. They figured out in the moment how to use their energy and they bring the fight to Russell. That’s been fun and impressive.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Lintao Zhang / LAT Images via Getty Images
Fellow F1 driver and Sky Sports Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher added: “Well, I have to say in Melbourne, there was a big difference. Saying that, Melbourne is a different track anyway. It doesn’t count for the rest of the year.
“It’s something very unique on a grip level and everything. Going here, Ferrari surprised me a bit. And talking about the electrical management, the battery management, when you compare it to before on the first in the sprint, even Ferrari looked a bit better than Mercedes, to be fair, because they seemed to have more battery in some areas.”
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