However, while outfits up and down the grid have been laying the foundations on the power unit side for some time, any aerodynamic work is banned until the start of 2025.
That means, regardless of early power unit progress, there is still a “voyage of discovery” ahead for Mercedes and their rivals, as recently outlined by the Silver Arrows’ Technical Director, James Allison.
“It [2026] is just around the corner, [but] it’s hard to look forward too intensely at the moment, because we have to wait and wait and wait to actually get the regulations,” he said. “Right now, most of the focus, in all honesty, is on the present and the next season.
“The main action in 2026 land is the power unit and the areas in which that power unit interfaces with the chassis, [while] the aerodynamic rules, and where all the lap time is from a chassis guy perspective, that’s still a bit of a voyage of discovery.”