Mercedes’ engine woes do not seem to end any time soon. The Brixworth based team has been facing several reliability-related issues over the past few race weekends which have forced them to make ad-hoc decisions.
Valterri Bottas took a fifth power unit for the Russian GP after it was ruled that his fourth engine for which he took a full grid penalty in Monza would not be able to run the race.
Even though Mercedes decided to use that fourth PU for Russia, they had hoped that the fourth PU might come in use sometime later during the season. However, it is now being reported that his fourth Power Unit has now been ruled out of use after just completing 931 kilometres. On average, an engine does roughly 2,000km before it needs replacing.
Speaking to Auto Motor Und Sport, Mercedes Team Principal said:
“At the moment all we can do is to isolate the problems & muddle through as best we can”
Mercedes is still trying to understand why they are facing these issues. Although they have determined that the problem is in the ICE, what exactly this issue is, is yet to be discovered.
Also read: Mercedes flies all engines back to Brixworth; signals why Lewis Hamilton only took new ICE
Other teams are speculating that the performance enhancement was done after the Hungarian GP. Even customer teams such as McLaren and Williams which run with Mercedes engines saw a sudden boost in performance.
It is possible that Mercedes has tuned the engine to produce higher power on Saturday and Sunday but has done so at the risk of damaging the ICE faster. This development can be one of the deciding factors of the 2021 championship.
Would Hamilton need a fifth engine?
In simple words, the biggest ally for Red Bull in the championship fight is the Mercedes engine itself.
With Bottas having to take two consecutive grid penalties for engine-related issues and Hamilton having to take one in Turkey, chances are that a fifth engine for Hamilton cannot be ruled out.
While it is true that three out of four drivers with Honda engines are already onto their fourth Power Unit, it was accidental damage that caused it. In terms of reliability, Honda is confident that those engines could have completed their quotas.
This means that although Mercedes may have a faster car because of their engine, The two Red Bulls will have a more reliable one.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are separated by just six points in the championship battle going into the US GP in Texas. Mercedes are confident that this weekend will be a strong one for them and Red Bull may be on the back foot.
Also read: Max Verstappen claims Honda’s mentality is extremely different from Renault
