“I think we’re all struggling on power units”– Mercedes still contemplating over grid penalty decision with new power unit requirement

Tanish Chachra | 10/09/2021
"I think we're all struggling on power units"– Mercedes still contemplating over grid penalty decision with new power unit requirment

“I think we’re all struggling on power units”– Mercedes is still giving a thought before going for the fourth power unit ahead of the Italian GP race.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff claims that his team is still considering placing the new engine or not, as the new power unit setup will impose a grid penalty on the Silver Arrows.

The current dilemma of Wolff stems out while considering the pros and cons of taking a new engine at Monza, where after the FP1, Mercedes seem at an advantage in pace.

“I think we’re all struggling on power units, maybe not only reliability, but also how much these power units work… how much are they really degrading?” Wolff told Sky Sports.

“And there is thoughts, definitely for the weekend, but we haven’t come to a conclusion.”

Red Bull is on lower power mode

Despite the FP1 dominance, only a couple of hours before the qualifying, Wolff believes that Red Bull are running on lower power mode and may have three-four tenths of seconds to add.

“Yeah, I’m quite pleased,” he said. “As it seems, we only saw one lap really turned up with the engine and that was [Sergio] Perez pretty early on in the session, so I think they probably have three- or four-tenths in the pocket with the power unit.”

“But then, we have a tyre difference [Medium vs. Soft] so, yeah, I’m actually pretty pleased. But you know how it goes, you’re all jolly and then, three hours later, you get one on the nose.”

If Mercedes take the fourth engine penalty, then Red Bull may also consider doing the same, as Verstappen is also at risk of a grid penalty, and for them, this may end up being the right time.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Mercedes Red Bull

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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