“One failure to finish a race would be catastrophic”– Mercedes insists painful engine penalties will pay “dividends” in remaining races

Mercedes insists that the painful engine penalties they took in Russia, Turkey and the United States will help them pay dividends ahead.

Mercedes are reportedly suffering from engine unreliabilities, and Red Bull is taking full advantage of it. Valtteri Bottas, who has taken his sixth engine of the season in Austin, with his grid-penalty, could hardly help the Silver Arrows to serve their interests.

Moreover, Lewis Hamilton only took a new internal combustion engine ahead of the race in Turkey instead of a whole power unit with several issues. And it is still unclear whether he would require a fifth engine change in the remaining five races.

Explaining the hard pill, Bottas had to swallow and precautionary steps taken to safeguard Hamilton’s title interests. Mercedes’ motorsport strategy director James Vowel claims that his team is finding a balance between performance and reliability.

“We are balancing performance versus reliability to the end of the season,” said Vowel. “One failure to finish a race, be it because of a chassis or power unit fault, would be catastrophic for the championship.”

“And as a result of that, we are managing that in the best way possible to the end of the year.”

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Mercedes believes it’s a crucial step to victory

With only 23 points separating Mercedes and Red Bull in the constructors’ race, the Silver Arrows must watchfully take every step. However, they feel all the efforts have been made to keep the team most vigorous until the end.

“In the case of Valtteri, it meant taking one further ICE to make sure we had the best compromise,” added Vowles. “As to whether it improved his performance, yes, a small amount, but it is more about the balance across the remainder of the season than one event.

“So, this change, as painful as it was during the Austin Grand Prix, will actually pay dividends across the next few races.”