Mercedes had the F1 world waiting with bated breath after they had confirmed that they would be bringing their upgraded engine to Canada this weekend.
However, a Mercedes spokesperson has confirmed that the upgraded package has been delayed because of a ‘quality issue’.
Mercedes supplies its engines to Williams and Force India and they too will be using the same engine that they have been using for the first 6 races.
The upgrade delay is bound to put Mercedes on the backfoot in Canada, as it is a power-sensitive circuit. Ferrari, Renault and Honda are all expected to bring their upgrades to Montreal and thus Mercedes could find themselves a little behind the pack.
The spokesperson however confirmed that Mercedes will getting its upgrade to France.
“Although we had hoped to introduce PU2 [power unit two] this weekend, a quality issue means that this has now been delayed by one race,” a Mercedes spokesperson said as quoted by Sky.
“So all Mercedes-powered cars will be running PU1 for this weekend, too, before receiving new units in France.” he added.
With only 3 engines allowed for the entire 21 race season, all engine manufacturers have had to time their engine change to perfection. The fact that Canada demands more power made the choice a little easy for all engine manufacturers, but Mercedes just couldn’t deliver in time.
Now, will it affect it gravely in Canada? Or will Hamilton leverage his good form in Canada to bail Mercedes out?
Lewis Hamilton has won three races on the trot at Montreal and would be hoping for a record 7th win at the circuit this weekend.
