Mercedes is confident that they have discovered a solution to the engine problems

Mercedes has expressed concerns about the reliability of its power units, as well as a fear that the high altitude of some races in the second half of last season will make it impossible for them to compete. The team, on the other hand, believes they have made progress in addressing these challenges.

Mercedes is certain that they have found a solution to recent engine difficulties.

Valtteri Bottas recently took his sixth ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) of the season, three more than the allowed amount.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was forced to race with a new ICE at the Turkish Grand Prix, and another engine change is not ruled out for the British driver.

Toto Wolff, the team’s manager, believes that the Brackley-based staff has made progress in resolving these issues.

“I think we have we’ve gotten on top of the reliability issue that we had,” Wolff told media.

“We didn’t see that phenomenon occur anymore, which is a good step forward. Hopefully, knock on wood, from the reliability side we should be on a good trajectory.”

High altitude improvements

Another recent issue for Mercedes was the effects of high-altitude racing at the Mexican Grand Prix on their power unit, which has previously been at a disadvantage in such places due to the impact of thin air on the turbo.

However, the impact did not appear to be as significant as the team had expected, with Bottas and Hamilton surprising everyone by qualifying faster than Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s Red Bulls.

Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, believes that the team’s performance in Mexico demonstrates the engine’s progress.

“Well, we know that we’ve made a bit of progress,” Shovlin explained. “It’s impossible to say with them [Honda].

“I’d say the issues this weekend… We focused on the chassis side and how we could get a bit more grip, stop sliding around and overheating. It didn’t feel like we had a deficit on the power unit side. We’ll do analysis on that.

“It’s just difficult to isolate everything that’s going on at one single race; you need to really look at them over a sequence of events to understand that.”

This might bode well for Mercedes at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix, when the team will be looking for a good result as the title race heats up.

Following Mexico, Verstappen now leads Hamilton by 19 points in the Drivers’ standings, while Mercedes is only one point ahead of Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings.

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