Mercedes is unlikely to get through the season without an engine penalty and is considering where to take it: Will it be Monza, of all places?
“Realistically, it’s going to be tough to make it to the end of the season with the current hardware,” says Mercedes’ deputy team principal Bradley Lord. That means Kimi Antonelli and George Russell must expect to be slowed down by engine penalties at some point in the second half of the season.
The math leaves him with no other conclusion: Antonelli has already reached the limit of the allowed parts for the engine, battery, control unit, and exhaust system, and would receive a penalty on the next change; Russell still has a bit more leeway, but he, too, can’t afford any more mistakes with the battery and control unit.
“When you look at how many we’ve used in the first half of the season, it’s almost inevitable that penalties will be incurred at some point,” Lord notes. “That’s something the strategy team and the guys in Brixworth will be working on to figure out the optimal path through the rest of the season.”
Wolff: Monza Would Be a Good Place
Teams usually have some strategic flexibility regarding when to take a penalty, since they can decide when to install new engine parts in the car. Since the old parts remain in the available pool, they often choose tracks where overtaking is easier than on others.
No team would consider voluntarily taking a penalty at the next race in Zandvoort, as making up ground there would be very difficult. The situation is different at Monza, however, though from an emotional standpoint, that might not be the best choice for championship leader Antonelli.
“There might be one that could be very special for Kimi, but on paper it looks like it would be a good place to take an engine penalty,” admits Mercedes motorsports boss Toto Wolff. “So we’ll have to talk to Marco to see if we want to take an engine penalty at Monza.”
At the very least, that could take some pressure off the youngster’s shoulders at his home race, he says with a smile. “But maybe Baku, too,” he adds. “I still hope we won’t have to take an engine penalty, though. But our reliability just hasn’t been good, and we’ll see whether we take a penalty or not.”
Many Problems at Mercedes
Mercedes has struggled with technical issues several times this season and has only managed to get both cars into the points in two of the past seven races. In particular, the engine problems experienced by Russell in Canada and Antonelli in Barcelona were bitter blows for the team, as they cost them crucial points while in promising positions.
“We had some initial challenges with the ERS and the entire electronics system,” says Lord. “Those were closely related issues that were responsible for the retirements in Canada and Barcelona, and we believe they have been largely resolved with the reliability update we brought to Austria.”
“There might be one that could be very special for Kimi, but on paper it looks like it would be a good place to take an engine penalty,” admits Mercedes motorsports boss Toto Wolff. “So we’ll have to talk to Marco to see if we want to take an engine penalty at Monza.”
At the very least, that could take some pressure off the youngster’s shoulders at his home race, he says with a smile. “Or maybe Baku,” he adds. “But I still hope we won’t have to take an engine penalty. Our reliability just hasn’t been good, and we’ll see whether we take a penalty or not.”
Many Problems at Mercedes
Mercedes has struggled with technical issues several times this season and has only managed to get both cars into the points in two of the past seven races. In particular, the engine problems experienced by Russell in Canada and Antonelli in Barcelona were bitter blows for the team, as they cost them crucial points while in promising positions.
“We had some initial challenges with the ERS and the entire electronics system,” says Lord. “These were closely related issues that were responsible for the retirements in Canada and Barcelona, and we believe they have been largely resolved with the reliability update we brought to Austria.”
Added to that were the loose brake vents on Antonelli’s car at Silverstone, as well as other chassis-related difficulties. “There were a number of different elements we had to get under control. But the most common issue was the concern with the ERS package,” said Lord.
“A great deal of hard work went into the many, many corrections included in this latest specification that we brought to Austria.”
