20/06/2025 03:15
Toto Wolff has highlighted how Mercedes power units have been "good
as gold" since the advent of the F1 turbo-hybrid era. It comes amid
a spate of recent issues for the Brackley-based squad and its
customer teams. Kimi Antonelli suffered power unit troubles at his
home race in Imola and at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Fernando
Alonso retiring for Mercedes-powered Aston Martin in the middle of
the European triple-header, at Monaco. George Russell's qualifying
session at the Circuit de Monaco also ended early due to
engine-derived problems, consigning him to a torrid weekend in the
principality. Those incidents brought the issue to the fore, and
Alex Albon's subsequent retirement power unit-related retirement at
the Canadian Grand Prix has left the paddock questioning where the
recent trend has arisen from. When turbo-hybrid power units were
introduced in F1 at the start of 2014, Mercedes - through Mercedes
High Performance Powertrains (HPP) - and its customer teams enjoyed
a significant advantage over the opposition. It fired the team to
eight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles between
that season and 2021. However, as the current engine regulations
cycle draws to a close, Wolff wants to understand why issues have
started to occur. "Our engines have been as good as gold since the
introduction of the hybrid era - and so strong," the Austrian told
media including RacingNews365 . "As it is the final year [of the
rules set], all sights are on next year. "And Hywel [Thomas, HPP
managing director] and his group are fully on top of the
reliability issues that we have." Nonetheless, the 53-year-old was
quick to defend his team's engine reliability record when asked
about the concerning pattern at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. "And
statistically, if you look at the many years, the failures we had
were very minimal," the Mercedes team principal said. "So we need
to learn now what happened. "I don't know what happened to Alex
Albon [in Montreal], actually, but I'm sure we'll understand it."
