20/06/2025 09:15
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."
