Mercedes admitted to constant engine problems. Should Bottas prepare for another change?

Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 stable, recently admitted that the team has been struggling with power unit issues, particularly with Valtteri Bottas’ monoposto. The Finnish driver fitted another engine in Austin, earning him a penalty. Will this one last him for the rest of the season?

931 – that’s how many kilometres Bottas’ fourth over-the-limit power unit, which the Finnish driver deployed at Monza in Italy, lasted.

He made the fifth change on the occasion of the Russian Grand Prix, which was on the programme on 26 September. He even won in Turkey with the new and more powerful engine, only to be forced to fit a sixth engine in Austin.

That Mercedes has been struggling with problems around the power unit, especially when it comes to Valtteri Bottas’ monoposto, has been obvious for some time. However, in the past few days, even Toto Wolff has admitted it.

However, the team has analysed the situation and there should be no further changes. The Finnish driver should therefore manage the rest of the season with what he currently has in the bowels of his Mercedes.

“In theory, they should be fine. In the last races my luck was not on my side, I had more breakdowns. It‘s just bad luck, but now we hope everything is fixed,” Bottas explained in an interview with Motorsport.

“I really hope we are done with the changes. Both engines that I have in my fleet seem to be fine, we haven’t found any problems with either of them,” he continues.

“Keep your fingers crossed that I can finish the season without any penalties. Especially at the end of the season, losing five places at the start due to a penalty can have a significant impact on the race result,” he concluded.

It was in the USA that Bottas received a penalty of five places on the grid. However, if a driver changes several components at once, or even the entire power unit, he is doomed to start from the very tail of the grid.

Source: Motosport