"Nothing dramatic" - Mercedes play down reported engine setback

Aldo Costa, Mercedes' engineering director, has played down the reports of Mercedes' new engine having underwhelmed, as Costa assured the problems are "nothing dramatic".

After yet another double championship for the Silver Arrows, the fifth one in a row for them, Mercedes will yet again have a massive target on their backs. Red Bull Racing have made big changes by switching to Honda for their engines, while Ferrari have vowed to come back much stronger in 2019. When Toto Wolff recently revealed that the new 2019 power unit hadn't delivered as expected, it caused a lot of uproar. Costa sets the record straight.

"I think it was a bit misunderstood," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“When you put a new engine with new concepts on the bench, there may be something that doesn’t work. But it’s nothing dramatic.”

Looking ahead to 2019, Costa fears that Red Bull will be right there with Ferrari and Mercedes fighting for wins, unlike recent seasons.

“Ferrari will obviously be there to fight with us, but I am also expecting Red Bull, considering that they always speak good things about the new Honda engine.

“He [Verstappen] is a talent, he is fast, but he still has to improve his consistency in order to become the winning weapon that Hamilton is.”