Racing Point: Early Mercedes reliability issues "teething problems", not worrisome

Racing Point technical director Andrew Green insisted he's not worried about Mercedes' reliability issues during pre-season in Barcelona, saying the engine's many failures in testing are "known problems" which should be resolved by the start of the season.

While it's been smooth sailing for Racing Point themselves in the reliability department, the two other Mercedes-powered teams have not been so fortunate. Lewis Hamilton's W11 gave up the ghost on Thursday afternoon, ending the reigning champion's running on the day.

Williams have been forced to replace their Mercedes power unit twice already at testing, much to the frustration of deputy team principal Claire Williams as it has severely limited the side's track time in Barcelona.

While his team's technical director Andrew Green was just telling me how confident they are about this year's car over in the motorhome, Racing Point's @SChecoPerez puts in a rapid 1:16.6 on the C3 tyre. Seriously quick given the compound. #F1 #F1Testing

— Nicolás Quarles van Ufford (@Nico_QvU) February 28, 2020

While Racing Point are very aware of the faulty engines, which particularly seem to fail in the oil systems, the team based in Silverstone isn't worried about any potential impact it could have on them.

“So far, so good," Green told GPBlog on Friday as he crossed his fingers. 

"I think HPP (Mercedes' engine department) are aware of the issues that have occurred over the last few weeks, and they have their own containment measures in place. They tell us they’re not worried, [so] we’re not worried. We think we’ll be in a good place come Melbourne. This is testing, this is what it’s all about.”

Asking about the nature of the oil systems issues, Green revealed Mercedes were already aware before testing about potential flare-ups in that specific part of the power unit. HPP, High Performance Powertrain, are already working on a solution back Brixworth.

“I think [they are] some teething problems, some batch problems, but I think all of them were known problems," Green continued. 

"None of these are unknown problems, which are the ones that get you. These are known problems that they have fixes for.”

Racing Point have been rapid all of winter testing long, with Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto even stating they consider the Pink Panthers a threat for the early running in the 2020 season.