Concerns at Mercedes: 'Engine of Hamilton and Bottas then shows problems'

There are more problems with Mercedes' engine than first meets the eye. Lewis Hamilton cannot drive with his current engine until the end of the season, but the team is mainly worried because it doesn't understand the problems yet.

Pressure on Mercedes

For the first time in years Mercedes is really under pressure and it shows. Strategically the team sometimes makes a mistake, the drivers are under more pressure and this also applies to the engine. The engine which was so dominant for years that not even the full power was needed to win races, now seems to be showing some problems.

Auto, Motor und Sport reports that the engines of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton are more prone to problems after 4,000 kilometres. Mercedes would have discovered the problem which therefore mainly occurs when the engine is older. This is also the reason why Mercedes would not consider letting Hamilton finish the season with his current engine. After all, the risk is too great.

''Mercedes had it easy for years. They used the full power for the first few laps and then the engine could be on a 'cruise' setting. That is not possible anymore. They have to ask more from their engine more often now and that's where the problems arise'', says Helmut Marko about this.

Penalty for Hamilton

''It's small things and strangely enough always different things. There is no clear pattern,'' says Toto Wolff. In the paddock, according to AMuS, there are various rumours about the cause of the problems. Red Bull claims the problem is in the crankshaft and the valve seat, but this has not been officially confirmed by Mercedes.

Mercedes therefore still have to choose the right moment to install the new engine at Hamilton and take the corresponding penalty that weekend. Mercedes would prefer to wait with the engine change until the worst problems have been identified with the engine. If the engine is deployed early on, Lewis will have to make do with it until the end of the season.

''Probably it won't happen in Turkey, except if Lewis has problems here. We expect to be close here. After Turkey, the engine change has to come for Lewis though. You try to do it on a circuit where you are just very strong or very weak. It's also possible if there's rain. Mexico is a Red Bull circuit and Interlagos maybe too'', said a Mercedes engineer.