Hamilton no longer needs engine change: 'Undoubtedly calculated'

With five Grands Prix still to go Mercedes will face stiff competition from Red Bull Racing. With seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton they hope to take the top prize at the end of the season, but this is far from certain. The Germans can't afford any more setbacks, although they do seem to be coming.

The reliability of the Mercedes engine has been an issue in recent weeks. Several drivers of a Mercedes team already had to replace engine parts, including Valtteri Bottas. There are fears that Hamilton will be penalised for the upcoming races. Toto Wolff doesn't want to know for sure.

Hamilton doesn't need an engine change

Jeroen Bleekemolen tells GPblog in an exclusive interview that he doesn't expect Hamilton to change his engine anymore. "It's hard to say how big the problems are at Mercedes because only the people who work at the team can say that," Bleekemolen states. "The stories go that in the past Mercedes never had to go full throttle, so they never ran into these problems. However, I expect that for Hamilton it will not be necessary to change engines anymore."

According to Bleekemolen, the Briton has nothing to worry about running into engine problems just like that. "From the last engine change, the team has undoubtedly calculated how long he can go on. Of course, as a driver, you can always have the bad luck that something in the engine breaks down, but overall I don't expect Hamilton to have to fear unexpected issues over the next five races."

Consequences of grid penalty

Should Hamilton still have to endure a grid penalty this could have a major effect on the world championship according to Bleekemolen. "In the past races, we saw from Sergio Perez and Bottas that it is not so easy to drive upfront. The teams are so close together that it is often difficult to overtake. If Hamilton has to come from the middle, he will undoubtedly struggle. Impossible is not for Verstappen and Hamilton though."