Is lower engine performance due to Cowell leaving? Mercedes responds!

Andy Cowell was the engine boss of Mercedes for many years. The 52-year old Brit held the position of general manager at Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains. After last season Cowell called it a day and remarkably enough the German team is having serious problems with the reliability of its power sources for the first time this year. Toto Wolff doesn't think it is because of the departure of the former chief.

Cowell was replaced by Hywel Thomas as head of the engine department during the winter. Wolff agrees that Cowell's departure is a loss for the organisation, but at the same time, he expresses his confidence in Thomas. "Andy is clearly an outstanding personality, and has contributed a lot in his days, but so has Hywel and everyone beside him."

According to the Mercedes team boss not much has changed internally. "The strength of the organisation is its depth. I have one hundred per cent confidence in the structure we have. Engine development doesn't happen overnight - there are long lead times if something goes wrong", he explains at Motorsport-Magazin.com.

Many grid penalties Mercedes

Every year since the hybrid era (2014), Mercedes has been superior when it comes to engine power. This season, Honda has all but closed the gap in terms of horsepower, and on top of that, reliability leaves much to be desired. Valtteri Bottas has had to change his internal combustion engine six (!) times already and Lewis Hamilton has been penalised ten places on the grid.