'Mercedes power unit issues are a real concern after Antonelli's DNF'

Antonelli was on course of finish second behind Lewis Hamilton at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix after winning five Grands Prix in a row, before a car issue prevented him from crossing the finish line last Sunday. As a result, George Russell was promoted to second place, while Lando Norris completed the podium ahead of Max Verstappen.

In the latest episode of F1 Paddock Update, Ben Hunt said: "I mean that's the whole thing, isn't it? Like everyone was talking about how Mercedes were the strongest engines at the start of the year and, you know, Toto Wolff was looking quite smug on the pit wall, having delivered what looked to be a promising power unit. Look, it's baffling, isn't it? I'm not sure what the problem is, but to see it across different teams as well is a real concern for all of those [outfits], because obviously the customers are paying for a service and if they don't feel like they're getting a quality product, then they're not going to be happy either.

Still, there is one customer team that, so far, can be more than satisfied with the German power units. "The only the only thing I would say is that it's working okay for Alpine isn't it? I mean another good weekend for them like last year they couldn't buy a point and now finishing both cars inside the top 10, fantastic achievement."

After the race, Wolff said to media, including GPblog: "I'm underwhelmed. We can't DNF cars in a kind of regular or continued way, losing 25 points in the Constructors’ championship in Montreal and losing another 25 points or 18 points today, in order to finish first, first you have to finish. And reliability, this is what we need to get on top of. And that's number one. So nobody's happy about that, and we will leave no stone unturned to understand."