Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has said that its powertrains department is “fully on top” of rectifying recent reliability problems amid recent failures, which have curtailed Formula 1 races for some drivers.
The German marque took its first Grand Prix victory of the year in Canada on Sunday, with George Russell successfully converting his pole position.
He was followed home in third place by rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Italian teenager taking his first podium in F1.
But it has not been all plain sailing of late, with a number of power unit failures in races having been noted.
Antonelli was forced out of his home Grand Prix at Imola, which was followed by Fernando Alonso – in the Mercedes-powered Aston Martin – retiring from the Monaco Grand Prix with a similar issue.
And in Montreal, Alex Albon’s Merc-powered Williams also packed-up, forcing him into an early retirement.
The recurring theme of these failures will no doubt be a concern to the Mercedes High Performance Powertrains [HPP] and its Managing Director, Hywel Thomas.
But Wolff, despite his own concerns, was quick to place his faith in Thomas and the team at Brackley to remedy the recebt issues.
“I mean, our engines have been as good as gold since the introduction of the hybrid era and so strong,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Now it’s the final year, all sights on next year, and Hywel and his group are fully on top of the reliability issues that we have.
“And statistically, if you look at the many years, the failures we had were very minimal. So we need to learn now what happened.
“I don’t know what happened to Alex, actually. And I’m sure we will understand and learn.”
Will recent Mercedes failures cause worry to customers ahead of 2026?
As Wolff said, Mercedes’ powerunits have been efficient and strong over this particular era of Formula 1, surely a reason why it has been able to attract a number of customers over the V6 hybrid era.
Although Aston Martin is switching to Honda for next year amid the start of the brand-new regulations, it has attracted a new customer in the form of Alpine, which is ditching its works status.
But the recent failures could plant seeds of doubt in the minds of those using the engines.
Thomas and his team will be working tirelessly to ensure that these issues do not rear their heads again come lights out in Australia next year.
READ MORE – Toto Wolff blasts ‘petty’ and ’embarrassing’ Red Bull after George Russell Canada F1 protest
