Toto Wolff says Mercedes will do everything possible to identify the cause of its recent Formula 1 power unit failures after another frustrating retirement for the team in Spain.
Kimi Antonelli looked set for a strong result in Barcelona before his race ended late on. The Italian was running second when an issue described by Mercedes as an “electrical shutdown” forced him out, costing the team 18 valuable points.
The setback followed a similar problem for George Russell in Canada. Russell was leading the race when his car suddenly stopped, denying Mercedes a potential 25-point haul.
The problems have not been limited to the works team. Mercedes customer squad McLaren has also experienced power unit-related concerns in 2026. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were unable to start the Chinese GP after issues emerged shortly before the race.
Mercedes needs to dig deep to find the issue
Speaking after Antonelli’s retirement, Wolff stressed the importance of improving reliability.
“We can’t DNF cars in a regular, continued way,” Wolff told media, including Motorsport Week.
“Losing 25 points in the constructors’ championship in Montreal, and losing another 18 points [in Barcelona], in order to finish first, first you must finish – and reliability, this is what we need to get on top of.
“That is number one, and nobody is happy about it, and we will leave no stone unturned to understand [what is causing the issues].”
Wolff also suggested Antonelli’s retirement showed similarities to Russell’s failure in Canada.
“Most of the others were battery-related, but different failures,” he said.
“It was not always the same, so we need to understand what it was, but clearly, the symptom was quite similar, in that the car, like George in Montreal, where the car just switched off.
“But we will be digging really deep to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Mercedes must act quickly, because repeated reliability losses like these will inevitably derail any championship ambitions.
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