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Mercedes engine boss Hywel Thomas says the team is still struggling with the 2021 power unit, but plans are in place to fix the issues.
In Mercedes’ Countdown to W12 video, new Mercedes High Performance Powertrains boss Hywel Thomas says the team has encountered some issues as they are preparing its 2021 engine.
“We have got some issues with the power units,” Thomas said.
“We know we have issues but we have plenty of plans in place to fix all of those issues. I’m sure it will all be ready for the first race.”
However, there’s no reason to worry, as it’s fairly normal to encounter these issues at this stage of development.
The first batch of 2021 engines have already been sent to Mercedes’ customer teams and they are now going through durability testing. However the team has to contend with new restrictions such as limited dyno use and new engine homologation rules that prevent any modifications to the power unit during the season.
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“This year there have been a few extra additional things thrown at us. It’s been the first winter where we’ve had to react to a change to the regulations, which limits the amount of dyno hours we’re able to run.
“This means we have to make every single dyno run count and must make sure that we are entirely productive, to learn about the performance and the reliability of the power unit during each hour.
“Also, it’s the first winter where we have prepared for only one single upgrade for the whole season.
“So, we have to get all of our performance into the first PU that goes to the first race, whereas in previous seasons we have been able to split that up into different packages for each PU that gets introduced.
“So, with that challenge, we have to get absolutely everything there for the first race and make sure it’s completely reliable,” concluded Mercedes’ engine boss.
