Mercedes F1 team representative Toto Wolff revealed that replacing Lewis Hamilton’s F1 engine was a concern for deterioration.
Mercedes F1 confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will introduce the fifth F1 engine of the season and receive a five-grid demotion penalty immediately after the start of the first free run of the F1 Brazilian GP.
Lewis Hamilton, who lost 19 points to F1 title rival Max Verstappen in the previous F1 Mexican Grand Prix, will be further inferior in the remaining four races.
Mercedes has been struggling with the reliability of F1 engines in recent months, and Valtteri Bottas, who is the sixth teammate of Lewis Hamilton, and the customer team of Mercedes are all drivers in recent races. Penalty has been imposed.
After finishing the first free practice session of the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, Toto Volg explained that the deterioration of the engine prompted the replacement.
“We feel that we can get more points,” Toto Wolff said.
“The engine is deteriorating. By the end of the season the power will continue to decline and the reason is still unknown and we can only see it creeping up.”
Lewis Hamilton has introduced a fourth engine at the 16th round F1 Turkish Grand Prix, but confirmed that there are only two engines left after this engine replacement.
“In the last few years, we’ve found that over 1,000km, the engine deteriorates at a certain amount of kilowatts,” Toto Wolff explained.
“Current degradation is well above the average for the last few years, it only increases from weekend to weekend.”
“Therefore, if you continue to use the engine, you will definitely be uncompetitive in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.”
Lewis Hamilton will be demoted to five grids from his position after Saturday’s sprint qualifying. However, if you finish at the top, you can get 3 bonus points.
Toto Wolff says he hopes that taking a grid penalty over the weekend of sprint qualifying will give Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes F1 a “chance.”
“Obviously Saudi Arabia also looks like a good opportunity, but we think the motor will lose more power by then,” Toto Wolff said.
“Therefore, from our simulation point of view, it’s a good place to replace the engine.”
Category: F1 / Mercedes / Lewis Hamilton / F1 Brazilian GP
