Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes struggling with power-reliability balance

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: Mercedes struggling with power-reliability balance

Are there still more gains to be made?

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 3 March 2020 09:15

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Lewis Hamilton knows Mercedes face a difficult task in trying to squeeze as much power as possible out of their engine while maintaining reliability, but has faith in his engineers to rectify any issues before the Australian Grand Prix.

The new Mercedes W11 car displayed moments of extreme pace in testing, but over the course of the sessions in Barcelona the team were confronted by reliability issues, with both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas having to retire due to engine failures.

Williams, who use Mercedes engines, also faced similar problems and had to use three separate power units.

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Hamilton reckons the issues are coming from the quest to be the fastest, but admits the team perhaps need to take a step back if it means getting the balance right with reliability.

"It was a difficult winter last year, and I think it's been a difficult winter this year,” he told Autosport.

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"There was a period of time with this V6 turbo where we were just gaining, gaining, gaining, gaining and gaining.

"But eventually, like with everything, you get to the point with limited returns.

"So it's how much more can you squeeze out of the V6 turbo? How much further can you go?

"We are kind of in that peak top speed area now: where there is one kilometre more or one kilometre less you are gaining, for a lot of investment.

"But I fully believe in trusting the guys to be methodical with the way they move forwards and the engine is actually very good. It's an improvement from last year.

"It's just not quite where we want it to be reliability wise.

"But I am sure they are back at the factory now working hard to rectify whatever the issue is."

Mercedes won a sixth consecutive double championship in 2019 with victories in the constructors’ and the drivers’ which broke the record previously held by Ferrari.

Hamilton is going for his seventh title in 2020 which would equal the record held by Michael Schumacher for most wins.