Mercedes issues prove McLaren receiving equal equipment - Zak Brown

Zak Brown and Toto Wolff — Photo: © LAT Images

Mercedes - McLaren

Mercedes issues prove McLaren receiving equal equipment - Brown

McLaren has confidence in Mercedes power unit

Ian Parkes

Saturday 30 October 2021 13:58

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McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Mercedes' issues this season with its power unit underline his team receives equal equipment from its supplier.

McLaren's decision to switch to Mercedes' system has so far paid dividends this year, with the team scoring its first victory since 2012 in the Italian Grand Prix and claiming four other podium finishes.

But the German manufacturer has been beset with problems with its PU, leading to penalties for not only itself - and Valtteri Bottas, in particular, who used his sixth ICE [internal combustion engine] in the USGP at the weekend - but all its customers.

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McLaren has only taken one hit so far, with Daniel Ricciardo sent to the back of the grid in the recent Turkish GP after receiving a new ICE, turbocharger and MGU-H.

Brown has full confidence in his team's supplier. He said: "Mercedes has been a great partner.

"They’ve certainly met and exceeded our expectations. They’ve helped us get back to winning races and scoring podiums. Our reliability has been very good.

"I know they’ve had their challenges. I think there are elements that go into reliability that aren’t necessarily exclusively the power unit - it’s car design, it’s cooling, it’s the packaging.

“So all I can do is speak for McLaren’s experience, which is that we’re having a great run with Mercedes. They’ve an unbelievable track record.

“Of course, we’re always concerned about anything when it comes to reliability, that’s not exclusive to the power unit.

“But we’re very happy with Mercedes, and their track record speaks for itself so we’re not worried they won’t get on top of the issue, and we haven't experienced a lot of the issues they've experienced."

Brown believes what has unfolded this season proves Mercedes does not look after itself first and its customers second.

He added: “What it does show, for those concerned as to whether you can get equal equipment as a customer team, we’ve demonstrated and Mercedes has demonstrated that the answer to that is yes.”