Honda baffled by Mercedes PU issues

Red Bull, Mercedes, Brazil — Photo: © LAT Images

São Paulo Grand Prix

Honda baffled by Mercedes PU issues

Mercedes have added another ICE to Hamilton's pool this weekend

Ewan Gale

Saturday 13 November 2021 12:30

Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe has conceded to being baffled by the plethora of Mercedes power unit changes in recent races.

Valtteri Bottas took three new ICEs in four races between the Italian and US grands prix, whilst Lewis Hamilton has taken his second ICE change in four with a new component for the São Paulo Grand Prix this weekend.

In contrast, Max Verstappen has only taken one penalty in Sochi with damage caused to his power unit when he collided with Hamilton at Silverstone.

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has since explained the team's ICE is suffering from high degradation and Tanabe has described his shock at the issues.

"Yes, I’m very surprised they are changing the ICE frequently," said Tanabe.

"So actually, I cannot believe what’s going on and then why. But from the PU manufacturer point of view, it’s kind of a disappointment to get a PU penalty for the driver so actually, I have no idea but I’m sorry about that."

Honda can get to end of season on current PUs

Whilst Mercedes fret over the condition of its power units, Red Bull is in a much more settled state.

With every point crucial in the title fight with just three races remaining after this weekend's event, Honda is not expecting another change of component before the end of the year.

"Current plan, we can manage the PU for the rest of the season for all drivers," added Tanabe.

"So yeah, we had some accidents during the season and then lost some PUs but at the moment we have sufficient number of units for all drivers."

On if the manufacturer would have made it to the end of the season without penalty had there never been incident damage, Tanabe insisted: "I believe yes."