Mercedes brings battery fix but only one McLaren/Williams will run it
Mercedes has brought a battery upgrade to Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix after recent reliability woes cost it major points - but only one of the customer McLarens will run it.
George Russell lost a potential victory in Montreal, and Kimi Antonelli lost a likely second place at Barcelona to battery-related failures.
Plus, Mercedes’ customers - McLaren in particular - have shipped many points to reliability issues with its Mercedes hardware. The Race found Mercedes, both as a team and as an engine supplier, had lost more points through reliability woes than any other team or engine manufacturer so far this season.
Mercedes’ mission to fix its battery-related woes had been blunted by Russell’s failed battery from Montreal still being in sea freight transit across the Atlantic Ocean.
But Antonelli revealed on Thursday in Austria that Mercedes has brought a reliability fix for its package this weekend.
“I don't think it's always been related to a temperature issue, but this weekend, we have a newer spec with updates to improve the durability and reliability of the package,” Antonelli said.
“The team has been working super hard because definitely we've been suffering from this kind of issue a bit often, but the team has been pushing so hard and hopefully these are the first big updates.
“It's not really about performance. It's all about trying to make sure that these issues don't happen again.
“But I'm sure that the team is finding the way and I think this is a good step forward.”
The Race understands it will only appear on one of the McLarens - Oscar Piastri’s MCL40.
Lando Norris is already on his final battery before he exceeds the maximum allowance for the season, which if changed now, would trigger a grid penalty.
Norris’s battery failure caused him to miss the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, he then suffered another battery failure in practice at Suzuka, putting him onto his third and final battery.
Only one Williams driver will have it too, Carlos Sainz, as Alex Albon is also in a precarious situation with his battery usage.
The Race understands both Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto will be running the new battery specification.
