Why “unusual noises” Mercedes give an F1 engine a headache

Hamilton starts from eleventh place in Istanbul Park after Mercedes was forced to change the internal combustion engine (ICE) on its unit, which meant that the season limit of three elements was exceeded.

Saturday’s attack on pole position helped Hamilton limit “the loss” from his penalty, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said it was “clear” that he would have to be driven in one phase in the remaining races .

But in contrast to Red Bull, which lost one of its engines to Max Verstappen’s car in the accident at Silverstone, the change by Mercedes indicated that concerns had arisen with the ICE – after all, none had been lost.

Mercedes saw its previous powertrain advantage waning this year after Honda made a significant step forward for its final F1 season after accelerating its scheduled updates for 2022 to bring Red Bull in the To give title fight a boost.

Wolff opened up the problem that had emerged with the engine, saying that it was inevitable that teams “encounter some obstacles” when teams “push the boundaries of engine performance”.

“Our engines are the most reliable since the introduction of hybrid engines in 2014,” says Wolff.

“Because these boundaries are being pushed, we have seen examples of, say, unusual noises in the internal combustion engine that were not fully understood at the time and have therefore caused some problems in the past.

“We had engines that basically failed, and now it’s a matter of containing the problem, because at this stage redesigning parts is not something you would do.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

The proximity to the end of the season and the current freeze on aggregate development during the season mean that it is not that easy to work on a fix and implement it. The additional challenge for Mercedes in solving the problem is the upcoming engine shutdown in early 2022, which will block the engines until the next generation of engines is introduced.

“The balance between performance and reliability has always been the key figure in recent years and will continue in the future,” said Wolff.

“We will not carry any deficits into the next year because the deficits are understood. And now it’s about finding solutions that include them. “

Hamilton said after Saturday’s qualifying that he thinks victory in Turkey on Sunday would be “very difficult but not impossible” as the team only took an ICE rather than a full motorcycle to make sure he didn’t a back resigned -from-grid-start.

“The other parts like the turbo or the other auxiliary elements are in wonderful condition and really happy, easily within the kilometer limits,” said Wolff. “So we didn’t have to use any new components.”

Hamilton also claimed after qualifying that he had “urged to hopefully keep engine number three” to avoid the penalty. Wolff acknowledged that while it was still in the pool and available for the remainder of the season, Mercedes had to carefully plan its use.

“The question is how and when we want to start [engine] Number three that’s still in the pool, ”said Wolff.

“We have to assess that in the next races. Because you could decide whether to do it only on Fridays, or also on Saturdays or Sundays. “

He added, “We still have the third engine to help with this, but we’re not sure how far we’re going to push this engine. It’s not necessarily just about mileage, it’s more about understanding another issue of reliability. “

Containing the engine problem will be an additional task for Mercedes to juggle in the tough title fight against Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

The focus will be on getting to the bottom of the issue in time for the engine shutdown next year and ensuring that all restrictions are overcome by the last phase of this year in order to avoid further setbacks.