Lewis Hamilton may be facing the next several Grands Prix without Mercedes' new specification engine. That is despite the fact that, following the delay in Montreal, other Mercedes customers may already have the 'spec 2' power unit fitted for Paul Ricard. "Yes, we will have the updated engine," Force India's Sergio Perez said in France.
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However, Mercedes held the new unit back in Canada, citing "quality" issues. And now it is not clear if Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas will have the engine in Paul Ricard. "Let's wait and see what the team will decide tomorrow," Hamilton said on Thursday. "I trust their judgement. It wouldn't be so bad if we have to take the spec 1 again. It would be fresh and have more power. Engine performance has never been a problem for us."
However, Hamilton would then need to use the 'spec 1' for several forthcoming races, as drivers are only allowed to use three different engines per season.
"We really want to put the new one in, but we're waiting to see if we can do it until tomorrow," Finn Bottas said. "Every race weekend, the three strongest teams are fighting hard and any increase in speed we can get is important. We really hope to get that new engine," he added.
Replies (8)
Login to replyf1ski
Posts: 726
Sounds fishy. Silent penalty. New tech that was not approved.
mpm001
Posts: 20
yes throwing random unverified nonsense on the internet wonderful.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@MPM001 It's amazing... I don't see fans in other sports behave this way. It's pretty specific to F1.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I disagree that its legality holding it back. At this stage of the season, it'd be hard to slam something that significant into the engine. Remember, its a different story compared to chassis components. Nah, there is something else going on.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Of course legality is not an issue. That rubbish. We F1 fans are an interesting bunch. I've never seen this proclivity towards conspiracy theories in other sports. It's shocking.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Actually, there are plenty of conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies in other sports. Hence all the Russian doping rumors, EPO doping cases and other such things in other sports. We F1 fans are just more exposed to this kinda thing, and thats normal once you are exposed to a certain industry. :)
Mind, there do seem to be more such theories in F1 and gaming. Its a reasonable theory, but I just dont think thats it in this case. To fit an illegal part they'd have to redesign so much of the engine that it would probably be a poor fit to their current setup, methinks.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
But its a mute point: the Mercedes "2.1" (why the .1?) PU is in both Merc' cars now, and seem to be working just fine.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
That's not the issue. My guess is that the Mercedes main team will have a different aka better specification than the customer teams. There might have been an issue but it's not the one they are reporting it is possible that it's related but it won't be the main reason.