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F1Today has learned that neither Williams, Force India or Lotus will receive the new Mercedes Engine Upgrade which was introduced back in Monza for the Works Team.
World Champions Mercedes are set to fit what is known as 'Phase Four' of the development engine that was fitted back in Monza to Hamilton's car. During the First Practice Session in Monza, Hamilton was a clear 1.5 seconds ahead of the rest, and when asked to push during the closing stages of the race, he pulled away in an alarming fashion.
It is said that this new Power Unit that Mercedes has introduced is a step in a different direction to which they have previously gone. Therefore, coordinated testing is required within the works team, before it can be made available to it's customers.
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (5)
Login to replyboudy
Posts: 1,168
Introduced in Monza thats 3 races ago. Just TW making sure that they have the advantage over their PU customer. Bernie should have put framework in for saveguarding customer teams. Would be very hard for merc users to win a race let alone make an impact on the championship. Ron Dennis is right, hope Honda builds a Merc beater next year.
Anurag
Posts: 7
That is always going to be a problem with in-season development and perhaps difficult to regulate as well. The only way to regulate this by asking the PU manufacturer to ensure they are capable of supplying all customers before they can use it on their own car as well.
Dr Red Bull
Posts: 41
I think you are being too cynical here Boudy,
Even with the new PU, neither customer will get anywhere.
I just think with the championships wrapped up, Merc are now testing. And the last thing they want to do is to give a relatively new concept to another team and for it to be break down all the time.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Mercedes offered the other teams this spec directly after Monza, but e.g Williams refused as they were already happy with their PU (and didnt want to risk reliability for more power), and their customer teams are already too far behind to be any realy threat, so I dont think Mercedes do this with some devious intent.
Anurag
Posts: 7
I understand what you guys are saying. Totally justified. My point was if the teams are matched on aero performance like Merc & Red Bull and if Red Bull was running Merc engines with in-season development they would be at a disadvantage as they would not get the latest upgraded engine immediately. This upgrade was apparently not that big but still it something. Whereas without in-season dev you know the engine parity will be present across the board. Although, it would be a pain to Renault & Honda under their current condition.