The saga around Mercedes’ alleged engine tricks continues. The team is suspected of fiddling with compression ratios so the engine reportedly produces more power as it heats up, while the power unit still passes the FIA’s static checks. Rival teams are said to be lobbying for a new engine regulation. McLaren CEO Zak Brown — who gratefully makes use of Mercedes’ innovations — isn’t overly worried.
At a press conference ahead of McLaren’s season launch, Zak Brown was asked about the commotion surrounding the Mercedes engine. The Papayas — alongside Alpine and Williams — are loyal customers of the German manufacturer. “It’s typical F1 politics,” he replied matter-of-factly. “The engine complies with all the regulations. Besides, this sport is about innovation; think of the double diffusers from back then. I don’t believe we have a significant advantage with the Mercedes engine, but any alleged benefit gets blown up into a big story.”
“The Mercedes engine division has simply done an incredibly good job,” Brown praised the engineers in Brixworth. “We’re not otherwise involved in talks about the engine regulations, but we are being kept well informed.” The American was asked whether there was any chance Mercedes and its customer teams — should a revised engine regulation arrive — would not take the start in Australia. “I can’t imagine that,” he replied lightly. “We don’t involve ourselves in conversations about the power unit, but of course we’ll be on the grid in Melbourne.”
Defending the title
Engine tricks or not, Mercedes is widely viewed as one of the favourites for the new Formula 1 season. As reigning world champions, McLaren intends to make its presence felt as well, Brown insisted. “It’s still too early to say whether factory teams have advantages over customer teams. In principle we have the same equipment. Besides, over the past years we’ve already shown that a customer team doesn’t have to be at a disadvantage.”
That said, McLaren still has some question marks around the new engine, notably over the use of the hybrid systems. Drivers will have new overtake modes from this season, partly thanks to the increased battery capacity. “We don’t yet know how to get the best out of this power unit,” Brown concluded. “The drivers are excited about the new cars, but we need more testing to see how we’re going to race with them. It could be particularly fascinating; without energy you lumber around the circuit like a freight train. But it was impressive to see how much testing everyone has been able to do — reliability doesn’t appear to be a problem so far.”
