Wolff: “Hard to extract more from the powertrain without affecting reliability”

Many agree that the engine Mercedes no longer constitutes the standard value in F1 This year. Blame it on the hard work of the Team Ferrari to return to the level of the block of the star brand, and a work which seems to bear fruit as evidenced by the performances of the Scuderia single-seaters, but also of Haas and Sauber.

Despite everything, Mercedes is not letting up its efforts, and after having introduced a new specification in France (initially delayed), the time has already come to think about the future spec 3 of the German turbo/hybrid V6.

“We haven't been in a challenger position since 2012, and ended up lacking reference points, highlighted Toto wolff, boss of Mercedes-AMG F1. Now we see them, and we are eager to reach them.

We are in an interesting phase of spec development. 3, and we are trying to see what power we could bring to Spa and Monza. We will then decide whether or not we should delay its introduction. »

In addition to the expected gain in performance, it is above all the question of engine reliability which today comes into play in a primordial way according to Toto Wolff.

“Because of the maturity of the regulations, it is now very difficult to extract more from the powertrain without affecting reliability. All experiments which can lead to a gain in performance must be analyzed in terms of reliability because in the end, it is the retirements which make the difference at the end of the championship, much more than the last tenth found.

Ferrari has managed to extract more performance from its engine over the last few Grands Prix. It's up to us to push hard to find what we're missing. »