Mercedes was forced to change Valtteri Bottas' power unit for a second time this weekend after a pneumatic leak was discovered on the Finn's former engine.

A unit failure in Brazil compelled Mercedes to bolt on a brand new engine to the back of Bottas' car for Abu Dhabi, which in turn guaranteed a back of the grid start on Sunday for the Finn.

The latest change, forced upon the team when it discovered a pneumatic leak on Friday evening after FP2, obviously won't change Bottas' position on the grid.

It could however deliver an edge to the driver in the race and help him fight his way through the field.

"I still want to fight for the pole, you know, even though I would not keep it," said the 2019 runner-up in the F1 championship.

"That would be good fun and with a fresh engine as well. But definitely the main focus just has to be the race pace, because we know we're going to start from the back.

"We will see what we can do differently maybe with the setup, or if there's anything we can find to prioritise the race pace."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Bottas to start Sprint from the back after grid penalty

Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Saturday's Sprint race…

2 hours ago

Miami GP: Friday's action in pictures

The action kicked off in earnest on Friday in sunny Miami on Friday, with Max…

3 hours ago

Ricciardo 'proud of what I did' with P4 on Sprint grid

Daniel Ricciardo has suffered a terrible start to his season with RB that left him…

3 hours ago

Leclerc ‘relieved’ to finally revive single-lap pace in sprint qualifying

Charles Leclerc expressed a sense of relief after securing a front-row starting position for the…

4 hours ago

Norris regrets 'pushing too hard' in final Sprint qualifying

Lando Norris had been looking in stellar form throughout qualifying for Saturday's Sprint race in…

4 hours ago

Verstappen surprised by sprint pole as RB20 felt ‘pretty terrible’

Max Verstappen admitted his surprise at securing the sprint pole position at the Miami Grand…

5 hours ago