F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Wolff 'surprised' by Mercedes reliability issues

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits to being surprised by the streak of reliability issues that have hit the two-time Constructors’ world champions so far this year.

Lewis Hamilton suffered another engine glitch in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, the latest in a series of mechanical problems that have ranged from recurrent ERS issues to a water leak in Russia.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg has also experienced his fair share of troubles in 2016, though these have not hampered his progress as much as his team-mate’s

Asked whether Mercedes expected this run of reliability problems, Wolff replied: “No, actually on the contrary, because when we started with testing this season the car drove and drove and drove.

“Even the bits we had on the dyno lasted for a very long time. Then once we started into the season we were actually quite surprised that some of the parts weren’t as reliable as we would have wished.”

Both W07s ran like clockwork in pre-season testing, averaging 150 laps per day. Despite the setbacks, Mercedes has won five of the six first races and is leading Ferrari by 67 points.

Technical analysis - Monaco

From the cockpit: Felipe Nasr on a controversial Monaco Grand Prix

Scene at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix

Driver ratings - Monaco Grand Prix

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

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

32 mins ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

2 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

3 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

3 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

4 hours ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas,…

4 hours ago