Mercedes explain Lewis Hamilton engine cuts at Mexican GP

Mercedes: What’s gone wrong at the F1 and can they recover?

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Mercedes have explained the reasons behind Lewis Hamilton’s engine issues at the Mexican Grand Prix after the seven-time champion’s team radio complaints. The Briton reported engine issues throughout the race as he attempted to close the gap to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

However, Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles has blamed the conditions for the problem, which he suggested would have also affected their rivals. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit sits over 2,200 metres above sea level making it the highest track in the calendar.

Speaking in a Mercedes debrief video on YouTube, Vowles said: “We were suffering a little bit with engine cuts, and here is the reason why. You generally map the engine for the conditions it is most used in, which is sea level – that’s where most of the racing takes place.

“When you suddenly go to this level of altitude, you are in a very different condition and, instead of having an engine that is really highly tuned, you are back into a condition where you have to do lots of work with the power unit in a very short space of time to try and map out these irregularities. I am confident all teams will suffer this, it won’t be unique to ourselves.”

The Mercedes star mentioned his engine dropout issues over his team radio during the race. Halfway through the Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “I’m still having dropouts of power man.”

With around ten laps remaining, he added: “I have a power issue.” The higher altitude means the air is thinner and contains less oxygen, making it a challenge to keep cars cool.

Teams were united in bringing a range of new parts in a bid to improve cooling across the weekend. Red Bull came to the circuit with a larger design to their engine cover to include extra cooking capacity.

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Mercedes also introduced a different floor design but this was only used in FP1 as a test item. Vowles claimed the issue is “typically accentuated” in qualifying because drivers are rapidly applying the throttle and brake.

However, he admitted the issue was a slight problem in the race and ensured both divers “lost performance”. He added: “We were hoping that the race would not be as bad and it comes from a factor when the drivers are requesting throttle and picking up throttle it was simply not delivering the power they request quick enough, so [not] enough fuel or enough air.

“It can be tuned out in time and where we got to in the race wasn’t a bad position, I think qualifying was worse. But still enough to cause a small amount of performance loss for both drivers.”

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