Toto Wolff bats away questions on Mercedes power unit problems

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has pushed back at concerns surrounding the power unit issues seen by the German manufacturer and its customer teams so far this season. 

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after FP3 at the Austrian Grand Prix, Wolff directly addressed the building speculation surrounding the reliability of the power unit after a number of issues with Mercedes-powered machinery surfaced in the European leg of the season. 

When questioned by what Sky Sports called “recurring power unit issues,” that have affected the likes of Kimi Antonelli, Fernando Alonso, and Alex Albon, the Austrian businessman was quick to clarify the reality behind this concern.

“Well, first of all, it wasn’t all power unit failures. I think there were chassis failures. Also, I believe it was Alonso in Monaco – wasn’t a power unit failure,” Wolff explained. “And it’s clear that it’s never good when power units fail.

“But a lot of emphasis has been put on next year’s engines and that is the most important.”

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Mercedes themselves were “stung” by issues on Antonelli’s car in both Spain and at his home race in Imola, with the former being especially problematic.

“We don’t know what let go in the PU yet,” said designer James Allison following the race weekend. “It’s made its way back to Brixworth. They’ll dismantle it, figure out what’s let go, work out what they need to do as recommendations for the whole pool of race engines, not just in our team, but also in their customer teams as well.

“And, hopefully, we won’t see any repeat of it in the remainder of the season.”

Problems also stretched to Aston Martin and Williams, with the latter team seeing Albon retire from the Canadian Grand Prix after hearing “loud engine noises”. Alonso’s issue stemmed from a failure of the Energy Recovery System, with the driver admitting he’d lost 160 horsepower on the narrow circuit. 

The organisation’s focus has clearly swung to 2026, with next year’s Mercedes power unit touted to be on top form so far in its development.

Next year will see Aston Martin leave the Mercedes fold and move to Honda, instead, while Alpine will be utilising both the power unit and gearbox from the Brixworth outfit after switching to a works team. But will the issues this year affect their confidence in the mechanics? After such a strong run in the hybrid era, it’s doubtful this will cause much concern.