Mercedes won the constructors’ championship for the eighth consecutive time in 2021. Despite their success last season, things were not always smooth sailing for the German team. There was an engine issue that plagued the team in the first half of the season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explains what was the issue with the engine and how they resolved it.

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It was just a component linked to a batch that had problems: Toto Wolff

As reported by Motorsport.es, the Austrian recalled the engine issue was something that they faced for the first time in eight years. Although he mentioned the issue got better in Brazil and from then on they were back to their normal dominant self.

“We have not lost the championship because of the power unit, although it is true that we have had problems for the first time in eight years.

At first, it was just a component linked to a batch that had problems during production, then a kind of outbreak, and the engines lost power,” said Wolff.

He also mentioned that the disqualification in Brazil almost lost them the driver’s championship. “The positive aspect was the way we managed to make up ground, as, after the disqualification in Brazil, I thought the drivers’ championship was lost.

In Austin, we didn’t understand some things about the handling of the car which, once we investigated, allowed us to give a big step forward. Our set-up was better from then on, and we had less tire wear, and that was reflected in the race results.” said the Mercedes team boss.

It was weird to see the German team’s struggles on the engine side, which has been the backbone of their dominance in the turbo-hybrid era. Let us see if those issues plague them in the 2022 season as well.

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