Over the years, Mercedes had often enjoyed free runs in Formula 1, easing their way through the grid to clinch both the constructors and the driver’s titles. However, the resurgence of Red Bull this season has led the Brackley outfit to a rather panicking situation.

Toto Wolff, in particular, is enduring sleepless nights thinking about the threats he might have to tackle amidst ever-growing reliability concerns over their engines. While Valtteri Bottas is already into his 6th engine change this season, Lewis Hamilton is in his 4th.

Of course, with Bottas, it was a tactical decision, as then, the Finn could counter reliability issues in the closing stages of the season. But, the biggest problem is with Hamilton. The Briton is only into his 4th engine change, and that too, not the entire power unit but a part of it; ICE, to be precise.

Hence, there is still a significant chance that Hamilton might have to opt for yet another engine change, which will lead to a grid penalty.

What did the Mercedes F1 team principal say?

As reported by Formula Passion, Wolff opened up that both Bottas and Hamilton might have to take up an engine penalty in coming races.

“We are not calm. It is a problem for us this year, we have lost a lot of points, we are not 100% sure to finish the season with these engines and therefore we could change them again,” the Austrian said.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that Red Bull are at an advantage. The Milton Keynes outfit, too, are aware of the fact that both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s current engines are likely to wear out during the closing stages of the season.

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Hence, if anything, both Mercedes and Red Bull are under pressure, and it’ll be all about conserving the engine from hereon. Both the teams might run with lower engine modes through the rest of the season. But, there’s also the fear of Mercedes using Bottas as a pawn to destroy Red Bull’s plan.

With the Finn already into his 6th engine, he will only serve 5-place grid penalties over forthcoming engine changes. Hence, this might leave a conserving Red Bull under threat against the potentially overpowering Mercedes of Bottas.

So, are we in for a nail-biting end to the season? Are we set to witness more victories from Bottas’ end?

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