24/01/2022
NEWS STORY
McLaren boss, Zak Brown has denied that his team is concerned by Mercedes engine reliability.
While there is no doubt that strategy was a factor, the fact is that all three customer teams exceeded their allowance last season, thereby incurring penalties, whilst works drivers, Lewis Hamilton (5) and Valtteri Bottas (6) used more internal combustion engines than anyone else.
Fact is, with Honda giving the German manufacturer a run for its money, Mercedes was forced to pull out all the stops.
However, looking ahead to the new season, Zak Brown dismisses talk that there is concern over the Mercedes power unit's reliability in the coming campaign.
"They're feeling good about their development," he said, according to Motorsport.com. "Fortunately, we had good reliability last year.
"As you know, there's more than just the power unit that goes into the reliability," he added. "Our guys did a good job of working with the power unit in year one, so reliability hasn't been maybe the same level of concern for us that it has with others."
Nonetheless, with an engine freeze now in place, the American has discussed the issue with Toto Wolff.
"He was pretty bullish," he revealed. "I think the power unit race is as close as ever. But I'm not worried about it."
"We were pushed very hard in 2019 and came with a power unit in 2020 that was right there, but maybe it stretched us too much," admitted Wolff at the end of last season.
"If you are in the constant pursuit of performance, sometimes reliability falls behind and I guess this is what happened."