Mercedes and their customer teams, Williams and Racing Point, are using the updated Spec 3 engine at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Earlier this week, team boss Toto Wolff confirmed engineers at Brixworth had worked throughout the summer to find gains in an area where they have now fallen behind Ferrari.
This is the final update expected in 2019 due to the current restrictions on engine components, indeed of the six cars that will use it, only Lance Stroll takes a penalty due to his issue earlier this year in Canada.
“Testing at the factory has shown improved performance and reliability,” a Mercedes spokesman said of the update.
Also Read:
- Honda ‘never expected’ to be so close to Mercedes in 2019
- 2019 has ‘exceeded expectations’ at Mercedes, Wolff claims
- Hamilton says Mercedes mentality has allowed for prolonged F1 success
There was slight concern then when Lewis Hamilton suffered a loss of power during his first lap out of the pits on Friday at Spa, although the issue was soon resolved.
But in the build-up, the Briton had played down the improvements.
“It’s pretty much the same as the second one,” he told RaceFans. “So not really any real improvements.
“We’ve constantly been at the forefront of the technology on the engine side. There have been years when we’re just constantly ramping up, ramping up. But when you’re constantly the leader it’s not always easy to keep leading, you have rougher patches. I think it’s been a bit of a harder year in terms of development.
“But we’ve still got great reliability, the last race I did on my first engine and my engine was fantastic throughout the race,” he noted.
“So I think this next one it’s the smallest of steps. Not even half a tenth, probably, but I think it’s more reliability continues to improve. Efficiency, which is something we’re really focused on, I think efficiency is key.”
Ferrari too is expected to bring an update likely at Monza given their history, although Sebastian Vettel wouldn’t be drawn on the topic.
“Something’s arriving, yes, we have a new engine planned for obviously the future,” he said.
Honda has also brought in their Spec 4 unit for Spa with Alex Albon and Daniil Kvyat set to start at the back, while Renault has new components for Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg giving them five-place penalties for Sunday’s race.