Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has pledged that it will be “really digging deep” to avoid further reliability issues, after Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired late on in the Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The Silver Arrows was on course for second and third place in the race, with its former driver Lewis Hamilton sailing to a superb victory in the Ferrari.
Antonelli had overtaken teammate George Russell for second place on Lap 60, but his W17 came crawling to a halt on the exit of the Turn 5 hairpin.
It was the title-leader’s first DNF of the season, handing Russell some relief after losing 50 points to the Italian over the previous two races, but still leads the Drivers’ Championship by 41 points from Hamilton, with Russell a further nine points adrift in third place.
After the race, Wolff was unable to reveal the exact cause of what brought Antonelli’s race to an end, but made the commitment to ensure no repeat would take place.
“We don’t know yet what was the cause of the failure,” the Mercedes Team Principal said.
“Most of the others were battery-related, but different failures. It was not always the same, so we need to understand what it was, but clearly the symptom was quite similar, that the car, like George in Montreal, where the car just switched off.
“We will be really digging deep to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Mercedes will be hoping to bring Hamilton’s onslaught to a premature end next week in Austria and reaffirm its status as the team to beat.
Originally published by motorsportweek.com —
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